D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

A weekend of big games begged the question for D3football.com Top 25 voters as to which team should be No. 1. While there are 19 voters who picked Team Alliance Purple as No. 1, there are now six in Team Belton Purple’s camp. Are you of the mind that “the champ is the champ until they lose,” or are you more likely to favor whoever is playing better at the time? Pat Coleman and Ke...

There are six huge games between ranked teams (or ranked teams and unbeaten teams) this week, and this is a week Pat will be on the road, as he is heading out to Los Angeles to see a pair of games involving evenly matched teams at each end of the SCIAC. Big games abound: No. 7 Hardin-Simmons at No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor; No. 5 Frostburg State at No. 6 Wesley; No. 10 UW-Oshkosh at No. 8 UW-Whitewate...

We love a gutsy call. Sure, our job isn’t being put on the line when a coach makes the decision to go for two at the end of a key game, but this is Division III — the coach’s job isn’t really on the line on one play call. We love a little gamble, especially when it pays off. Whether you call a Philly Special (or something that looks similar but fools the broadcaster) or som...

While the rest of you were no doubt glued to C-SPAN or your news network of choice to watch a certain hearing of sorts from Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Pat and Keith were listening to a certain interview from Belton, Texas. That’s right, Mary Hardin-Baylor coach Pete Fredenburg is back, and there’s going to be trouble … potentially, for UMHB’s opponents. Fredenburg talks...

We could spend a lot of time talking about the Mount Union-John Carroll game, and all of its ramifications — so we’ll do that. For a while, for sure. But there were plenty of other games of note on Saturday in Week 4, so we’ll have plenty to talk about. Off the beaten path, we have a team which scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to win. We have a team which rushed for minus-5...

There could be even more blowouts than usual in the Week 4 Top 25 schedule, so we’re hoping for perhaps a couple of surprises, as well as a great showdown between No. 1 Mount Union and No. 15 John Carroll. Otherwise, the games this week could include a lot of blowouts. So, our correspondents have focused on some great matchups in the middle of conference races, or games that could shape conf...

It was a surprising win for Misericordia, a surprising comeback for Thomas More. There were some great defensive performances and there was some good kicking as well. Yes, we can give a kicker or two a game ball, right? And we’ve been talking about this rant by Widener coach Mike Kelly, which came before his team lost in Misericordia’s sixth win ever, so we’ll really get down to...

There’s rain going on in the southern Mid-Atlantic Region, and that has cancelled games, postponed games and forced games to move up. But there’s also a discussion about heat and humidity in one conference, and that is forcing games to move as well. This year, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference instituted a heat and humidity policy which is affecting some games this week...

We are getting back into the flow in the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. This is the 200th edition of this podcast, entering its 12th season, and Pat and Keith use it to run down the Week 1 games. Plus, we use it as a way to get into talking about a couple of uncomfortable subjects — there are two possibilities about the 2018 season that people seem afraid to admit, and Pat and Kei...

Pat and Keith open the August podcast with some really big news about the future of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. It’s probably considered good news for people who like the podcast, but we won’t spoil it here in the description. The guys get us all ready for Week 1 with a look at the biggest half-dozen games coming up this weekend, with games starting Thursday night. Pl...

This is really the end of the offseason, right here. Kickoff is out in a week-plus and training camps open at the same time. Coaches are taking the last days off until November, and we’re talking with them about their plans for this season. Our guests this month are from programs trying to break through into the upper echelons of really tough conferences. Matt Walker, coach of UW-River Falls...

The month of June is the last month of serious offseason. By the time we get to the end of July, our Top 25 and preseason All-America teams are out and you can throw away those magazines that give you one page of D-III content and render our division 99% invisible. As Pat and Keith work on Kickoff, there’s attention given to all 250 teams, whether you’re No. 1, No. 26, No. 138 or down...

