Tag Archives: North Central (Ill.)

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ATN Podcast 407: Headed to the Titans; New sounds for Bison

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The biggest news for Division III football coming out of the NFL draft was, as usual, not about a player getting drafted. We are accustomed to that by now, sadly, and no amount of tweeting is going to convince the NFL to draft D-III players.

But for Tyren Montgomery, the contract offer came. And for four additional players so far, the rookie minicamp invite arrived. And on this podcast, we talk to Montgomery, the former John Carroll wide receiver, now a member of the Tennessee Titans, about his route to the NFL. If you read our feature on Montgomery last September, you already know the back story. He talks about what he’s been working on since the season ended, how many calls his agent got on his behalf, what he likes about the Titans and why he chose them out of the number of offers he received.

We also chat with Bethany coach David Blake, who joins the Bison this year and brings a number of new ideas to the sideline after a wide variety of past experiences, including flying jets in the Navy and then working for the Judge Advocate General’s office. How that experience plays out as a first-time head coach is really fascinating, and is worth a listen. This includes some interesting uses of music during practice and workouts, and a really unique title for one of his assistant coaches.

Other topics of discussion include, of course, the demise of Anna Maria College and the Anna Maria football program, the future arrival of St. Anselm from NCAA Division II, the St. Francis schedule, the new WIAC commissioner and the intriguing Week 1 matchup between UW-River Falls and Southern Virginia.

In addition, we take your questions on the following topics: What is our opinion on D-III schools scheduling teams? Who has set themselves up for a playoff bid? And how many games and teams are we able to watch per week?

Links: Tyren Montgomery feature, September 2025, Trading in his high tops

That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is a weekly conversation about NCAA Division III football, and has been running since 2007.

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

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Photos: John Carroll athletics; Bethany athletics; Saint Anselm athletics

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ATN Podcast 372: Flipping the script

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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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.
Photos by Mark Evrard, d3photography.com

 

 

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ATN Podcast 359: Definitely not a slow week

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Sometimes Week 2 of the Division III football season can be a bit of a letdown.

We know — teams generally improve the most between Week 1 and Week 2, says every football coach ever. But for the fans, Week 1 is a huge rush, and Week 2, well, some conferences are on bye and with fewer games, some years it just doesn’t stack up.

For the record: 2024 was not one of those years. Instead, how about a fantastic Week 2, with some course corrections on the field, and some more in the D3football.com Top 25 as well.

We’ll whip you through the big games in Division III from this past weekend, chat with a 24-year-old and introduce you to a 26-year-old Air Force veteran who has plenty to share with his younger teammates. We’ll hear from the wide receiver who transferred from Aurora to North Central only to have his season opening game against … Aurora. And much more. To see a list of all the teams talked about in this podcast, look at the list at the bottom of the post.

Math Correspondent Logan Hansen talks about the three biggest playoff leverage games for Week 3, plus give a snapshot for how those top eight seeds are looking. There’s a surprise team, according to the numbers!

We also hand out game balls to the top performers, pick out the stats of the week, and run through region by region to get some of the other stories you might have missed, such as the team which scored 30 points in the fourth quarter to rally from behind and win. And since that didn’t seem to be enough, Greg and Patrick have to pick one more region to tell one more story about on the fly.

Plus we chat with St. John’s quarterback Aaron Syverson, right after his team finished defeating Wartburg and giving him some much needed relief from a bad afternoon in 2022. There’s that and so much more in this week’s podcast, so give it a listen!

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. New episodes are published weekly during the season.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.
Salisbury athletics photo by FOTOJOE PHOTOGRAPHY INC./Hannah Reagle