Mount Union running back Nate Kmic was named D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year, UW-Whitewater linebacker Jace Rindahl was named Defensive Player of the Year and UW-Whitewater coach Lance Leipold was named D3football.com Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The D3football.com All-American team was announced Saturday morning, before Stagg Bowl XXXVI. Our top awards, however, were not announced until afterward.

"We knew we were going to be given an opportunity to see one of our top defensive candidates take on his biggest challenge of the season," D3football.com executive editor Pat Coleman said. "The Warhawk front seven did its best to contain Nate Kmic and Rindahl didn't miss a tackle in the process."

Kmic's selection was never in doubt, not after the season he put together to cap off a career in which he ran for more than 8,000 yards, best in college football history. But when D3football.com's Keith McMillan asked Kmic who the best defensive player was that he faced, the answer was Rindahl, sealing the deal.

Leipold was named Coach of the Year after the longest discussion of the three. But the decision came down to how much Whitewater had to replace from 2007 to get back to the Stagg Bowl.