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ATN Podcast 282: Wesley memories

At the time this episode was recorded, Wesley was scheduled to play one last time this upcoming weekend. It’s not exactly a fitting end for a proud Division III football program, but in this 2020-21 season, it’s the end we have. And even then, that game against a junior college was also scrapped.

The Wolverines were not always a Top 10 program. When Wesley joined the Division III ranks in the mid-1980s, they lost their first 25 games. Those struggles included a time where the team had to make a call: play a powerhouse team while suiting up only 27 players, or sit the week out. We’ve collected those memories and more of 30-plus years of Wesley football for this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

Who did one player get way too hyped up to play? What did one 18-year-old young man do on his first long snap of his Wesley career? Who clocked a future NFL player out of bounds in a hyped-up matchup? And who got the big play to send the Wolverines to the playoffs for the first time?

The following Wesley alumni and others associated with the Wesley football program sent in their memories for inclusion in this podcast: Milt Alexander, Norman Bauer, Jason Bowen, Nick Cipot, Shaun Clark, Eric Czerwinski, Calvin Griffin, Shawn Matthews, Chris Panter, Ken Pippin, Jason Schatz, Justin Sottilaire, Rick Vogel, Dante Walker, Matt Walker and Mike Ward. And special thanks to Chad Kragh, former athletic trainer at Wesley, for helping us reach so many of these alumni.

Plus, Pat and Greg look back on some of the great conference title games of the past few weeks, hand out game balls, and talk about all the games that haven’t yet been postponed. All that and more in Podcast 282.

Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan 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.

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Full episode: [display_podcast]

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Theme music: DJmentos.

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ATN Podcast 277: The teams left standing

This eternal offseason is destined to continue, but even into mid-August, things move so quickly that conferences, and individual schools which had been sure they were going to play football games this fall, have turned out to be headed back to the sidelines.

That leaves very few teams still in a position to play ball this fall, but we’ll talk to two schools who just had their season dashed this week and one which is still on course.

Adrian has 150 players on campus already and is looking to play up to its maximum five games, the number of games a team can play without using a year of its student-athletes’ eligibility. And they might want to go beyond that. Bulldogs coach Jim Deere talks about who they’ll play, who they are talking to, how they’ll keep the players safe and how important sports is to the college.

Simpson was among the schools that had its fall hopes dashed when the American Rivers Conference reversed course and changed its mind after previously saying their schools would play football in the fall. Storm coach Matt Jeter talked to us mere hours after the decision was announced and discusses the quick change, what happens to the student-athletes left in travel limbo, and how he might use his team’s 114 permitted days of football over the next academic year.

And we talk with Northwestern (Minn.), which had a five-game schedule lined up until every American Rivers Conference team slated to play had to drop off the schedule. The Eagles have to go back to watching from the sidelines as well, and coach Matt Moore talks to us about that process and more.

We discuss that and more in Podcast 277.

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

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

Full episode: [display_podcast]

Related content: ATN Podcast 192, also with Northwestern coach Matt Moore

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: DJmentos. Photos by Simpson athletics, Adrian athletics, Northwestern (Minn.) athletics

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ATN Podcast 274: Who knows what’s next?

One school has announced already this spring that it is closing, and who knows whether there will be more?

How many Division III student-athletes missed out on their NFL opportunity because of the shutdown of pro days and in-person scouting?

What kind of Division III football season will we see this fall? Will we see it in the spring instead?

In this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast, we talk with one coach who held an online spring practice, another who got four actual on-field practices in, and then we talk about the big picture of college and college athletics here headed into the summer. 

Huntingdon and coach Mike Turk got the players together on the field for a few practices this spring before everything closed down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kyle Sweeney held his spring ball with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps entirely on Zoom. You’ll hear about their different experiences in Alabama and California in their podcast interviews. Dan Dutcher, the vice president for Division III at the NCAA talks about the chances of spring football. And Chris Pesotski of Cavalier92 Consulting, a former D-III student-athlete and coach, gives his take on where higher education is headed in this time of uncertainty. What’s the most important thing coaches can do at this time? Plus, Pat and Keith play matchmaker and give their dream non-conference game for any season.

We discuss that and more in Podcast 274.

Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests 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:

Full State of D-III interview with Dan Dutcher on Hoopsville podcast, D3hoops.com

Theme music: DJmentos. Huntingdon photo by d3photography.com.