Studebaker, Garcon get sixth-round calls
Two Division III players were drafted and others have signed contracts or been invited to minicamps. Wheaton defensive end Andy Studebaker came off the board first, going to the Eagles with the No. 203 overall pick. He's projected as an outside linebacker in the NFL. Mount Union wide receiver Pierre Garcon went two picks later, to the Indianapolis Colts, at pick No. 205. They were the only two D-III players drafted. Studebaker played in just five games for the Thunder this season before injuring his foot. He had six and a half tackles for loss and five sacks in that time, finishing his Wheaton career with 30 sacks. Garcon caught 67 passes for 955 yards and 14 touchdowns for Mount Union in the Purple Raiders' run to the Stagg Bowl. "He's probably in truth a work in progress, but we'll see," Colts president Bill Polian said on the team's Web site. "All of the measurable(s) are there. He certainly would have been the first guy we went after after the draft had we not drafted him." And if your favorite player isn't drafted, don't worry -- Division III's most prominent player currently in the NFL, John Carroll's London Fletcher, wasn't drafted either. Check out more Division III football players signing free agent deals. Recent draftees:
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| Permalink | Apr 27, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Award winners get NFL shot D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year Jerrell Freeman signed a free-agent contract with the Tennessee Titans, while Offensive Player of the Year Justin Beaver was invited to the Green Bay Packers' rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. The Mary Hardin-Baylor linebacker and UW-Whitewater running back are not the only undrafted Division III players who will get a shot with an NFL team in the upcoming weeks, as names keep filtering in on the day after two Division III players were drafted. "They called me at the end of the draft and said they had been looking at me and wanted to know if I want to sign a deal with them," Freeman said. "It's been wild, but I am excited about having this opportunity." Wesley defensive end Bryan Robinson signed a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals. "It's going to be like starting all over again, like freshman year in college," Robinson said. "I'm going to have to prove myself, but this time it's against bigger and better competition." Bridgewater wide receiver Brandon Copeland signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns and leaves for their rookie minicamp on Thursday. Mississippi College wide receiver Jake Allen signed a free agent contract with the Packers. Ohio Northern's Lenny Trusnik joined his brother Jason in the NFL, signing a contract with the Browns. St. Olaf receiver Horace Gant signed a contract with the Washington Redskins. While Beaver was invited to the Packers' minicamp, the team revoked its original tryout offer to A.J. Raebel. Raebel was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings. Oberlin wide receiver Chris Schubert was invited to the Browns' minicamp. Carroll wide receiver Tyler Vogds was invited to the Vikings minicamp as a long snapper. Christopher Newport defensive back Rob Rodriguez, who was a senior and D3football.com All-American in 2006, was invited to the Chiefs' minicamp. And two players who started in Division III but ended in Division I got calls as well. Steven Hauschka, an All-Region kicker at Middlebury, played one season at N.C. State as a grad student and was signed by the Vikings, while UW-River Falls running back Owen Schmitt, who played three years at West Virginia, was drafted in the fifth round by the Seahawks. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 27, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Augie to spread it out on O Augustana threw more passes last season -- 13.6 per game -- than in the previous two years combined, but the number could get even bigger next year. Mchenrycountysports.com quotes incoming freshman wide receiver Jordan Peart as saying Augustana is going away from the Wing-T offense that won it four consecutive Division III national championships in the 1980s. Augustana confirmed the change in system. Last season, the Vikings were 71-for-136 passing for 894 yards and six touchdowns against four interceptions. It was the highest completion percentage in Augustana's recent history, 52.2 percent, with the most passes thrown. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 19, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
D-II assistant gets Frostburg State job Tom Rogish, the 12th head coach in Frostburg State's 47-year history, brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to Frostburg. Rogish began his collegiate coaching career at Juniata, but has spent the last 22 years at the Division II level at Indiana (Pa.) and Shepherd. "I'm honored to have the privilege to be the next head football at Frostburg State University," said Rogish. "I'm excited to be here at FSU getting ready for the upcoming season." Prior to his arrival in Frostburg, Rogish spent two years on the defensive staff at Shepherd. The Rams made back-to-back trips to the NCAA playoffs in 2006 and 2007 including a run to the NCAA Division II Northeast Region championship this past fall. The Rams were 25th in scoring defense (19.9), 13th in turnover margin (1.2) and 41st in total defense (321.3). "This is also a very exciting time to be at this great institution because of all the changes that are taking place," said Rogish. "With those changes to the administration and coaching staff, the university is moving in the right direction and I'm thrilled to be a part of it." Rogish, one of the top defensive coaches at the small college level, spent the majority of his collegiate coaching tenure with Indiana (Pa.), serving as the defensive coordinator from 1986-1993 and the associate head coach from 1994-2006. Under his tutelage, 113 players were named All-PSAC West defensive selections. He coached nine Associated Press All-Americans including two PSAC West Players of the Year. The Indians made the NCAA Division II playoffs 13 times from 1987-2002 including two national runner-up finishes in 1990 and 1993. During Rogish's stay at Indiana, the school posted 182 wins, had nine seasons with 10 or more victories, was ranked in the Top 10 in 17 of the 20 seasons and posted a school-record 13 wins in the 1993 campaign. Rogish spent two seasons at the NCAA Division I-AA level with Lehigh in 1983 and 1984, helping the Engineers (now the Mountain Hawks) to an 8-3 overall record in the second year and two AP All-American awards. He is a member of AFCA and has served as the chairman of the AFCA's Division II Assistant Coaches Committee from 1989-91 and 1996-2005. While in that role, he designed and maintained the Division II coaches' Web site and developed an e-mail distribution list for 154 D-II staff representatives. Rogish, who earned his Bachelor's degree in health and physical education from IUP in 1971, earned his master's degree from Frostburg State in 1981. