Allan’s life in the NFL

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D3football.com All-American tight end Michael Allan broke Division III’s draft drought in April when he was selected in the seventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s apparently enjoying his time in the Chiefs camp so far, which is miles away from the Division III experience.

At the D-3 level we never expected to receive such treatment and while the NFL is a completely different level, I saw no surprise in the faces of those who came from division 1 schools. Chartered flights, full meals, free gear and top-notch facilities was just something that they always had. It’s a change; a change I am excited to make and I cannot thank fans like you enough for making all of this possible.

Allan writes more in his blog on the Kansas City Chiefs Web site.

A well-deserved honor

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Congratulations to University of Rochester Sports Information Director Dennis O’Donnell on his recent induction into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame.

O’Donnell’s professional resume includes CoSIDA’s Irv Marsh Award in 2003, a 25 Year Service Award in 2006 and frequent trips to the men’s and women’s final four weekends, whether with the Yellowjacket teams or as a volunteer. Now he can add this Hall of Fame distinction, which is enjoyed by only 26 other members at CoSIDA’s College Division (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and Canadian Schools).

Dennis has also been a big contributor to our efforts in all the ways we could hope for — nominating All Region candidates, providing excellent pregame notes, posting game releases, and letting us know about interesting stories around the Rochester sports teams.

And like a lot of other Sports Information Directors at this level, Dennis works long hours behinds the scenes so University boosters, alums and parents can stay on top of UR sports. That requires a lot of patience on his part and we suspect a lot of support from his family.

Sports Information Directors are the silent partners of these websites in a lot of ways. They provide invaluable information and assistance for just about everything we do. So we’re very happy to add our congratulations to one of the best in the business.

It’s official: Strop was forced out

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Commonly speculated at the time, now it’s official: UW-Stout coach Todd Strop was indeed forced out in January. Since he was under contract to the school through July 1, he only recently spoke to the Eau Claire, Wis., Leader-Telegram.

You may recall his resignation came shortly after an outgoing UW-Stout player was arrested on drug problems.

“Obviously, from my point of view, I feel it was mishandled,” Strop said. “To me, from an outsider looking in, it looks like it was just swept under the rug and that, ‘OK, that situation is all cleaned up.’ But the reality is, the situation is still there to be dealt with, and I felt like I was the guy to deal with it.”

Of course, athletic director Larry Terry later got forced out in a similar manner, after it was revealed that six of 58 UW-Stout football players (10.3%) tested positive for steroids, five (8.6%) for marijuana and one (1.7%) for amphetamines. That apparently got him the ax, though the newspaper points out that 20% of Division III student-athletes in a recent NCAA survey said they had used marijuana in the past 12 months.

“I don’t think there’s another school in the conference that we could drug test where you wouldn’t find out that college kids smoke dope. It’s a reality,” Terry said.

I hope new coach Duey Naatz knows what he’s getting into — first piece of bad news and the chancellor could be calling for him, too.