Mount Union quarterback Greg Micheli has been named winner of the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded each year to honor the outstanding NCAA Division III football player. Micheli emerged from a field of 10 finalists to become the fifth Purple Raider to win the award. Sponsored by Jostens and the Saint John's University J-Club, the Gagliardi Trophy recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service.

At 6-3, 203, Micheli completed a 10-0 regular season as the nation's No. 1 passer with a 215.8 rating on 28 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He directed the nation's top offense (551.43 yards/game). In four playoff wins this fall, he completed 60 of 84 passes (71.4% completion percentage) for six touchdowns and no interceptions. The academic All-American, with a 3.84 GPA in physics and math, was recently named recipient of an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame. Micheli is a member of the MUC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and volunteers in an elementary school program.

The award will be presented on Thursday evening, Dec. 18, in Salem, Va., as part of the Stagg Bowl festivities. Micheli and his Mount Union teammates will face defending national champion UW-Whitewater, with the teams meeting for the fourth consecutive year. In 2006, Micheli was named the game's Most Outstanding Player.

Gagliardi Trophy selection was made by a national committee comprised of coaches, sports writers, community leaders and former Division III student-athletes enshrined in the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame, as well as D3football.com's Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan. In addition, fans voted to rank the 10 finalists and cast an electronic ballot that was collectively added to the 35 votes of the national selection committee. Micheli won the fan vote.

The trophy is named for St. John's coach John Gagliardi, the first active head coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2006). He is the winningest coach in college football history with a record of 461-125-11 (.781).

His nomination caused a stir, but his winning the award should not be a surprise. At the beginning of the process, it seemed clear that a Mount Union player would win the Gagliardi Trophy for the fifth time in its 16-year history, but it was Greg Micheli nominated and not Nate Kmic.

Micheli, with a 3.84 GPA in math and physics and a .714 completion percentage through the end of the regular season, was named the winner Tuesday morning. The award recognizes the outstanding Division III football student-athlete in terms of playing ability, academics and community service.

Each school can nominate only one player for the Gagliardi Trophy and the coaches' association All-American team will name no more than one player from any school. Micheli was nominated for the Gagliardi Trophy and Kmic for the AFCA team.

The D3football.com All-American teams have no such artificial restriction.

The trophy is named for St. John's coach John Gagliardi, the first active coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He is the winningest coach in college football history with a record of 461-125-11 (.781). Full story.

By Bill Huber
Special to D3sports.com

Jeff Donovan quarterbacked the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to the national championship last season.

Oh, wait. That was Danny Jones.

Seventeen months ago, Donovan, then a sophomore, figured he was going to replace Justin Jacobs as the starting quarterback for a Warhawks team gunning for its third consecutive trip to the Stagg Bowl. Instead, Danny Jones transferred from Cal Lutheran in time for training camp and won the job. The rest, as they say, is history, with the team Jones quarterbacked beating Mount Union for the school's first national title.

Now, it's Donovan's turn. Donovan, who hit 12 home runs to help the Warhawks reach the Division III World Series this spring, has thrown six touchdown passes against two interceptions in Whitewater's playoff run, including a 5-to-0 ratio in a quarterfinal win over Wartburg and semifinal romp against Mary Hardin-Baylor.

"Very honestly, there was a time right before the first game of (last) year that Jeff was pretty down and disappointed," said Lance Leipold, who was in his first year as the Warhawks' coach at the time. "And that wasn't easy, because we were going through a lot of transition as a program -- a new coach and all of a sudden, a new quarterback shows up, and guys are looking at a lot of different things.

"Jeff didn't know what to do. Should he just go concentrate on baseball? We asked Jeff to just hang with us. It was a trying time. He came here to play both sports and to excel, and I think he looked at it as a chance where he could be a three-year starter, and it didn't turn out that way.

"Looking back at it now and talking to Jeff, he knows it was a very good thing that happened. It gave him an extra year to mature."

Donovan isn't so sure he's a better quarterback today because he spent another year watching from the sideline, but he harbors no bitterness toward how things worked out.

"The only thing I was disappointed of is the fact that I felt that I didn't even get an opportunity to win the job," Donovan said. "Coming into that year, Danny was a transfer. I didn't even know we had a transfer until real late, right before camp. That was a little surprising to me. When we got to camp, I felt my chances of winning the job were very limited."

