This upcoming 2023 football season will have just four at-large bids. It's getting harder and harder to make the NCAA Division III football playoffs as an at-large team, there's no denying it. Before it gets even worse, this is the time that Division III administrators need to recognize the issues and act on them. Is the answer to expand the playoffs beyond 32 teams, into a sixth week? Where does this week come from? Or is the answer to raise the bar, so that a conference needs seven or eight teams to get a football automatic bid instead of the current ludicrous six? We surveyed Division III football head coaches for their opinions. And we convened a roundtable of Division III experts to talk through the issues and tell us what needs to be done next.
The post ATN Podcast 327: How do we fix the playoffs? appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

ATN Podcast 327: How do we fix the playoffs?

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When Crawfordsville and Greencastle, Indiana, found themselves beneath a total eclipse last week, it turned out to be a great time to combine a rare celestial event with a chance to talk with the coaches in one of Division III football’s top rivalries. In the case of DePauw, that’s Brett Dietz, whose team has won the Monon Bell two years in a row and whose school has the Bell proudly displayed in the entryway to its athletic center. For Wabash, there are two people with head coach in their title — Don Morel, the current head coach who is retiring after this year, and Jake Gilbert, the new defensive coordinator who has been tabbed the coach-in-waiting.
We talk with each of them in this edition of the podcast.
Plus, there’s new technology slated to come to the sidelines in college football this season, when teams can have up to 18 tablets on the sidelines or in the press box to make use of in-game video. But how exactly would that work? We invited Chad Ostlund, football film strategist, to join us and let us know exactly what will be approved, and whether D-III schools should be jumping on this for this fall. (Spoilers: Jump on this for this fall. Chad can help you figure out how.)
Plus, the mailbag is full of questions about the American Southwest Conference and its neighbors, plus we talk about the growth of the North Coast Athletic Conference, and perhaps what’s to come? Patrick and Greg discuss that and more in this edition of the podcast.
The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.
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The post ATN Podcast 352: Can’t eclipse the Monon Bell appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.
The post ATN Podcast 352: Can’t eclipse the Monon Bell appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

ATN Podcast 352: Can’t eclipse the Monon Bell

What's next? That's a great question this time of year, and we tackle that big question in a few ways in our January podcast, the first one of 2024.
Cortland, now the reigning and defending national champs, says what's next is turning the page, but before they do, we sit down with Red Dragons head coach Curt Fitzpatrick to reflect on a great (the greatest?) Stagg Bowl, and the aftermath, while talking about recruiting and the transfer portal and what his program is looking for for next season.
We ask what's next of Brad Spencer and North Central football. Spencer reflects on the play call that left his team out of the end zone on a two-point conversion with 80 seconds left in the game, then getting his players back in the meeting room on campus recently to talk about what happens between now and spring ball?
Something else that's definitely "next" in Division III is new programs taking the field, and the Roanoke Maroons will do so in a limited way this fall, and a more formal way in 2025. Patrick and Greg sit down with new Roanoke head coach Bryan Stinespring and his defensive coordinator, Mike Giancola, as they start the daunting task of taking a football program from an idea on paper to a unit on the field, one which will play on the same field the Stagg Bowl was just played on.
Plus, what's next in the Division III football playoffs? We talk about that drive for 40 teams. Patrick and Greg discuss that and more in this edition of the podcast.
The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.
The post ATN Podcast 351: What’s next? appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

ATN Podcast 351: What’s next?

We wrap up another season, here on the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Perhaps not as well as the Cortland defense wrapped up Luke Lehnen on the two-point conversion attempt pictured here on the page, but we try.
Was this the best Stagg Bowl ever? We've only seen about half of them in person, but our crew does its best to answer that question. Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas are joined by Keith McMillan, Ryan Tipps, and Frank Rossi and James Baker of In the Huddle. Plus, Cortland sports information director Fran Elia, a podcast superfan, stops by to chat, and we talk with and congratulate Cortland football fans who were getting a bite to eat and a cold beverage at the famous Mac and Bob's in Salem, Virginia.
Our crew hands out game balls, and talk about the unsung big plays of the game. Calling a time out? Sure. Fourth-down scramble? Definitely.
Is this a changing of the guard? Great question. Will the Stagg Bowl return to Salem at some point after this? We discussed it before, but after the game, maybe things seem different. 
Plus, Patrick has some news as to the order of quarterbacks the next time awards are handed out. You'll want to hear, complainers.
This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.
The crew discusses, in this edition of the podcast.
The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.
The post ATN Podcast 350: Wrapping up an amazing 2023 appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

ATN Podcast 350: Wrapping up an amazing 2023

It's great to be back in Salem covering a Stagg Bowl, and Patrick and Greg and Frank Rossi are here to preview Stagg Bowl with North Central and Cortland.
For North Central, it's the fourth time in a row they've been to a Stagg Bowl, and in four different places, so how does their experience stack up? For Cortland, it's the first Stagg Bowl, but does their experience playing the Cortaca Jug game in Yankee Stadium help this group prepare?
From Cortland, we talk with coach Curt Fitzpatrick, quarterback Zac Boyes, linebacker John Whiney and wide receiver Cole Burgess. And from the North Central side, we chat with coach Brad Spencer, quarterback Luke Lehnen, left tackle Jeske Maples, safety Julian Bell and wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy.
Will the Stagg Bowl return to Salem at some point after this? We discuss. Plus, we generally expect a high-scoring game, but how high? Over or under 94.5 points? Who will be the most prolific quarterback-to-receiver combo?
More over-unders, listener questions, and the rest in our Stagg Bowl preview podcast.
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ATN Podcast 349: We’re here for Stagg Bowl 50

Just as we expected -- one amazing national semifinal and one blowout. Never mind that people generally thought it would be the other way around -- not our predictions, by the way, which did not have North Central winning in a blowout.
We talk through the Cortland win against Randolph-Macon, hear the reactions of players Cole Burgess and Jack Winey as told to Keith McMillan, talk about what we learned and whether Saturday's defensive performance by the Red Dragons is enough to suggest they can slow down North Central.
We also talk through the implications of the North Central's narrow win, talk through the exciting plays that had the Cardinals on the ropes and the key defensive stops and big offensive plays which won the day. We also talk with quarterback Luke Lehnen about the experience of playing in the cold and wind, on the road, in a big game, and his sense of calm even as the Cardinals were struggling to move the ball. 
Plus, let's be honest. It's Stagg Bowl L. 50. FIFTY. And it's back in Salem, Virginia. That requires a special tribute, and Patrick Coleman is glad to provide. Scroll down for lyrics because they fly by pretty fast.
Plus, our listener questions: What do you suggest we do in Salem? We'll give our insight there plus tackle some other questions, as well as talk about who the loudest fans are and what else is coming up this week on D3football.com
This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.
Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas discuss, in this edition of the podcast.
The post ATN Podcast 348: And then there were two appeared first on D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

ATN Podcast 327: How do we fix the playoffs?

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