Frequently Asked Questions: General category

1. Who are you, and why did you start this site?
2. Isn't Division III just glorified high school football?
3. How come my team isn't ranked higher in your poll?
4. Is there a site like this for... ? (pick your sport)
5. How is this site funded?
6. What's with the popup ads? Can I block them?
7. What's with your east coast bias? Why don't the west coast teams get any coverage?
8. Why are you biased against my school?
9. Can you change our enrollment to (your figure here)?
10. Where can I find recruiting info?
11. What Division III players have been drafted by the NFL?
12. How do news releases get selected and posted?
13. Is redshirting legal in Division III?
14. How many Division III players are in the NFL?
15. Are any Division III alumni playing Arena Football?
16. What schools have added Division III football?
17. Do Division III schools offer athletic scholarships?
18. How is the Play of the Week chosen?

Answers

Who are you, and why did you start this site?
I've been following Division III football since the early '90s, ever since the likes of Duquesne, Iona and Georgetown played D-III. I'm a 1994 graduate of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and was the SID at Catholic and at Gallaudet in the '90s before becoming Operations Chief at Baseball Weekly and working on the sports desk at USA Today. I'm the executive editor of the D3sports.com network and also do day-to-day news operations on D3hoops.com. The other schools I applied to besides Catholic? All D-IIIs: St. John's, Macalester and Oberlin. I started this site and took over D3hoops.com because I was disappointed as a student and later as an SID at the lack of national coverage of these worthy student-athletes.

Dec 4, 2002 by Pat Coleman

Isn't Division III just glorified high school football?
You can think that if you like, but you'd be wrong. If you've ever suited up for a game or been through a two-a-day you'd know differently. Heck, even standing on the sidelines should give you an idea.

But don't take our word for it. Here's one parent's take:

"I have to admit that before my son started playing at Wabash, I thought D-III football was just trumped-up high school football. I didn't know anyone that had played it and never saw a game. That impression lasted until he was rung onto the team and I got a look at the size of some of his teammates."

Nov. 12, 2010 by Pat Coleman

How come my team isn't ranked higher in your poll?
There are 25 voters on each panel -- six from each of the NCAA's four regions with myself as the 25th voter. The voters are coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members. We do not reveal individual voters' names because we do not want them subject to lobbying and backlash from coaches and fans of teams. This is something we have experienced in voting for other polls.

We send our voters an exhaustive amount of info each week for them to consider, including the schedule and results for each team that gets votes or that could merit votes, the record of each opponent, the combined record of opponents a team has beaten and the location of the game.

Oct 22, 2003 by Pat Coleman

Is there a site like this for... ? (pick your sport)
We also run D3hoops.com, D3baseball.com, D3soccer.com and D3hockey.com, with D3sports.com launched in 2010-11 to try to fill in some of the gaps. There are other sites that cover Division III sports and some general small college sites for other sports, but nothing in this style and with this detail. We'd run other sites, but then we would get no sleep whatsoever.

Updated April 16, 2012 by Pat Coleman

How is this site funded?
We are funded primarily through ad banner sales and used to derive a great deal of income through pop-up ads. However, reader response was so great to Kickoff 2005 that we were able to eliminate the need to run that type of advertising.

Kickoff and merchandise sales are also sources of revenue.

In the past we have gotten donations from grateful users of the site and for a period of about 18 months that was what kept us from going under. We are thankful for your support, although we are not currently soliciting user donations. Occasionally schools donate as well, finding that keeping this site running is more valuable to them than subscribing to print magazines and newsletters. We certainly give more bang for the buck. If you'd like to buy advertising space, please send us an e-mail at info@d3sports.com.

June 1, 2003 by Pat Coleman

What's with the popup ads? Can I block them?

D3football.com and D3hoops.com no longer use popup ads. If you see popup ads, you may have been infected with spyware.

A word or two about blocking ads, though: ad blockers take the money out of our pockets.

