Football in its Purest Form

D3Playbook NOVEMBER 5, 2019 | written by Steve Ulrich your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers. >> Happy Election Day. "We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." - Thomas Jefferson >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please invite your colleagues to sign up below. >> Today's Word Count: 1,379. Less than 6 minutes. Brief, concise, smart. Subscribe to d3Playbook 1.  Football in its Purest Form "This picturesque Middle America town was founded in the 1850s, when three small communities merged. Two major railroad lines intersected in Alliance, making the town’s train depot vital to its economy – so much so that Main Street was designed specifically to draw traffic toward the depot. That fact earned Alliance a nickname: “The town where Main Street is a dead end.” Alliance is home to the University of Mount Union, a small, private liberal arts college that happens to have one of the most dominant college football programs ever. The Purple Raiders have won 13 NCAA Division III national championships, the most of any program in any division of college football. Eleven of those titles came during the program’s 27 seasons (1986-2012) under now-retired coach Larry Kehres (pronounced Care-us), whose .929 winning percentage is the highest in college football history. Kehres’ impact on football at large might be better judged, though, by the incredible number of coaches his program produced. Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and Toledo coach Jason Candle played for Kehres in the early 2000s, and one of their teammates — Alex Grinch — now is at Oklahoma, tasked with fixing the Sooners’ defense. But the Mount Union coaching factory isn’t limited to those big names, or others like Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. It is also represented by the dozens of small college and high school coaches spread throughout Ohio and the United States." >> The Big Picture: "It was football in its purest form. It became a place where guys really had an unbelievable passion for the sport of football." - Matt Campbell, head coach, Iowa State >> Reality Check: “It probably teaches you that if you’re fortunate enough to be at the Division I or the NFL level, it teaches you some of the stuff that goes along with this level — the game-day atmosphere and some of that stuff — that can’t be at the forefront of why you do it. It makes you trace back to some of the roots you had playing there, the love of the game, the love of developing people.” - Jason Candle, head coach, Toledo >> The Final Word: “Coaching is teaching. Teaching is the ability to inspire learning.” - Larry Kehres, director of athletics, former head coach, Mount Union >> The Legacy: Click here for a list of the entire Mount Union coaching tree since 1962 (p. 36-37) >> Keep Reading with a subscription to The Athletic (it's worth it) 2.  Write a Fight Song Applause all around to the Traditions Committee at Ramapo College. The committee is issuing a call for all creative sorts to see who can best capture the Roadrunner spirit in song. So what is a fight song? According to Webster Dictionary: a song used to inspire enthusiasm usually during an athletic competition. But we will add this: It's a call to arms!  It fosters school spirit! And it brings us together to support our Roadrunners! #WeAreRCNJ The winner will receive an amazing Ramapo swag basket and have the lyrics adopted as the College's official fight song lyrics. The winning lyrics will be chosen by the Ramapo Traditions Council and be announced and performed at the basketball game on February 5th in conjunction with the pep band. Need some inspiration? Here are some DIII fight songs that we were able to pull from the Internet. We found many lyrics ... and just a few melodies. Christopher Newport DePauw Gettysburg  Hope LeTourneau  Lycoming Manchester New York U. Rhodes Saint John's Simpson Trinity University Washington and Lee Williams  Wisconsin-Whitewater Wittenberg >> Borrowed: In 1905, an Oklahoma student borrowed the tune of Yale's fight song (who themselves had borrowed the tune) and wrote the lyrics to what is now called "Boomer Sooner." >> Background Music: FiveThirtyEight's guide to the exuberant nonsense of college fight songs. >> The Greatest Fight Songs in College Football History (Sports Illustrated) >> Go Deeper 3.  AMCC.TV The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) is excited to announce the rolling out of the AMCC TV mobile apps, available on both Apple and Android devices. Both apps are now available, just in time for soccer and volleyball postseason tournaments.  