D3football Daily Dose

We could have nine automatic bids handed out this week and there are two head-to-head winner-take-all games, between Otterbein and Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference and between Trine and Adrian in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

There aren’t any live stats for the Otterbein/Mount Union game, but we’ll have updates here on the blog filling in some of the blanks. There’s live audio for that game and others on the Scoreboard.

I’ll be in Eau Claire, Wis., to see if UW-Stevens Point can keep up its run of nail-biters. In fact, I should be getting on the road pretty soon.

There are a couple of key Pool C (at-large bid) games — one of them between Rowan and Montclair State in the NJAC. I just stumbled on a Rowan football blog with some extra information worth checking out. Huntingdon and Hampden-Sydney play in Alabama in a game that affects both at-large pools. And we talked more about these games in the Triple Take yesterday, of course.

Plenty of other games, as always, and thanks to those who drop by with regular updates each week!

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Keith took the car out for a trip to upstate New York and came back with a pretty good game. What did Cortland State show Saturday in its win against Montclair State? Keith (and Cortland coach Dan MacNeill) give their thoughts in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

Also, Keith and Pat talk about the many other big games of the day, including the gutty performance by Salisbury at St. John Fisher. By the way, there’s also some pretty interesting news for Salisbury, Wesley, Case Western Reserve and Huntingdon in the podcast.

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A couple of transactions passed across my screen in the past few days. Last night we learned that Coe running back Fred Jackson, a second team D3football.com All-America running back in 2002, has signed with the Buffalo Bills. Jackson follows in the footsteps of Carey Bender, who played for the Bills in the mid-1990s.

Bender also played in NFL Europe, and Jackson might have a chance to do the same. Jackson reportedly has been allocated to NFL Europe. The NFL Europe training camp begins in mid-February.

Jackson played in the United Indoor Football League this past season and was the league’s MVP.

Jermaine Taylor re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be allocated to NFL Europe as well. Taylor, a two-time D3football.com All-American (third team in 2002, first team in 2003), was in the Bucs training camp last season.

(Minneapolis) Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman wrote this week that former Gustavus Adolphus wide receiver Ryan Hoag is working out in Florida with hopes of landing a spot in NFL Europe as a free agent.

There are three open head coaching jobs that we’re aware of, and here’s what we know about them:

Kings Point (3-7, 3-4 Liberty League in 2004)
Tim McNulty resigned at the end of March and the school intends to introduce his replacement tomorrow afternoon. All indications from the rumor mill point to Mike Toop, head coach at Division I-AA non-scholarship Davidson. Toop is an alumnus of the institution, also known as the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He’s 17-22 at Davidson, which has moved recently to playing almost exclusively I-AA schools instead of mostly I-AA and a handful of D-IIIs.

Pomona-Pitzer (4-5, 3-3 SCIAC)
Roger Caron left the school in early April to coach at Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Conn. The school still has his name on the Web site and his voice and name are still on the voice mail. That’s because Pomona-Pitzer believes Caron is taking a one-year leave of absence, according to athletic director Charles Katsiaficas, who expects Caron to return next spring. Scott Rynne will coach the team in 2005.

Waynesburg (7-4, 3-2 PAC)
Jeff Hand left for conference rival Westminster (Pa.). The school says it intends to go through a search and hire a “permanent” replacement but time is awful short for that.

Also, Brent Becker was named interim head coach at Lake Forest in February, but will be coaching there in 2005. A search will begin at the end of the season.

The Observer-Reporter in Washington, Pa., sure thinks so. After the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Jeff Hand (and no other names) as a finalist for the open Westminster (Pa.) job on Wednesday, the O-R is reporting Hand is the man.

Westminster has a news conference scheduled for 2:30 ET this afternoon.

D3football.com First Team All-American and 2004 Gagliardi Trophy Winner Rocky Meyers will play football this summer for the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns of the German Football League according to a Wesley College newsletter issued on April 1.

Earlier this spring the Northwest (Ill.) Herald reported that Wisconsin Lutheran Strong Safety Ryan Elbrecht has signed a contract to play for the Helsinki Wolverines (logo pictured) in a Finnish professional league.

Texas Lutheran tight end Matt Ross, a third team D3football.com All-America selection, signed with the Vikings. That’s the first D-III signing reported in. He caught 28 passes for 546 yards and six TDs. He joins Ryan Hoag (Gustavus Adolphus) on the offensive side of the depth chart. Blake Elliott was released. Picture at left.

UW-La Crosse fullback Matt Pagel signed with the Chargers. More from the La Crosse Tribune.

Hobart guard Alex Bell has been invited to the New York Giants rookie minicamp, where they will work him out at guard and center.

A new six team league called the Atlantic Indoor Football League recently began play with a host of former Division III players on its rosters.

Teams are based in Canton (OH), Erie (PA), Richmond (VA), Raleigh (NC) and Johnstown (PA). A sixth team called the “Ghostriders” appears on the AIFL site but I’m not sure what hometown they haunt.

There are too many Division III players to list here, but take a look at the Canton Legends Roster which reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of former Mount Union stars, plus former Baldwin-Wallace QB Dan Larlham.

Other noteworthy Division III alums include BC’s Marcus Richardson (Richmond) and Thiel’s TJ Wiley (Johnstown).

Keith Emery, new Western New England football coach, told the Springfield (Mass.) Republican how he found out the job was open:

Emery saw the job posted on D3football.com

“As soon as I saw it, I shot out my resume,” Emery said.

We’ll bill you the finder’s fee separately.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune picked up on the St. Mary’s football rumors. They haven’t played football on the Winona campus since 1955. St. Mary’s is the smallest school in the MIAC. More from the Strib.

A member of the school’s Board of Visitors told D3football.com, “I would hate to see our 50-year unbeaten streak put in jeopardy.”