That dozen is not just the number of D-III players currently known to have received an invite to an NFL training camp, for sure. How big of a breakfast does it take to feed an NFL offensive lineman? What did new-old Franklin coach Mike Leonard do when he was away from coaching the Grizzlies for the past five years? And why does Illinois College coach Ray DeFrisco keep coming back, year after year?

Those are some of the key questions getting asked and answered on this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

Plus …

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by GameStrat: The Most Reliable & Fastest In-Game Video Replay System on The Market. D-III football coaches should click here to learn more.

No, seriously, that’s a lot of eggs. How did Middlebury offensive lineman Thomas Perry get to where he is today, a workout legend and an All-American who got invited to the Baltimore Ravens minicamp? He also talks about his experiences with Julian Young, a linebacker at Colby who will also be going to the Ravens, plus the workout that helped start him well down the road to where he is today.

At Franklin, Mike Leonard wasn’t expecting to get his old office back, and that space has some new decorations that we talk about. Hear what kind of camp Leonard will be attending this offseason. And at Illinois College, the days of putting up 96 points in a game might be over, with the standout quarterback and wide receiver and the offensive coordinator all moving on, but the philosophy remains. Hear about that and the new names you’ll hear this fall and more from IC coach Ray DeFrisco.

Plus we talk about the NESCAC finally getting its chance to play in the playoffs — even if it isn’t until 2026. Will that attract more talented student-athletes to NESCAC schools? That’s a question in our mailbag segment, and we also talk about the likelihood of radios in football helmets at the D-III level.

Patrick and Greg cover it all in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

The D3football.com podcast is a podcast that is weekly during the season and monthly in the offseason, by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas. The podcast was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

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After keeping fans waiting for more than a year, the American Southwest Conference finally had something to say about its membership situation, and it did so with a bang, swiping two teams from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference to shore up its membership and bring it back to six for the fall of 2026.

Who does that affect? It affects the SCAC folks, who were on the way to getting an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs, and we’ll hear more about the reaction of the conference when we sit down with conference commissioner Dwayne Hanberry on this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

Plus …

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by GameStrat: The Most Reliable & Fastest In-Game Video Replay System on The Market. D-III football coaches should click here to learn more.

Plus, the two schools that are going back to the ASC are doing so, apparently $4 million richer apiece. But for Schreiner, this represents a big leap up in competition for a program which hasn’t even played a game yet! Schreiner isn’t set to play a varsity game until 2026, but the Mountaineers’ timeline just got altered a bit. We talk with Schreiner’s head coach — Keith Allen, the second coach in this young program’s history — about how that changes things for him, one month into his tenure.

And more change in Division III this upcoming season includes, of course, the fact that there won’t be nearly as many fifth-year players. That’s the case all over now that the extra year of eligibility because of the COVID pandemic has largely worked its way through the system. At Coe, they’ll feel the loss of two seniors classes at once, and coach Tyler Staker tells us how they’ll adjust and what’s expected of the student-athletes who need to step up in 2025.

A lot of news happened in the past month aside from the ASC/SCAC as well, and we’ll talk through it all, including the upcoming NESCAC presidents’ meeting, the new Cortland coach, our soon-to-become Division III schools in Azusa Pacific and St. Francis (Pa.), and which one of those said it will dominate Division III. Plus, with two brand-new football programs coming online in the Conference of New England in the fall, where would the CONE likely rank? Stat of the Week in March? Conference rankings in March? Patrick and Greg cover it all in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

The D3football.com podcast is a podcast that is weekly during the season and monthly in the offseason, by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas. The podcast was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

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The current football student-athletes of the NESCAC are probably too young to envision a crowd of fans in the Astrodome chanting “Let them play!” about the Bad News Bears. They are too young to remember the Astrodome. And they are nothing like the Bad News Bears, but still, the powers-that-be in the New England Small College Athletic Conference have not allowed their conference teams to participate in the Division III football playoffs.

Ever.

Because the Ivy League does it that way, right? Well, that’s changing, starting this year, and a group of NESCAC student-athletes are organizing on their campuses to make sure that they don’t get left behind, or pushed off another year. That’s the NESCAC Football Players Association (NESCACFBPA), a group representing football student-athletes at all 10 member schools, and we talk with a number of them on this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by GameStrat: The Most Reliable & Fastest In-Game Video Replay System on The Market. D-III football coaches should click here to learn more.

