ATN Podcast 305: Early D-III powers bring coaches back to D-III

Wittenberg played in the Stagg Bowl four times in the 1970s, winning two of them. One of those wins was against Ithaca, which played in four of the first eight Stagg Bowls and has played in seven overall, winning three of them. The teams even met in Stagg Bowl IV. While this is not your father’s Wittenberg or Ithaca, these programs haven’t exactly gone away, either, and are still relevant. At least one is in the playoff hunt every year, it would seem. And each this year has a new head coach, which is why we tabbed Ithaca’s Michael Toerper and Wittenberg’s Jim Collins to join us on Podcast 305. This continues the series, now blatantly intentional, of offseason conversations with new coaches at Division III contenders, one started in Podcast 302 with North Central’s Brad Spencer. We asked the listeners for suggestions as to which coach or coaches we should talk to next, and we also opened up the floor for listener questions. Pat and Greg tackle the following: What team is likely to be a surprise playoff team in 2022? How has the pandemic changed Division III football? What’s more beneficial to a struggling program, playing a nine-game schedule or having a 10th against a juggernaut? Some heavy questions, plus Greg finds out what’s on Pat’s Division III football bucket list. 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: