Category Archives: General

post

ATN Podcast 303: New UMHB coach; scheduling big; SOS

Posted on by

We’re continuing our offseason series diving into interviews with new coaches at Division III football powers, as we check in with Larry Harmon, the new head coach of the defending national champion, Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Much like last month’s guest, new North Central coach Brad Spencer, Harmon had been an assistant coach at his school for years, including defensive coordinator for the past 17. Harmon talks about what the expectations are for the Cru’s title defense, the transition into taking over the UMHB program, and what the team learned from spring ball. Plus, UMHB made some of the biggest news of the Division III offseason in April, announcing an ambitious non-conference schedule of Muhlenberg and UW-Whitewater.

Plus, three words: ASC-WIAC Challenge?! Sounds like it could happen.

That leads us into the other podcast conversation, where we dive into exactly what strength of schedule means, why it’s broken, and what it would take to fix it. We have that conversation with Logan Hansen, @LogHanRatings, the former Wartburg player whose ratings have been refined over the past decade to provide a quality ranking of Division III football programs.

The current SOS metric could take a couple of minor tweaks to fix obvious flaws, and we talk about those, but it needs a wholesale replacement which involves measuring home-field advantage, and yes, margin of victory. Logan talks about how that works, why running up the score won’t work, and much more in our conversation.

Plus, Pat and Greg talk about the various big games on the schedules that have been announced so far.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

post

ATN Podcast 298: Breaking down the semifinals

Posted on by

We get a new, never-before-seen matchup in the Stagg Bowl, and that’s something to be excited about. In the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast, Pat and Greg break down each of the semifinals, and North Central coach Jeff Thorne and Mary Hardin-Baylor coach Pete Fredenburg join us to do the same.

For North Central, the key performances came all over the field: from an offensive line missing two starters, from a freshman kicker called on to do the unlikely on a rainy and windy day, and of course from the dare-we-say future All-American running back and his quarterback, and the entire defense. We’ll talk about each of those performances.

For Mary Hardin-Baylor, of course, the biggest performance on offense was from the biggest man on the offense, Brandon Jordan. Plus the defense did more than enough to keep Alex Peete in check, and there are very few questions for UMHB. But we ask those questions anyway!

Plus, we talk about who the elite teams are in Division III football right now, and where does Mount Union rank among them after we’ve had two consecutive Stagg Bowls without the Purple Raiders for the first time since the early 1990s. And what the heck was up with the replay official in Whitewater on Saturday?

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.
Photos: d3photography.com, visitcanton.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

post

ATN Podcast 291: Bad break for SJU, tough loss for W&J

Posted on by

We have no idea who the leader of the PAC is right now. None. If you have four leaders, you don’t have any — at least, that would be the coach speak version of the answer.

We can’t fully clear up a four-way tie between Carnegie Mellon, Grove City, Washington and Jefferson and Westminster (Pa.), but we’ll make a start along that road.

St. John’s received some bad news over the weekend when starting quarterback, Aaron Syverson, broke his leg. Who replaces him and wat’s next for the Johnnies?

We’re joined for a Tight Five by Lake Forest coach Jim Catanzaro. Now that Jim is no loner the national committee chair, we can focus on his Foresters squad a bit, which is unbeaten headed into its contest on Saturday against Monmouth, one which might eventually decide the Midwest Conference title.

Our game balls go to Wisconsin and California. Our surprising results come from Ohio and … Ohio. Our off-the-beaten-path highlights come from Massachusetts and … Ohio. Our stats of the week, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Which two teams from the WIAC and CCIW will play in this inaugural Butter Burger Bowl … err, Isthmus Bowl? Which two teams should bury the hatchet and find some sportsmanship? That and much more in episode 291.

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:

Theme music: DJmentos.
Photos: Lake Forest athletics photo by Yanna Glaspy; Redlands photo by Doug Earnest; Grove City photo by Jason W. Kapusta

Podcast: Play in new window | Download