The presidents of the NESCAC need to act now, not wait and make these student-athletes wait for another year when they have waited for generation after generation already. Hear from Vaughn Seelicke of Tufts, Jack Lucido of Wesleyan, Parker Huynh-Benningfield of Bates, Aidan Moss of Middlebury and Justin Keller of Tufts about the issues, what they learned from Ivy League student organizers, and how they are working to make this happen here, in 2025.

In addition, we chat with new Lewis & Clark head coach Brett Elliott. Yes, that’s the Brett Elliott who has been offensive coordinator at Linfield, who led Linfield to a national title as a quarterback and was the 2005 D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year. He’ll talk about the quick and efficient interview process, how he found out who his leaders are on his new team, and what he did on his first weekend on the job.

Plus we update the Cortland coaching search and take your questions, many of them, and more in this edition of the podcast, as we start Season No. 19.

The D3football.com podcast is a podcast that is weekly during the season and monthly in the offseason, by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas. The podcast was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

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Whether it was a Red-Letter Day or a Red Dawn or Red Cardinals Fly at Night, Stagg Bowl LI was another example of the ongoing red shift in Division III football, as North Central won its third title in its five consecutive trips to the Stagg Bowl and ensured that the Walnut and Bronze would have a red tint to it for the third year in a row. 

Luke Lehnen reached the remaining records in the book. The offensive line kept his uniform clean, in this first Stagg Bowl on grass in more than 20 years. The defense eventually solved Tyler Echeverry, or at least slowed him down, even if it couldn’t stop him. And for the people who want to view Sunday’s game as more fodder for a head coaching change, why would you advocate for removing a coach who has won 93.3% of his games? Division III is getting harder and harder every year, and Mount Union is still there at the end more times than not. 

Patrick and Greg and guest/former co-host Keith McMillan break down the game, the key decisions that were made on each side, the big plays and more, plus hand out game balls in this edition of the podcast. Over/under on how many game balls Keith hands out? 5.5.

Plus, we named Lehnen, Spencer and Bethel safety Matt Jung our top award getters, and you can hear how Patrick and Greg and Keith McMillan got to those decisions in this podcast. 

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. We will be taking the rest of January off from the pod and plan to see you in February.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

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North Central and Mount Union are back, and we’re ready to get you to kickoff of Stagg Bowl LI on Sunday night. How healthy are each of these teams? What new wrinkles might we see offensively? How many snaps will Noah Beaudrie get at quarterback for Mount Union? How many passes will Luke Lehnen end up throwing for North Central?

We give you a taste of what we hear from players from both sides of the ball, whether it’s Luke and the Linemen as a boy band for 2025, or Rossy Moore on his favorite way to add productive weight during the season. Plus hear from one player who says he’s too old to deal with all the bumps and bruises, plus those who know their career is ending on Sunday, no matter what.

Geoff Dartt and Brad Spencer each weigh in on key questions surrounding their team and Stagg Bowl LI, plus you’ll hear way more on our pregame show for the game on Sunday night. Frank Rossi joins us and … actually agrees with Logan Hansen on math? What? And it’s Stagg Bowl time, so you know, there’s a musical number involved, now that we’re past the holiday season.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

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We’re down to the best two teams in Division III football, both of whom are playing their best games at the right time. Mount Union is certainly firing on all cylinders now on offense after some struggles during the regular season, and you’d be hard-pressed to find more than one thing that went wrong for North Central as they absolutely demolished Susquehanna.

How did they get here? What do we do with the two weeks off? Who benefits more from that extra nine days? Soccer stadium for the Stagg Bowl — is that really OK? We talk about all the key moments of the semifinals, plus take your questions in this edition of the podcast. We talk about the depth of the North Central running backs. We discuss the two-quarterback system for Mount Union and how it worked in key spots. And more.

Plus, we can’t forget that Cortland coach Curt Fitzpatrick is leaving D-III, and we talk about that move plus another, possibly bigger move, with one of the top defensive players in Division III this season going into the portal and coming out as a scholarship player with the University of Wisconsin. You know, UW-Madison. The one in the Big 10. And what has been our favorite semifinal games to cover/attend/watch?

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

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Touchdown or no touchdown? Hold or no hold? Should the game have been over?

So many questions, and not the ones we would prefer to be asking about a game in the Division III football national quarterfinals. And yes, there were many questions about the final moments of the Bethel-Susquehanna game, and whether they should have been the final moments, so to break it all down, we talk to someone who was there on the sidelines taking it all in. Frank Rossi will have opinions, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, but they may not be the opinions that others share. He’ll talk us through the questions from the closing plays of Susquehanna’s 24-21 win, one which sent the program back to the national semifinals for the first time since 1991.