It was shocking to hear the news come out on Monday afternoon that Wesley football coach Mike Drass, just 57 years old, had died. And while Pat and Keith add their condolences to the outpouring of well-wishes for the Wesley football family and the Drass family, there’s a big legacy of Mike Drass’s to talk about. Hear from two-time D3football.com All-American receiver Larry Beavers, who...

With Pat Coleman in the midwest and Keith McMillan on the east coast, our podcasters don’t often have the opportunity to meet in person and record an interview, let alone an entire podcast, but that’s what happened this time. As Pat traveled across the country in May, he chatted with Illinois Wesleyan coach Norm Eash and Westminster (Pa.) coach Scott Benzel, and then Pat and Keith met...

We are deep in the Division III football offseason. It’s already been more than 90 days since we crowned Mount Union national championship and it’s more than five months before we restart.  Spring practice is getting started, at least in warmer climates, and there are still some open coaching positions and some 2018 schedules left to finalize. We’re curious about what the Stagg B...

When you first become a head coach, there’s a flurry of things to do, a bunch of things to learn, and not always enough time to do it or enough people to lean on to get it done. Only after that first season might a coach then have time to step back, re-evaluate, and consider what they might want to do differently.  On this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast, we’re...

January might not seem like a busy month in Division III football, but Division III was represented on the big stage, both at the Sugar Bowl and the Senior Bowl, while the offseason got a bit of a late start for teams that advanced in the playoffs. To wrap up January, we talked with Wooster offensive lineman Patrick Mohorcic, the captain of the AFCA’s Good Works team, about his work combatin...

Our traditional gathering to end the Division III football season takes place in Salem, at Mac & Bob’s. In 2015, when the Internet connection at Salem Stadium cut off our postgame broadcast, we started recording our final podcast there. And last year, we recorded it live, for an audience. That tradition was short, but sweet, one of the many things we did for the final time. But Pat and K...

Wait, a podcast on a Thursday? Yep, that’s right — Pat Coleman and guest analyst Frank Rossi step up to the mic in Salem for a special edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast focused on getting you ready for Stagg Bowl XLV. We talk with players on both sides for their perspective and highlight a couple of places where the game Friday night could well turn.  Plus, we tal...

We’re pretty sure you already know what this podcast is about: two teams left, two epic performances, one in the comeback from 25 points down in 24 minutes and the other being another stifling defensive performance. Pat and Keith break down the games, with Keith looking at each game a second time and giving his first keys to the game for Stagg Bowl XLV. This week, Fanraise is the sponsor of...

Quarterfinals week — or semifinals, if you’re already looking ahead, is part of a nutritious Division III diet. Whether it’s a last-second field goal, an unexpectedly expected quarterback change, or an expected defensive and special teams battle, the four games Saturday had enough to keep any Division III fan interested. This week, Fanraise is the sponsor of the D3football.com Ar...

OK, yes, this second round of the playoffs was bad, in an epic way. No doubt. How bad? We’ll talk about that, for sure. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything we can learn from this week’s postseason games, because we definitely got a better look at some teams, even if there are a couple of teams advancing that haven’t yet been playoff tested. This week, Fanraise...

Yes, two top 10 teams are eliminated who should have had a better chance to advance into the second round, and it’s crazy that we have to wait until Sundays to find out who is hosting each round of the playoffs, but the stuff that happened on the field was pretty entertaining in the first round of the 2017 Division III playoffs. Pat and Keith talk about all 16 games, plus the surprise player...

So, we’ve become accustomed to a bracket with two flights in the first round, instead of one. Last year they told us it was no longer a one-time thing, and this year they followed through on that. But why is it that we can only keep two highly ranked teams apart for a round? Why do No. 5 and No. 8 play in order to potentially play No. 1 in the next round? You can find out more in this week&#...

We’re under a week from Selection Sunday. Only seven automatic bids are still up for grabs, and most will be really hard to pry away from the favorites. But what if both Washington & Jefferson and Case Western Reserve run the table? What if Widener upsets Delaware Valley? What if (insert your scenario here)? You can find out more in this week’s D3football.com Around the Nation podc...