Union began playing D1 hockey in 1991, not 1975. None of its players receive NIL money.  Notwithstanding its D1 status, it was barred by NCAA rules until last year from giving scholarships. It made the NCAA D1 tournament five times in the middle 2010s, two Frozen Fours, and won a national championship without any scholarship players. There is no real comparison to NESCAC/D3 but these are pretty cool accomplishments. I can't think of a more impressive underdog champion in college sports than the 2013-14 team, a group of non-scholarship players from a 2,000-student school that beat a U of Minnesota team that skated 14 NHL draft picks.

I think Union has had a lot more fun in hockey and football than it would have had it stayed int the NESCAC, but for the institution overall, leaving the NESCAC was a terrible decision.  There are a range of factors for Union's fate the last four decades, but rest assured, the college would kill to get back to a place where it could consider the NESCAC schools its legitimate peers.

I think the odds we get a matchup of LL and NESCAC schools in the first round or two of any given D3F playoffs are actually pretty good. Because there is no OOC play, a NESCAC champion is pretty likely to end up with a middle of the pack seed (barring a 2-loss champion), which is about where a 1-loss LL champion is likely to end up.  Can't wait until we see it.

Quote from: tony/troy on March 03, 2026, 08:37:26 PMJust noticed that RPI will have a new play caller in 2026 replacing the one who has been there since 2018. No idea if  it's for a new job or for a new life outside of coaching. Seems like more and more people are doing the latter lately.

Interesting.  Lots of movement in the LL - new HC at Ithaca, new HC at Buff St., the old Buff St. coach now DC at Hobart.

I'll be interested to see how Buff State's new HC works out.  They hired the DC at Delaware Valley, a school with a pretty similar profile as Buff State who has managed to be successful for a long time in the same way Buff State used to - rich recruiting hire where they pull a lot of stuff blue collar kids spiked with some high-end skill guys.  But no clue if he's being given the resources to be successful - I've otherwise heard plenty of rumors that Buff State has been thinking about dropping their program altogether.  Personally, I'd love to see them climb back to at least a .500 program; that would really help the overall LL picture. But my hunch is that will be challenging, especially with a strong Brockport program and a SJF program that Ed Raby seems to be putting back on the map.

Quote from: Bartman on February 13, 2026, 08:23:09 AM

Quote from: stlawus on February 12, 2026, 09:09:53 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on February 12, 2026, 07:02:29 PM

Quote from: stlawus on February 11, 2026, 05:18:02 PMWhy am I not surprised to see Frank Rossi be quite literally the only person defending Flo Sports on social media.

Not sure if you are aware of this but Frank in addition to his role with "In the D3fb Huddle" podcasts with James Baker, Frank also refs flag football and serves as Mayor of Ballston Spa, NY. I believe he can handle himself quite well since he's also an attorney. I respect and admire the guy.   

Pretty much everyone is against the Flo Sports model and putting d3 sports behind a paywall.  So far he's the only voice of "authority" I've seen that non ironically defends it. It has nothing to do with his credentials.

D3 Sports should not be behind a paywall, it will only reduce the number of eyeballs the athletes deserve and would add a small amount to offset budgets. As far as Frank Rossi, he is entitled to his opinion and his very clownlike sartorial choice he made at the last Stagg Bowl

I confess I have a hard time getting too fussed about PPV for D3, whether it's Flo or another services. It's a pain to have another subscription to manage, but I don't see how it's any different than charging for a stadium ticket, which everyone has been doing for years without (much) complaining. I think it's basic endowment effect - since it started free, it seems like something is being taken away, but the true default is that people have been paying to watch D3F for decades.

My bigger concern is that the feed often sucks, and I'd happily pay more to watch a game that is better shot and better transmitted.

Quote from: Caz Bombers on January 22, 2026, 09:26:19 AM

Quote from: ICAlum16 on January 22, 2026, 08:54:02 AMI am hearing word that the IC head coaching search is not going as smoothly as people would like. The word I've heard used is "disorganized". I don't have much more than that but I don't think the new AD is winning any favor with how things are going...

I'll never understand why they thought replacing Susan with a JUCO guy was a good idea. Reminds me of when they hired Hartwick's AD 20+ years ago and then all the teams basically turned into Hartwick.

