Greg Breitbach new football coach Greg Breitbach was living the good life in Grand Forks, N.D. He served as the offensive coordinator of a Division I program fresh off a conference championship. He came home to three healthy kids and a bright, hardworking wife who was running a daycare business that she started. With his wife Kara’s family in Montana and his in North Dakota, they lived near grandparents and in the region that he spent most of his life. Meanwhile, 1,400 miles to the southeast, the Millersville football program was looking for a new leader. It had suffered through a 2-9 record and its 12th consecutive losing season. In February, Greg Colby ended his five-year stint as the Marauders head coach to return to his alma mater, the University of Illinois, where he is now the defensive line coach. Breitbach coached the last seven years at North Dakota, which transitioned from a Division II powerhouse to a Division I conference champion. He coached at every level of college football, from NAIA to Division III, Division II and Division I. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business education from the University of Montana-Western in 1994, and received a master’s degree in education administration from Portland State University. As a student-athlete, he played two seasons at Dickinson State University and two at Montana-Western, where he served as a team captain during his senior season. Breitbach decided to throw his hat into the ring and apply for the job at Millersville University. Two weeks and two plane transfers later, Greg and Kara Breitbach stepped into Harrisburg International Airport. It was the first time either had ever been to Pennsylvania. Breitbach was the first of six candidates to interview and the first to experience an open forum where 12 years of frustration poured out of the alums and community members. Breitbach
“We need a culture change. We are going to be proud of who we are and what we are trying to accomplish here.” Coach Breitbach
took it all in. He heard every reason why Millersville football hasn’t been successful and won’t be successful. He was asked why he would give up what he had at North Dakota to be the head coach at Millersville. Less than a day on campus, he already had an answer for the naysayers. “I got the perception in my interview through certain people that excuses are being made, and they are asking me why would I come to Millersville? My response is why wouldn’t I? This is a fabulous place. This university has a reputation academically, and athletically there are teams doing it,” said Breitbach. “We need a culture change. We are going to be proud of who we are and what we are trying to accomplish here. I will not ever drop my head and feel like I’m inferior for working at Millersville University. “Some of my best experiences came at North Dakota in Division II under that umbrella and realizing that the experience as a coach and the impact you can have on the university and players at that level is pretty unique,” said Breitbach. “It’s a high level. It’s still scholarship football, but there’s still an element unlike Division I, where academics and athletics coexist and are equally important.” In just a day’s time, Breitbach saw that the resources for success exist at Millersville. He talked to