No second thoughts -- not even for a second -- after passing up a full scholarship to play baseball at Division I UW-Milwaukee so he could play both sports at Whitewater?

"At the time coming out of high school, I didn't really understand the importance of a free education," Donovan said. "Looking back, that would have been sweet, but I don't have any regrets."

Photo by Larry Radloff, D3sports.com

It helped that his competition with Jones didn't get in the way of what turned into a strong friendship.

"He's such a great guy," Donovan said. "He deserved everything that happened. He wasn't cocky or anything. He was real supportive all the time. He would always say, ‘Jeff, you're going to be great someday. Your time is going to come.' I can't say enough about how he handled the situation. I couldn't help but root for him."

Donovan got his chance this year as one of many first-time starters for Whitewater. The Warhawks are making their fourth consecutive trip to Salem for the Stagg Bowl, but this trek wasn't expected and wasn't easy.

The Warhawks started the season 6-0 before being stunned in the final seconds at home by UW-Stevens Point. The next week, against UW-Eau Claire, Donovan exited with an injured throwing shoulder. With Donovan on the sideline for the next game, Whitewater avoided a season-killing upset against UW-Stout.

Donovan returned to the lineup the next week, and the Warhawks' offense has been firing on all cylinders ever since, averaging 38.4 points per game. He's completed at least 61.9 percent of his passes in four of those games, including a 16-for-25 effort with a career-high three touchdowns last week at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Donovan says he's "definitely not 100 percent healthy," but there was no way he was going to miss any more games. Not after what he's gone through and not with what was at stake.

"It's no option, really," Donovan said when asked about fighting through the injury. "I can make these throws. I'm going to do everything I can to be there for the seniors and my teammates. I never even considered not playing."

"He's been able to put himself together," was how Leipold put it. "He's one of those guys who's going to show up and compete for you."

Leipold marvels at Donovan's ability, which is somewhere between Jacobs' passing ability and Jones' combination of running and passing. Plus, he's been clutch. Two of the three touchdown passes against the Cru came on third down. Against Wartburg, he set up Whitewater's first touchdown by converting a third-and-15, and he put the Warhawks ahead 17-3 with a third-down touchdown pass.

"He's really the backyard competitive kid who just loves playing the game," Leipold said. "But he's very savvy for a quarterback. He uses the clock very well. What he's been able to do is make throws on third-and-long this year that I haven't seen in a long time. I can't even remember a quarterback who's been as consistent as he has been on third-and-long situations to keep drives alive. He's got great confidence. Jeff has just been able to make that downfield throw that keeps drives alive for us, and I think that's been a huge difference in our season."

That season will end on Saturday against Mount Union, with Division III's titans slugging it out for the fourth consecutive year.

Donovan knows what must be done: Start fast, ride the Warhawks' strong running game, make smart decisions in the passing game and avoid turnovers.

"It's always more anxious," Donovan said when asked if he'd be nervous. "I'm excited, so excited for the game. I can't wait for it to come. I want the game to last five days."

Much was made of Danny Jones' decision to transfer last season from Cal Lutheran to UW-Whitewater. And it would be difficult to say that it didn't pay off for both parties, as the quarterback helped lead the Warhawks to the national title with a win against Mount Union in Stagg Bowl XXXV.

But there was at least one person who was, let's say inconvenienced, by the decision. That was then-sophomore Jeff Donovan, who was behind Justin Jacobs the previous season and was expected to compete for the starting job in 2007. So when Jones won the job, Donovan had to decide whether to stick it out for another football season, or concentrate on baseball.

He stuck around. And since then he's helped lead the Warhawks to the Division III World Series in baseball and Stagg Bowl XXXVI. More on the junior quarterback in a Road to Salem feature by Bill Huber.

Playoff toolbox: Bracket | Pick 'em | Playoff photos | All-Region This week's ATN Podcast | Scroll down: Micheli wins Gagliardi

Congratulations to Sean McCrate, the winner of Salem's "See the Stagg in Style" giveaway. His prize package will give him an all-access pass to Stagg Bowl XXXVI. We'll have more features throughout the week, including our predictions on Friday, a Mount Union feature story and a look at this new rivalry that is playing out at the highest level of Division III football.

Then, join us for the All-American announcement and pregame show on Saturday morning, as well as our online audio broadcast of the game. Listen to the national broadcast crew that knows the teams and keep the TV on mute.