A couple of thoughts based on the recent Union searches. First, I think a key challenge is that there just aren't as many great candidates for a "strong" D3 HC job (like Ithaca or Union) as there used to be - you are probably only get to see a couple of guys that you really, really like, and the stars need to align.  Once upon a time, a strong D3 HC job was a step up from a DI-AA OC/DC job; today, the opposite move is much more common.  I think FCS is just much more attractive relative to D3 than it used to be.  Former Union DC Trotta just left an HC job at SUNY Maritime to be a position coach with Behrman at Bucknell; former Union CB coach Jason Nelson, who had moved to be the DC and U Chicago, is also going to Bucknell as a position coach.  The more the D3 HC job is a stepping stone, not an end goal, the harder it is to find the right guy.

The other thought is that every winter second without a HC hurts.  Union's AD ran great processes both times, but it still took five weeks to replace Behrman (Dec. 19 to Jan. 26), and that gap had a real impact on recruiting that cycle.  They ran a fabulous process last year and had Drach announced less than four weeks after Poppe left (Dec. 2 to Dec. 29), which helped Drach to land a strong first class.  (That group, who were sophomores this year, were a major part of Union's bounce-back this year.)

In a related news, the hollowing out of Susquehanna in the wake of Pervovich's departure has been something to see.  Of their five underclassman on the D3 all-region team, four have announced they're transferring (QB, RB, K, and DB).  I've seen at least two more starters (DB and WR) also enter the portal.  Ouch.

In off season news, it is lowkey hilarious that Frank Rossi and some cheerleader's dad from North Cebtral have teamed up to make D3fb twitter one of the most toxic spaces on the platform.

Jeff Behrman moves on from his alma mater JCU after just three seasons, headed to Bucknell So much for the perfect dream job! His name was also in the mix for the UAlbany job that ultimately went to the Susquehanna coach.

In other news, just saw Matthew Parker commit to transfer to Alfred. Looks like Ithaca also lost a backup WR to SJF.

Anyone heard anything on the IC coaching search?

Quote from: IC798891 on December 18, 2025, 12:12:53 PMYeah, but the thing is, Cortland's got a great reputation for its PE teacher degree program. It was never being put at the bottom of a pile.

That's the problem Ithaca had. Cortland was delivering the type of quality they were, at a fraction of the cost, and everyone wound up in the same place.

Music, film, TV/Radio production, and PT/ATC is where Ithaca really stands out relative to peers, but those just...aren't appealing majors to football players

It's amazing to see the majors of the Union team evolve over time.  Probably at least half Econ now (Union has no business program), with nearly all the rest either Engineering or Bio\Neuroscience.

Man, the NCC fans seem to be running hard to keep up with the Mt. Union guys in the joyless department.  They've hit Twitter to express their outrage that ESPN+ has brought in two outside players by play guys, one of whom is a John Carroll alum, instead of using NCC's house guys, for Saturday's game. Putting aside the fact that (i) of course ESPN+ is going to use guys who have worked with ESPN+ crews instead of guys who have never done so and (ii) you can't coherently complain the JCU guy will bring bias and then argue it should be two NCC guys instead, it just baffles me that NCC fans can watch their teams win a bunch of nattys and still whine about stuff this small and dumb.

Quote from: IC798891 on December 15, 2025, 02:09:23 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on December 15, 2025, 01:45:19 PM...Could Utica H/C Blaise Faggiano be interested in returning to his alma mater?

He strikes me as pretty content to be Utica's answer to Jerry Boyes -- though Boyes did apply for the job Mike Welch got.

I would also be very, very surprised if Ithaca did not look to bring in an offensive minded coach. No specific insight, except how the tea leaves seem to be reading on the last two years.

That sounds right to me.  Also, the Utica and Ithaca models are very different.  At Utica, the deal is that he brings in as many tuition-paying warm bodies as possible and in return he gets the flexibility and financial packages he needs to bring in talent to complete. (I mean, they had 75 freshmen this year!) That just doesn't work at Ithaca, where they are not simply trying to drive raw numbers, but instead build a particular kind of incoming class each year.

Quote from: UfanBill on December 15, 2025, 01:45:19 PM

Quote from: Jonny Utah on December 15, 2025, 11:54:25 AMThis all stems from the allegation that Union targeted Wingfield 2 years ago and put him out for the season. 

Everything after that stems from this allegation. 

Even this year (although not discussed on the board) I heard Union people (not sure if it were players coaches or fans) acted unsportsmanlike after the game.  I didn't care enough to ask the Ithaca people I knew were there but I saw the comments on social media.

I'm guessing Frank got his info from Union sources who have a different version.  I've also talked to Union people who didn't know about the Wingfield allegation but did know about Toerper going off on Union players and staff last year.


Anyway that's all I know from the allegation standpoint. I do remember the play Wingfield got hurt on, you can't tell what really happened as there was a pile.