Unfortunately, you see, we don't get paid if someone blocks ads. But of course, we still get charged for the bandwidth to send the pages to you. (Though some would like to believe so, this isn't akin to listening to public radio for free. It's as if someone were willing to pay the public radio station for you to listen, yet you lied to the person and told them you weren't a listener.)

With the immense amount of bandwidth this site serves per month we have to pay thousands of dollars a year simply to have the site online, let alone cover the games. Then there are broadcast rights fees for the NCAA, travel to postseason games, the list goes on. All we ask is that users view a couple ads per page.

Technology's progression continues to find ways to defeat ad blockers. Since it costs us money when you hit the page, and we do not ask you for any money in return, all we ask is for you to allow us to make money when ads are shown.

Feb 11, 2003 at 12:00 AM

What's with your east coast bias? Why don't the west coast teams get any coverage?

Only 6.3% of the football-playing schools in Division III are in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone. We believe we do give them more than 6.3% of our coverage. However, schools can improve their own coverage by posting news releases directly on our site.

April 17, 2012 at 12:00 AM

Why are you biased against my school?

We're not biased against your school. Odds are you're so biased for your school (as you should be!) that it clouds your judgment when you read legitimate analysis from unbiased people. Occasionally fans of certain schools give us reason to dislike that school's fans, but we don't maintain a dislike for any Division III program. Besides, if we were to list the number of D-III programs we were allegedly biased for and against, you'd find many of the same names on each list. It's a matter of perspective. You may be so far to one direction that we, standing in the middle, look to you like we're on the opposite side. 

Aug 19, 2003 at 12:00 AM

Can you change our enrollment to (your figure here)?

We get our enrollment figures from the U.S. Department of Education, and the figure represents full-time undergraduate students. We've done this for consistency's sake, since some schools send us full-time numbers, some all undergraduates, and nearly all round the number up. When your school files its annual Title IX report with the U.S. government, we'll update using those numbers.

Aug 24, 2003 at 12:00 AM

Where can I find recruiting info?

Division III recruiting info is a mixed bag. There's no national signing day, no letter of intent and nothing binding a kid to actually attend the school, or even to play football when they're there. You don't truly know what recruits you have until they show up in August for training camp. That, in combination with the fact that many key D-III players are not on the radar of the people who rank college prospects, is why there isn't any national recruiting news at this level.

March 21, 2004 by Pat Coleman

What Division III players have been drafted by the NFL?

The following is a list of all Division III players drafted into the NFL since 1991. This is not an all-time list:

This is not the entire list of Division III players drafted, just dating to 1991. Chris Warren (90th overall in 1990 by the Seahawks out of Ferrum) and Pete Metzelaars (75th overall in 1982 by the Seahawks out of Wabash) are prominent earlier Division III draftees.

April 30, 2011 by Pat Coleman

How do news releases get selected and posted?

All Division III football schools have a username and password given to the Sports Information office. They may use this to post news releases (and scores and game stories) directly on our site.

Aug. 31, 2004 by Pat Coleman

Is redshirting legal in Division III?

You are not permitted to redshirt in Division III. Redshirting is the practice of having a player attend and participate in practices but not play in any games, preserving a year of eligibility. Medical redshirting (also known as a medical hardship season) is still permitted at the Division III level. The general guideline is that you must have played one-third of the scheduled games or fewer in order to be eligible. If you suffer a season-ending injury in that time-frame and can document it, your conference (or athletic director, if an independent) can file paperwork with the NCAA on your behalf to restore a season of eligibility. So-called "routine" redshirting is still permitted at other levels and those redshirts are recognized by Division III in general, although some conferences may not recognize them. (You will want to confirm with your school's compliance officer if you are transferring in.) That is, if you redshirted outside of Division III and then transferred to a D-III school, you would not be forced to give up that year of eligibility. (To redshirt in this manner you may not appear in any games whatsoever.) And of course, anyone who had a routine redshirt year at a Division III school before Aug. 1, 2004, has that redshirt grandfathered in.

