Recruiting Regions: Sheboygan, Green Bay, Northeast Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the southeastern United States
On the heels of back-to-back conference championships and trips to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, Colin Bruton is back for his third year as head coach of the Lakeland football team. He also serves as the Lakeland's associate director of athletics for external relations.
In his first two years as head coach, the Muskies have posted a combined 15-7 overall record and an 11-1 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland made consecutive appearances in the Division III playoffs for the time in school history and also extended its string of conference titles to three straight years.
The Muskies finished 7-4 overall in 2016 and with a 5-1 conference mark shared the NACC title with Aurora. Lakeland routed the Spartans in their regular season meeting to clinch the conference’s automatic berth to the playoffs, and there the Muskies pushed top-ranked UW-Whitewater in an eventual 45-27 loss. Lakeland hit its stride late, averaging 49.7 points in winning its final three regular season games, and Michael Whitley was named the conference’s offensive player of the year for the second straight season.
Bruton’s first year leading the Muskies was a hit, as the team went undefeated in the NACC and made its first trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs since 2009. Lakeland finished 8-3 and concluded the regular season on a seven-game winning streak before falling to Wheaton in the first round of the playoffs. The Muskies boasted one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country in Whitley, and along with an opportunistic defense and special teams won eight games for the first time in 10 years.
Bruton took over the head coaching position after serving as Lakeland's defensive coordinator under former coach Kevin Doherty for eight years, and he continues to run the defensive unit. His Lakeland defenses have been known as attacking, aggressive units that performed well in the NACC.
The Muskies’ 2014 defense ranked them among the top defenses in all of Division III, finishing in the top 25 in 10 national statistical defensive categories last season, including the top 10 in seven categories. The Muskies were third in rush defense and red zone defense, eighth in total defense, sacks and tackles for loss per game, 14th in scoring defense and 17th in fewest first downs allowed. Bruton was recognized for the team's fine season as he was named one of six finalists nationally for the FootballScoop.com Division III Coordinator of the Year.
Under Bruton, Muskie defenses also led the NACC in scoring defense and total defense in 2011 and were second in total defense in both 2008 and 2010 as well as second in scoring defense in 2010. Lakeland also led the conference in turnovers forced in 2010 and ranked in the top half in the conference in turnovers forced three times in four years from 2008-11.
Prior to arriving at Lakeland, Bruton served for three years as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He played collegiately at Benedictine, where he was a two-year starter and three-year letter winner from 1999-2001.
Bruton completed his bachelor's degree in 2004 at the University of Illinois, where he majored in political science. He also has a master's degree in adult education from UW-Platteville, which he completed in 2006.
Bruton and wife Brenda were married in 2013, and the couple resides in Sheboygan with sons Colton (8) and Canaan (2).
