Page 12 Fall Football Preview • Thursday, August 28, 2025 sailor. mnsun. com
BRECK MUSTANGS
New coach sparks renewed excitement
DOMINIC BISOGNO dominic. bisogno @ apgecm. com
Change is very much afoot with the Breck Mustangs who are featuring new leadership on and off the field this season.
RUND’ S DEBUT
Breck is welcoming a new head coach, Christian Rund, for the upcoming season. Rund previously served multiple positions at Washburn and is a South St. Paul graduate. He went on to play college football, primarily as a wide receiver, at Hamline and the College of St. Scholastica, before returning to the Minneapolis area to work with Minneapolis Public Schools.
The new Mustangs head coach explained that, while he does not have a history at Breck, the opportunity to write a new chapter for him and the program was a big point of interest.
“ At first, admittedly, there was just the knowledge of the school, the tradition here, but no personal connection,” Rund said.“ That actually made this opportunity all the more exciting when I saw it open up, because it really felt like the perfect opportunity to implement some of the things I’ ve been working on throughout my career. … We want to invest in being a tough football program. We’ re going to be accountable, but we’ re also going to be tough and make sure that the other team knows who they’ ve just played after 48 minutes. That’ s how you build a winning culture here.”
Rund inherits a program looking for a fresh start, having struggled toward the tail
( SUN PHOTO BY DOMINIC BISOGNO)
New head coach Christian Rund( in white) speaks to Breck players between sessions of offense versus defense scrimmaging.
end of dedicated multi-sport head coach Marcus Harris’ tenure. Their schedule, as has been common, features a mixture of local public schools and private schools. The Mustangs will look to improve on their two-win 2024 season, which came after two straight years of four wins per season.
Rund noted that the core of his message is structured around accountability. He feels that the message is being heard out at Breck, where there are signs of football growing.
“ Our program ethos is accountability wins. We’ re all firm believers in being accountable to ourselves and the people around us. Holding yourself to a high standard is a key to finding success in life,” he explained.“ We’ re prioritizing being great people, great students, and great athletes, and always in that order. … We’ re trying to bring a lot of life and positivity into the space. We want to engage as many student athletes as we can and grow our numbers. I’ m really excited to be able to say we’ ve expanded the program with a flag football program for K-5. That’ s a luxury of an opportunity for us as a( pre-k-12) school.”
Despite some challenging obstacles, the Mustangs have some proper potential to look forward to. Their quarterback crew includes a returning option in John Henry Bernsten that could help get the ball rolling early, and an arsenal of possible wide receivers from the class of 2026, including a potent CJ Roberts
Attending a Breck football game, one might notice that Rund is on the younger side, just 29 years old as of publication. Rund sees positive sides to his age, but is also not interested in using the number as a source for perceived advantages or excuses, explaining that whatever age he is, he is prepared.
“ I don’ t really buy into [ my age being important ]. I don’ t think it’ s about age, I think it’ s about readiness. I know I’ m ready for this. That being said, I do think I can connect with these guys right now in a way I might not be able to in the future. I can talk to them about how things were done when I was playing and it wasn’ t that long ago and you know, just to
See BRECK | PAGE 25
QUICK HITS
Head Coach
Christian Rund First season
Last Year’ s Record: 2-6
Key Returning Players
A number of options out of the class of 2026 will give the Mustangs reason for optimism. A quarterback option at John Henry Bernsten( 2026) can help get Breck off and running while working with a wide receiver crew that features the likes of Oliver Kuhn( 2026), CJ Roberts( 2026), and Mu Muhammad( 2026). Running back and linebacker Alex Averbook( 2026) will also surely have a role to play.
There will also be growing pains defensively to handle, but some experience from the likes of linemen Wyatt Carlson( 2026) and William Oltmann( 2026) could go a long way for Breck. Breck’ s success this season will in large part come down to getting consistency and focus from its core players, a cause potentially helped by some new energy on the sideline.
Schedule
Aug. 28: @ Harding / Humboldt Sept. 5: Edison Sept. 12: @ St. Cloud Tech Sept. 19: @ St. Agnes Sept. 26: Concordia Academy Oct. 3: Brooklyn Center Oct. 10: @ St. Croix Lutheran Oct. 15: South St. Paul
Game times 7 p. m. unless otherwise noted