Speaking of being able to see what really happened...May I refer all to THIS year's Union vs Ithaca game when early in the game Bombers LB Henry Takacs took a cheap shot at Union QB Patch Flanagan. Launching himself and hitting Patch in face with what was rightfully deemed targeting. Could that have been on purpose and on Toerper?..Not accusing just adding it to the mix. 

...Could Utica H/C Blaise Faggiano be interested in returning to his alma mater?

That play happened right on the Union sideline, in front of the visitors stands, and I watched it live - that was just a kid playing with too much edge/emotion in a big game and making a mistake. It warranted a targeting but I really don't think there was any nefarious intent.   

Not sure what the Rossi/Toerper beef is, but if you're a Union fan, you learned all you ever needed to know about Toerper when had to be physically restrained by his own staff after berating a Union player in the handshake line after Ithaca's win at Union last year. Ithaca's a great school and a great program and deserves better.  I'm sure they will do just fine identifying the next HC - it's about as attractive a position as they are in D3.  I think the real challenge is finding a candidate who is not only a great coach but also interested in settling into the position for the long haul, rather than using it as a stepping stone (see, Swanstrom, Toerper, Poppe, Fitpatrick, etc.).

 

It's an interesting list; Union and Ithaca with one guy each; Hobart with three and RPI with five.  Utica with five, too.

It also demonstrates the extent to which JHU is a total outlier in terms of recruiting footprint.  Nearly all the players listed for other schools are in the R2 footprint or eastern OH.  Of JHU's seven guys on the list, they have players from Switzerland, Illinois, Michigan, California, and Texas. 

Quote from: IC798891 on December 09, 2025, 06:38:17 PMIt's insane watching them complain that kids are spoiled because want a chance to play at other schools immediately rather than stand on the sidelines for three years at Mount.

We're all guilty of going overboard in our criticisms at various points (myself included), but some people really need to understand that these kids aren't playing football for us. They owe us exactly nothing. If Michael Reed walks off the field with 10 seconds left in a tied Cortaca next year, and never goes near a football again for the rest of his life, I'm going to wish the kid well and root for whoever ends up taking the snap.

I have interviewed countless student-athletes during my career, and it's so important to remember that these kids have things going on in their lives -- stressors, challenges, tragedies -- that impact their decisions, that you have no idea about. And regardless of the motivation behind their decisions, they sure as **** aren't based on what us as fans want, nor should they be.

It's football. It's not that serious. We all gotta go touch some grass (snow).

Amen to that. The beautiful thing about D3 is that is clearly and specifically all about the players, and no one else. (And I'm not just making that up  - it's the essence of the D3 philosophy statement: https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/11/14/division-iii-philosophy-statement.aspx.)

Quote from: Bartman on December 09, 2025, 11:45:56 AM

Quote from: Jonny Utah on December 09, 2025, 08:41:15 AM

Quote from: unionpalooza on December 08, 2025, 12:24:21 PM

Quote from: Machiavelli on December 08, 2025, 12:06:49 PMPretty cool seeing Coach Behrman's John Carrol knock off Mt. Union. Feels like his move from Union was a good one.

I agree - and I think his program has more accomplishments ahead of it.

It's a perfect fit for him - his whole family is around there, and he was a QB for JCU in the early 90s. And it doesn't get much better than recruiting from northeast Ohio with a direct line to a ton of catholic prep schools.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDGIdxOFgTc

"The d3 zone" has a youtube channel that does a great job breaking down a bunch of playoff games with highlights from the games.  John Carrol has a tough defense with a lot of size.  Just poked over to the OAC board and it is basically like the sun burnt out. 

This is great for D3 football that the OAC is not automatic anymore.Great story line for Behrman and JCU. I'll certainly be rooting for them. Mount Union calling for firing of a coach that has never lost the OAC title. Not my issue, but it's gettin ugly in Alliance, as they were really pumped to play in Canton.

Yeah, not going to lie, I find watching Mount fans melt down immensely enjoyable, almost as much fun as (but less rare than) watching NCC fans melt down.

Quote from: Machiavelli on December 08, 2025, 12:06:49 PMPretty cool seeing Coach Behrman's John Carrol knock off Mt. Union. Feels like his move from Union was a good one.

I agree - and I think his program has more accomplishments ahead of it.

It's a perfect fit for him - his whole family is around there, and he was a QB for JCU in the early 90s. And it doesn't get much better than recruiting from northeast Ohio with a direct line to a ton of catholic prep schools.