D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

The Coaching Carousel took many spins since we dropped our previous podcast, and it's time we caught up with those movements and get someone on the podcast! That honor goes to Michael Zweifel at UW-La Crosse, who replaces Matt Janus after Janus's move to Division II. Zweifel was one of two finalists who were UW-L coordinators, but he says there was no feats of strength competition with fellow Eagles staffer Tarek Yaeggi, who is a La Crosse alumnus and remains offensive coordinator. Key topics of conversation: Will Zweifel continue to call the defense? And how did the all-time record-holding wide receiver in NCAA Division III history make that transition from offense to defense in the first place? As a guy who grew up around the UW-Whitewater Warhawks program, where his dad was an assistant coach, who were his favorite Warhawks? What changes does Zweifel have in mind for the La Crosse program? WashU didn't change coaches, but the football program is changing conferences this season, and that means going from the CCIW, where North Central and Wheaton stood between the Bears and the playoffs, to the North Coast Athletic Conference, where the list of teams at the top is even longer: John Carroll, DePauw, Wabash, now WashU. Bears coach Aaron Keen talks about what kind of offseason preparation they are doing to get ready for nine new opponents this fall, the long career of former head coach Larry Kindbom, who coached Keen as a player and remained on as a full-time assistant coach up until retiring at the age of 72. We also finish our mini-tour of Division III football programs in Southern California which are being revived as we chat with Azusa Pacific football coach AJ Parnell. Parnell is a former Bethel quarterback and assistant coach who returned to the west coast to bring this football program back, after it had been dormant since 2020, and to bring some Division III experience to an athletic department which could use it, as the school reclassifies from NCAA Division II to Division III. Our guests on this podcast: UW-La Crosse coach Michael Zweifel, WashU coach Aaron Keen and Azusa Pacific coach AJ Parnell.

The UW-River Falls postseason media campaign continued through the end of January, all the way through a parade through town and yes, one last interview with the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast about the 2025 season. Our guests on this podcast: UW-River Falls coach Matt Walker, John Carroll coach Brian Polian, and Whittier coach Cory White. It's the first episode of our 20th season, here on the longest running Division III football podcast. Is the next Falcons' quarterback on campus already, or is there a chance for a transfer for the fall? What did it feel like to lose some key players shortly after the championship into the portal? Which does Walker have more of, beers or championship hats? Those hard-hitting questions and more in this conversation with Matt Walker. Polian is brand-new to the job, but not new to college football head coaching, as the athletic director at John Carroll and the former head coach at Nevada. First off, we have to get his take on Ty Montgomery, who had a huge week in front of pro scouts at the Senior Bowl at the end of January, and we'll also hear how Polian plans to juggle both the head coaching and athletic director job, whose idea it was for him to apply in the first place, and what he told people who had interviewed for the role when he told them he was taking the job himself. Cory White is the new head coach at Whittier. It's a new day at Whittier, which is returning to the field after three years off. White says he would not have taken the job as the head coach of the Poets if not for assurances from the administration that they would do things better this time around. Hear about how many players the Poets have already (it's a big number) and where they expect to be in the fall, all with the team going through a strength and conditioning practice in the background on a beautiful January day in Southern California. That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

It isn't quite the best Stagg Bowl of all time, but surely there's nobody in River Falls, Wisconsin, who cares about that as UW-River Falls brought Walnut and Bronze home to the town of 16,000 on Monday after a 24-14 win against North Central in Stagg Bowl LII. Kaleb Blaha, with 419 yards of total offense, and three total touchdowns responsible for, with one final NCAA record to his name, was a deserving Most Outstanding Player of the Stagg Bowl, and you could make a case for a number of defensive players as well, as many made big plays throughout the night and down the stretch to ensure that the Falcons would fly home with the trophy. After the game, Patrick Coleman, Greg Thomas and postseason regular Keith McMillan sat down to discuss the big game, perhaps crack open a beverage, hand out game balls, hear the highlights, point out the interesting stats and give their big picture perspective on the big game and on the 2025 season. What was the good, what was the bad, and sure, what was the ugly of 2025? We also formalized the announcement of the D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year, D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year and D3football.com Coach of the Year. That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is a weekly conversation about NCAA Division III football, and has been running since 2007.

Coming to you from Canton, Ohio, it's our Stagg Bowl preview edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas are joined by Keith McMillan, as well as Seth Howard of the Left Hash Podcast and D1 Rejects, a former UW-River Falls quarterback and assistant coach who will be our sideline reporter for our audio broadcast of Stagg Bowl 52. (Watch on ESPN, then mute the sound and listen to us!) Patrick, Greg and Keith talked with a number of players and both head coaches at Friday's media day, and we bring a sampling of those conversations, of which you'll hear or see more on our pregame coverage. Hear what UW-River Falls safety Andre Hall thinks about the pace of the game compared to the pace of practice. Cortez Jones and North Central coach Brad Spencer talk about what you'll see when the offensive is playing well. Falcons Gagliardi winner and quarterback Kaleb Blaha talks about how it felt to get a few extra days off between games and our panel discusses both the mental and physical benefits of getting that time back. North Central's J.P. Sullivan talks about carrying on the tradition of great Cardinals defensive linemen. River Falls receiver Blake Rohrer discusses the Falcons wide receiver group. Cardinals receiver Thomas Skokna talks about the possibly unexpected way he and quarterback Garret Wilson built their chemistry. Falcons linebacker Gage Timm talks about how the UW-RF season has prepared them for this moment and coach Matt Walker talks about the important thing he had to do before he could commit to the Top Gun offense. UW-Oshkosh coach Peter Jennings joins us to talk about coaching against each of these teams this season, and how you can't play the comparative scores game when looking at his Titans' games against North Central and UW-River Falls. Plus, we take your mailbag questions, talk about coaching changes and much more. That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is a weekly conversation about NCAA Division III football, and has been running since 2007.