The AMCC and BoxCast have signed a three-year deal which allows the league to showcase all conference institutions as they compete live on the web and on all mobile devices, with the ability to watch on Apple TV and Roku coming in 2020. With the deal, AMCC institutions will also have the ability to live stream other events on campus, such as commencement, award ceremonies and guest speaker presentations. Family and friends will also have the ability to access AMCC TV on Apple TV and Roku in 2020. Fans can find the free app by searching their Apple or Android app store for "AMCC TV." SPONSORED MESSAGE Searching for talent for your athletic department? Need assistance with a departmental review or a strategic plan? Time to refresh your conference's policies and procedures? ASC is dedicated to small colleges and is committed to providing solutions for your concerns. Contact Kurt Patberg (kpatberg.asc@gmail.com), Kim Fierke (kim.fierke.asc@gmail.com) or Steve Ulrich (steveulrich.asc@gmail.com) to see how ASC can help your organization. 4. Polls Football - D3Football.com Mount Union (8-0) Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-0) UW-Whitewater (8-0) Wheaton, Ill. (8-0) Muhlenberg (8-0) North Central (7-1) Salisbury (7-0) Saint John's (7-1) Bethel (7-1) John Carroll (7-1) 11-15: Wartburg, Wesley, Delaware Valley, Union, Chapman. 16-20: Hardin-Simmons, Ithaca, St. Thomas, Susquehanna, Case Western. 21-25: Redlands, Berry, Linfield, Bridgewater, Texas Lutheran. >> Hello: Bridgewater, Texas Lutheran. >> Bye-Bye: UW-Platteville, Cortland. >> Be Smart: NCAA Regional Rankings begin Wednesday. Football - AFCA Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-0) Mount Union (8-0) UW-Whitewater (8-0) Wheaton, Ill. (8-0) Muhlenberg (8-0) North Central (7-1) Wartburg (8-0) Salisbury (7-0) John Carroll (7-1) Delaware Valley (8-1) 11-15: Bethel, Saint John's, Wesley, Hardin-Simmons, Case Western. 16-20: Chapman, Union, Linfield, Ithaca (tie), Susquehanna (tie). 21-25: Berry, St. Thomas, Bridgewater, Redlands, Brockport. >> Greetings: Redlands, Brockport. >> So Sorry: UW-Platteville, Cortland. >> Other Undefeated Teams: Bridgewater (8-0), Case Western (8-0), Chapman (7-0), Middlebury (8-0), Union (8-0), Wartburg (8-0). Ice Hockey (M) - USCHO UW-Stevens Point (1-1) Norwich (1-0) St. Norbert (1-1) Geneseo (1-0-1) Oswego (1-0) Hobart (1-0-1) Augsburg (2-0) Adrian (1-0-1) Trinity (0-0) Manhattanville (1-0-1) 11-15: New England, UW-Eau Claire, UMass-Boston, Curry (tie), Utica (tie) >> Hello: Curry >> Goodbye: Babson Ice Hockey (W) - USCHO Plattsburgh (2-0) Adrian (3-0) Elmira (0-0) Hamline (0-1) UW-River Falls (2-0) Williams (0-0) UW-Eau Claire (2-0) Norwich (0-0) St. Thomas (0-1) Middlebury (0-0) 5.  Comings and Goings  Brian Bruess will step down as president of St. Norbert College at the end of the academic year. Bill McLean named head men's rowing coach at Washington College. Katy Mitton named assistant women's basketball coach at Amherst. Landon Steiner named assistant baseball coach at Transylvania. 6. Preseason All-Americans D3hoops.com has announced its 2020 women's basketball preseason All-America team. First Team G-Madeline Eck, Amherst; G-Hallee Hoeppner, UW-Eau Claire; G-Makenzie Mason, Scranton; F-Hannah Frazier, Wheaton IL; C-Katie Garrish, Southern Virginia. Second Team G-Hannah Holt, Mary Hardin-Baylor; G-Victoria Pena, UT-Dallas; F-Emma Gerdes, Wartburg; F-Alexis Nall, Hanover; F-Kelly Williams, Randolph-Macon. >> Complete List 7.  1 Krispy Kreme Thing   "Minnesota has many fine qualities, but the state lacks something crucial: a Krispy Kreme. The land of 10,000 lakes hasn’t had one of the popular doughnut stores for 11 years. That simple matter of no supply but overwhelming demand prompted Jayson Gonzalez to make the four-hour drive to Clive, Iowa, every week to buy the coveted confections, for resale back in Minnesota. Gonzalez, a senior at Metropolitan State University, in St. Paul, would load his Ford Focus with 100 boxes of a dozen doughnuts and get them to customers around the Twin Cities. One regular customer told the Pioneer Press that she happily paid $17 to $20 per box. Gonzalez used the money to pay off his student loans. Then, he said, he got a call from someone at Krispy Kreme’s Nebraska office, telling him to shut down his resales. They were creating a liability for the company, he said he was told. Krispy Kreme, however, quickly changed its mind. Gonzalez announced on his Facebook page on Monday that the company would allow him to continue in business. Now what’s missing in Minnesota is a new car for Gonzalez. He’s raising money for a bigger vehicle, to deliver more doughnuts." - courtesy of Chronicle of Higher Education   Subscribe to d3Playbook