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ATN Podcast 304: Mules in Spain; Meeting Peter Jennings

We are under 100 days until the kickoff of the 2022 season and as the offseason continues, so does our series of conversations with new Division III coaches at nationally prominent schools. This month, we chat with Peter Jennings, who moved this spring from UW-Whitewater, where he was offensive coordinator, to become head coach at UW-Oshkosh. He talks about competing in the toughest league in Division III — and in the WIAC, that isn’t just coachspeak, it’s verifiable.

Before we get to him, though, we have a guest calling in from Barcelona, Spain. That’s where Muhlenberg was this week, playing a local club team and generally soaking up the atmosphere oceanside, seeing the sights, and learning some history. Nate Milne, the Mules head coach, sounds like a history teacher when he talks about the importance of taking his team on a foreign tour, and that’s for good reason.

Plus, Pat and Greg have some advice for someone who might go to Spain and not bring their spouse, Peter Jennings discusses the proper pronunciation of WIAC, and we answer listener questions: Which conference is most likely to suffer because of fewer at-large bids? Will a one-dimensional team ever win the national title again?

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

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

Full episode: [display_podcast]

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:

Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
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iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Stitcher: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
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Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo: Muhlenberg football

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ATN Podcast 302: Are the Purple Powers still at the top, plus, North Central’s new coach

The podcast is back, as we start our 16th season here at the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast, and we’re doing it this time around by going a little more in-depth and doing a deeper dive with one coach, in one conversation.

With that in mind, Pat Coleman stopped by in Naperville, Illinois, on a recent Division III basketball road trip and checked in on new North Central coach Brad Spencer. Spencer had been in the job for six weeks, but had only just moved into the head coach office a day and a half earlier. He and Pat talk about Spencer’s long relationship with North Central — not just as an assistant coach, not just as a player, but … as a bat boy? Plus, they talk about what makes the head coaching job different, what keeps him from getting his lunch eaten on a daily basis, getting to know the guys on the other side of the ball, etc.

Also, Pat and Greg borrowed a couple of “big picture” type questions which come from D3boards.com message board posters MUC57. Are the Purple Powers still on top in Division III? Why is the WIAC so good? You know, that sort of thing. Great offseason conversation and fodder. Plus, there’s just a small amount of basketball talk, as Pat and Greg recorded this episode while looking at each other during, as each was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for the Division III men’s basketball Final Four.

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

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

Full episode: [display_podcast]

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:

Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Google Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Stitcher: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo: North Central athletics

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ATN Podcast 301: Vote coming on smaller conferences, pads in practice

If it seems like there is always something important about Division III football being voted on at the NCAA convention, well, we think you’re probably correct. This year, there is a significant proposal that could limit using pads in practice during the fall, but add time with pads and helmets in the spring.

This proposal is long and convoluted. Should it be broken up into smaller pieces and voted on individually? What does it even mean for Division III football teams and coaches.

The second proposal is much shorter but could have much longer-ranging effects. If the proposal to reduce the number of teams needed for an automatic bid in Division III sports is changed from seven teams to six, there could be one at-large bid which disappears almost immediately, and we only have five to begin with. Pat Coleman talks about what the consequences could be for football. In addition, an expert panel talks about the reasonings behind the proposals and whether they will pass. That panel: Stevie Baker-Watson, the athletic director at DePauw; Brad Bankston, the commissioner of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference; Jason Fein, the athletic director at Bates and co-chair of the NCAA Division III management council; and Angel Mason, athletic director at Berry and Chair of the NCAA Financial Aid committee and the Division III Technology Committee.

Pat Coleman and Dave McHugh, sitting in for Greg Thomas, talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

This podcast contains excerpts from a much longer Hoopsville podcast on D3hoops.com. To hear or see the full version, go to Hoopsville.

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

Full episode: [display_podcast]

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:

Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Google Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Stitcher: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo: Birmingham-Southern athletics