Plus, how hard-hitting was that North Central-Springfield game? Not just who got thrown out, but who got knocked out? How quickly can one adjust to seeing the spread option or triple option offenses up close and person like that, compared to in practice, and how did Mount Union practice and prepare for seeing it in Salisbury? And we welcome Keith McMillan back into the podcast as he went to Johns Hopkins and chatted with coach Dan Wodicka and some of the key players afterward.

Plus, we hand out game balls as we go through all four games and give our thoughts on three questions from listeners. three reader questions. Including the NESCAC, team GPAs, and more.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

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Yep, we all thought we knew exactly what to expect from the round of 16 of the Division III football playoffs.

What did we get instead? Something way, way more interesting. That’s the national champion being ousted. That’s St. John’s falling at home on the final play of the game. And that’s a bracket with four quarterfinal games, three of which are being hosted by teams in Region 2 and none in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Ohio. (Shout out to Illinois as the fourth host!) Besides, Division III football isn’t scripted. It’s not the NBA.

Instead, we have Springfield, having beaten the No. 2 team in the nation and the defending national champion, then getting into a plane to play at No. 1 North Central. Did you have “getting on a plane” on your Springfield football bingo card? You know they’re looking forward to this, and the memories that form from such an event, and Pride coach Mike Cerasuolo joins us on the podcast for the first time since so long ago we hadn’t started numbering yet. (But it was Podcast 146, from May 2016, when Cerasuolo was first hired.) He talks about what the triple option actually is, how his team got past Cortland, and the challenge the Pride have ahead of them.

Plus, we hand out game balls, including one to a star running back who, actually, has really become a much better blocker this season. We run down all eight games and give our thoughts on the upcoming quarterfinal matchups. Plus we take three reader questions, one about those Road Dogs from Belton, Texas, one asking which team’s phase of the game or position group surprised us most and one about the Gagliardi Trophy. Plus, be the first people to learn when we will release the 2024 D3football.com All-America team!

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

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Now everyone in the playoffs has played at least one postseason game, or if you look at it another way, more than 60% of the playoff games are already over. And people are in a hurry to dismiss the WIAC, and they’re in a hurry to crown NPI, because higher seeds have won 21 of the 24 games. (Of course, higher seeds have been at home in 23 out of 24 games, which might be a factor.)

What did we learn from these games? Of the remaining high seeds, which ones improved their standing, improved their chances of going deep into this bracket, and which ones’ chances are diminished? Patrick and Greg go through it all in this edition of the podcast. And most importantly, if the Texas Lutheran-Linfield game was dessert, what kind of dessert was it?

We hear from coaches and players involved in second-round games on Saturday, and we sit down with Johns Hopkins coach Dan Wodicka to talk about his team’s heart-stopping finish against Grove City, their defensive prowess and their offensive adjustments as the season has progressed. Wodicka, who played for and coached under the late Jim Margraff, talks about how playing at JHU made him want to coach there, and reminds us how the program is carrying on Margraff’s memory.

Plus, who is leading the staff pick-em contest that is better known as Quick Hits? Stay tuned to hear about whose picks are doing the best, and to hear a tribute to his performance so far. 

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. This podcast was re-published on Monday evening to try to get the feed on Spotify to recognize it.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

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When you’re on the road on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, tune us in. We talk with North Central coach Brad Spencer about how his team adjusted to having a bye week at the beginning of the schedule, we hear from about a third of the coaches remaining in the bracket both about what they’re thankful for this Thanksgiving season and how they’re handling Thanksgiving with their players, and we have a special guest.

Mike Gutelius, the head coach at Catholic U., was diagnosed just before the season with an incurable form of cancer, a glioblastoma in his brain. But he didn’t give up coaching his team — not all of it anyway. He has been getting the care he needs and still was on the sidelines for the vast majority of the Cardinals games, and he talks about it and his prognosis and treatment and … well, thankfulness, on this edition of the podcast.

Plus, which of Saturday’s second round games is the main course, which is the dessert, and which is the green bean casserole? Those are the questions that catch our eyes when we put out the call for the mailbag. We take that question and more, plus Patrick and Greg roll out their score prediction for every game in the second round. You won’t want to miss it. (By the way, they do not agree on who will win each of the 16 games.)

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.