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carthage assistant lands CUW post Greg Etter, defensive coordinator at Carthage for the past six seasons, has been named the new head football coach at Concordia (Wis.) replacing longtime Falcon mentor Jeff Gabrielsen who announced his retirement 10 days ago. "I am thrilled to be adding someone with Greg Etter's experience, character, and leadership ability to the Falcon coaching staff," said Concordia athletic director Rob Barnhill. "I have known Greg since the early 90's and have always respected what he has done as a football coach. The Falcon football program has enjoyed tremendous success and I know that this decision will ensure the continuation of that standard and upward trend." Etter graduated from Mankato State in 1987 with a BA in physical education, and earned his master's in educational administration at Wisconsin in 1991. He served as an assistant coach at South Dakota State from 1991 to 2002 and was that team's defensive coordinator from 1997 to 2002. "We are very excited to welcome Greg as the new leader for Falcon football," said Concordia president Patrick Ferry. "He is an impressive young man, and we are confident that he will build on and expand the tradition of success and excellence that has been established at Concordia. Coach Etter will be a great mentor and model for our student athletes." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Emory and Henry forfeits '07 wins Emory and Henry announced it would forfeit all four of its wins from the 2007 season for using an ineligible player. Athletic director Bob Johnson told the Tri-Cities News: "It was just a breakdown in communication. Normally, we have these lists of kids who are not eligible to play, and we missed this one. "In fairness to the registrar ... I mean, it was a perfect storm. ... There are levels that should have caught it." Old Dominion Athletic Conference commissioner Brad Bankston told the paper: "Clearly there was no malicious intent in this. Obviously, in retrospect, we all wish that the communication lines had been a little bit cleaner. But I was very pleased with everything that Emory and Henry did on their part." Emory and Henry was 4-6, 1-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Wasps had beaten Ferrum, Newport News, Methodist and Hampden-Sydney. The name of the ineligible player was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 3, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
St. Olaf hires Stevens Point assistant Jerry Olszewski, most recently the defensive coordinator at UW-Stevens Point, has been named head coach at St. Olaf, athletic director Matt McDonald announced Monday morning. Olszewski, a graduate of UW-Stevens Point, spent a total of seven seasons as an assistant at Division II Minnesota State-Mankato (1993-96, 1999-02) before a three-year stint as the CEO of the Mankato YMCA. He also spent one season as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Bombers of the Arena Football league (1999) and one as an assistant at Cal Lutheran (1998) as defensive line coach. Olszewski replaces Chris Meidt, who resigned in February to take an offensive assistant position with the NFL's Washington Redskins. St. Olaf has gone 8-2 in each of the last three seasons and was ranked as high as 13th in 2007. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 2, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nichols coordinator hired at Mount Ida Mount Ida athletic director Jacqueline Palmer announced the hiring of Mike Landers as football coach. Landers has been the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach with Nichols for the past two years. He replaces Ed Sweeney, who coached Mount Ida to a 22-51 record in eight seasons and has a 114-111-4 overall record including stops at Division III Dickinson and Frostburg State. Mount Ida was 3-7 in 2007. "I want to bring back a perennial winning tradition that the campus and students can be proud of," said Landers. "I want to put my players in a position where I’m preparing them for life, through football." Landers, who started with Nichols as the coordinator of the front seven/linebackers coach in 2005, had one of the top ranked defenses in the New England Football Conference this past season, leading the league in many statistical categories. After taking over in 2006 as defensive coordinator, he helped the Bison rebound off a tough 0-9 record in '05 going 5-4 overall in '06, one of the biggest turnarounds in the NCAA that year. He said, "I want to teach my players how to fight and win football games together." In 2004, Landers served as linebackers coach for Wesleyan. He took a team who was last in turnovers the season prior, to a team who would lead the conference in takeaways along with the help of his colleagues. Landers had previously spent five years at Division II Stonehill, including coaching linebackers in 2003, where he led two all-conference and all New-England linebackers, one of whom set the school and conference career tackles record. Landers walked on at Georgia Tech and received his bachelors from Bridgewater State in 2001. "I want my players to learn that if you hit a rough patch in life, you're able to get yourself through it. I have two goals, winning football games and graduating players. These kids should learn to fight for what they want in life, and I will help them through football," said Landers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permalink | Apr 2, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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