ATN Podcast 306: From Columbia to Division III

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Pat Coleman

This month’s podcast finishes our offseason series of conversations with new coaches at Division III playoff contenders, and we get to Podcast 306, where we talk to Carnegie Mellon head coach Ryan Larsen. Larsen is just 35 years old, and he replaced Rich Lackner, who had been head coach at CMU since literally before Larsen was born.

Larsen came from Columbia to take this job in Division III, and so did Andrae Murphy, the new head coach at Dean. In fact, Larsen and Dean had offices next to each other. We hear their stories of working together, plus Murphy talks about returning to Dean, his alma mater, which was a two-year school when he attended.

Murphy talks about his decision to join the U.S. Army between his playing career at Dean and the beginning of his coaching career, and Larsen tells us about the mantra that Murphy brought to the Columbia program, and is bringing to Dean.

Plus, we react to today’s news of a new Division III bowl game, the Lakefront Bowl, by matching up the remaining conferences that do not play postseason bowl games. So Pat and Greg run down the list and give every remaining potential game a name, and a sponsor. Who sponsors the ASC-SAA game? The SCIAC-NWC game? We’ve got ideas! And with preseason Top 25 season around the corner, Pat and Greg field a listener question asking which teams have the potential to be big movers up and down the poll from how last season ended.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

ATN Podcast 305: Early D-III powers bring coaches back to D-III

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Pat Coleman

Wittenberg played in the Stagg Bowl four times in the 1970s, winning two of them. One of those wins was against Ithaca, which played in four of the first eight Stagg Bowls and has played in seven overall, winning three of them. The teams even met in Stagg Bowl IV.

While this is not your father’s Wittenberg or Ithaca, these programs haven’t exactly gone away, either, and are still relevant. At least one is in the playoff hunt every year, it would seem. And each this year has a new head coach, which is why we tabbed Ithaca’s Michael Toerper and Wittenberg’s Jim Collins to join us on Podcast 305. This continues the series, now blatantly intentional, of offseason conversations with new coaches at Division III contenders, one started in Podcast 302 with North Central’s Brad Spencer.

We asked the listeners for suggestions as to which coach or coaches we should talk to next, and we also opened up the floor for listener questions. Pat and Greg tackle the following:

What team is likely to be a surprise playoff team in 2022?
How has the pandemic changed Division III football?
What’s more beneficial to a struggling program, playing a nine-game schedule or having a 10th against a juggernaut?

Some heavy questions, plus Greg finds out what’s on Pat’s Division III football bucket list. 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]

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:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

ATN Podcast 304: Mules in Spain; Meeting Peter Jennings

Posted on May 26, 2022 by Pat Coleman

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?

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30