Rob Breton became the UNK soccer team coach in the spring of 2022 and, in his third season, led the program to the conference tournament for the first time since 2015.
However, after going winless in his first year, Breton did not expect to still be at UNK.
“I love Marc (Bauer) and I appreciate him and I thank him for not firing me after going 0-15-3 my first year,” Breton said. “I definitely thought I was not going to have a job after one season and not because of (the players), just because of my expectations.”
After letting Chloe Roberts go after the 2021 season, UNK hired Neil Piper, an experienced coach, but then the position reopened after Piper abruptly resigned due to family health issues.
Piper had a 261-146-38 record in 23 seasons at East Texas A&M when he was hired at UNK and returned for one more year at his former school before coaching at the high school level. The switch at coach for UNK was a big change for the players.
“Neil had (a) pretty lengthy background and just had a lot of great accomplishments with the last college he was at,” said Dolcie Hanlon, former UNK soccer captain. “Then we get Rob, who this is his first coaching position at a D-II.”
Before applying to UNK, Breton had lived in West Virginia for 14 years and was ready to experience a new part of the country.
“I applied for 32 coaching jobs, head coaching and assistant, from D-I through D-II,” Breton said. “I got one interview at first and it was here at UNK. I didn’t get the job because I didn’t have head coaching experience.”
After not receiving the job at UNK, Breton was quickly hired as the head coach at a school in West Virginia. When Piper resigned, UNK offered the position to Breton. He gave his two-week notice and packed up to move to Kearney.
“If you do the right thing and the right work and the right ethic, the chance will present itself,” Breton said. “Now, I also have to understand that as a privilege and a luck that I was given this, and that’s why I also view it as such. I realize that I am very lucky to be in this position.”
After securing a spot in the conference tournament, Breton began negotiating a new contract as his current one was set to expire this spring. For him, the focus of the negotiation was more on the future of the program than on his salary.
With a new contract signed in December, Breton has gone to work building the program.
“We’re in that position where it’s like we’ve finally opened the door not just to be a team in the conference that people need to be worried about, but a team that could potentially compete to be a top four team, a team that could compete for a conference championship, too. A team that could compete for the national tournament, like these are all conversations that haven’t been had here in nine to 10 years.”
With the program now reaching the potential Breton thought the team could reach at the start, he is solely focused on UNK.
“I said no to some offers that people would kind of be shocked that I said no to, because I have an intention to make this the most successful program that it’s been before I ever leave here and we’re pretty close,” Breton said.