April 9, 2005 by Pat Coleman

How many Division III players are in the NFL?

This is a difficult question because it requires one to define what you mean by "in the NFL."

In the 2012 season, here are the D-III NFL players:

Active roster

Buffalo: Fred Jackson, RB, Coe
Indianapolis: Jerrell Freeman, LB, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Jacksonville: Cecil Shorts III, WR/RET, Mount Union
Kansas City: Andy Studebaker, LB, Wheaton
Miami: Jason Trusnik, LB, Ohio Northern; Kyle Miller, TE/S, Mount Union
Philadelphia: Nate Menkin, OL, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Seattle: Steven Hauschka, K, Middlebury
Tennessee: Mike Preston, WR, Heidelberg
Washington: London Fletcher, LB, John Carroll; Pierre Garcon, WR/RET, Mount Union

Physically unable to perform list

Detroit: Chris Greenwood, CB, Albion

Practice squad

Chicago: Matt Blanchard, QB, UW-Whitewater (was released)
Philadelphia: Derek Carrier, TE, Beloit

Injured reserve

Kansas City: Alex Tanney, QB, Monmouth

Hauschka was drafted out of grad school at N.C. State.

Matt Turk (P, UW-Whitewater) may have reached the end of his long NFL career. Jerheme Urban (WR, Trinity, Texas) was not picked up for the 2012 season after nine seasons in the league. Byron Westbrook (CB/ST, Salisbury) was not picked up for the 2012 season. Nate Jackson was in the Browns camp in 2009 after several years with the Denver Broncos and was cut. Michael Allan (Whitworth/Chiefs) was cut at the end of camp.

Dec. 12, 2012 by Pat Coleman

Are any Division III alumni playing Arena Football?

Yes. We haven't updated the list in a few years but there are some prominent Arena players from Division III, including two on the Philadelphia Soul: Averett's Jeff Hughley and Wesley's Bryan Robinson.

June 10, 2012 by Pat Coleman

What schools have added Division III football?

Here's a list of those who are "new" to Division III football, starting a couple of years before D3football.com opened:
1997 - Greensboro
1998 - Mary Hardin-Baylor
1999 - Mount Ida
2000 - Averett, East Texas Baptist, Louisiana College, Rockford, Shenandoah, Wisconsin Lutheran
2001 - Christopher Newport, Utica
2002 - No new programs
2003 - Endicott, Huntingdon, Husson
2004 - North Carolina Wesleyan
2005 - Becker
2006 - LaGrange, SUNY-Maritime
2007 - St. Vincent, Birmingham-Southern
2008 - St. Scholastica
2009 - Anna Maria, Castleton State
2010 - Pacific
2011 - Presentation, Stevenson
2012 - Misericordia

These programs have been announced and are in the building process but have yet to take the field:
2013 - Hendrix, Berry, Southwestern
2014 - George Fox

Finlandia may start in 2014 as well. It announced its program would start in 2012 but quietly pushed the start date back indefinitely.

Updated Oct. 1, 2012 by Pat Coleman

Do Division III schools offer athletic scholarships?

You'd be surprised, but we do get this question very frequently. No, Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships. That's a basic tenet of the Division.

Sept. 26, 2006 by Pat Coleman

How is the Play of the Week chosen?

SIDs, coaches, even fans can send us video to nominate a top play from the past weekend's games to be the D3football.com Play of the Week. Email us a video file or a link to the video at info@d3sports.com.

Deadline: 5 p.m. ET on Mondays.

Fans: If you don't have access to the video, let us know which play we should be looking at and we will try to chase it down. 

Some tips:

• Please send just one play, not an entire highlight package
• Email attachments up to 25MB have gotten through
• Prefer video with broadcast audio
• If not available, natural sound is vastly preferable to no audio

Sept. 29, 2010 by Pat Coleman