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ATN Podcast 377: Let them play!

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

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Tufts athletics photo

 

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ATN Podcast 376: Houston, we have a champion

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

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

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

 

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ATN Podcast 375: Taking you up to kickoff

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:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photos by Damara O’Malley, Patrick Coleman, D3sports.com