FB: American Rivers Conference

doolittledog · December 17, 2025, 07:15:28 PM

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on December 17, 2025, 04:15:05 PMThe coach is coming from a very successful program, but not from an ARC school. Think a bit more north than that and of the Catholic variety

Yeah, Loras has typically gone the alumni route when bringing in a HC, so it would stand to reason if not an alum, the Duhawks would certainly be looking to bring someone in that is Catholic or at least from a Catholic institution.

GusD · December 17, 2025, 08:42:05 PM

Quote from: doolittledog on December 17, 2025, 07:15:28 PM
Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on December 17, 2025, 04:15:05 PMThe coach is coming from a very successful program, but not from an ARC school. Think a bit more north than that and of the Catholic variety

Yeah, Loras has typically gone the alumni route when bringing in a HC, so it would stand to reason if not an alum, the Duhawks would certainly be looking to bring someone in that is Catholic or at least from a Catholic institution.

When the saints come marching in.

DriftlessDuhawk · December 19, 2025, 09:17:58 AM

https://www.d3football.com/notables/2025/12/longtime-st-johns-assistant-to-take-over-at-loras

And there it is. Novak is the home run hire that many associated with the program were hoping for. He comes from a very prestigious program who has seen lots of success and has established and maintained a fantastic culture. Many around Loras have viewed the St. John's program from a far and have longed for even a sliver of the success and buy in from the community that they have.

As with all coaching hires. Only time will tell if it works out.

doolittledog · December 19, 2025, 04:46:32 PM

Any behind the scenes details you know of and can share? A good number of applicants? Any misses in the hiring process? Assistants coming in? Bringing anyone in from rival schools? Will Loras and Clarke be merging? Will the Rock Bowl become the Rock Dome?

DriftlessDuhawk · December 19, 2025, 08:26:26 PM

I'll tell you there were over 60 applicants ranging in experience levels. The three finalists were all DCs. One of them was a coach from the WIAC and the other was from the ARC. I'm told Novak has a short list of guys he wants as coordinators/assistants, but I don't know any names.

No merger. No dome.

I said this on the MIAC board, but the new administration at Loras has promised an increased investment into the football program and that it is seen as one of the highest priorities at the college currently.

GusD · December 19, 2025, 11:00:33 PM

Quote from: doolittledog on December 19, 2025, 04:46:32 PMAny behind the scenes details you know of and can share? A good number of applicants? Any misses in the hiring process? Assistants coming in? Bringing anyone in from rival schools? Will Loras and Clarke be merging? Will the Rock Bowl become the Rock Dome?

Speaking of possibly merging ...............
What the heck is Loras' current enrollment? D3Hoops shows it as 1,440, but D3Football shows them about to dip below the thousand figure mark with only 1,059 students currently enrolled. 🤗

Pat Coleman · December 20, 2025, 09:49:18 PM

Quote from: GusD on December 19, 2025, 11:00:33 PM
Quote from: doolittledog on December 19, 2025, 04:46:32 PMAny behind the scenes details you know of and can share? A good number of applicants? Any misses in the hiring process? Assistants coming in? Bringing anyone in from rival schools? Will Loras and Clarke be merging? Will the Rock Bowl become the Rock Dome?

Speaking of possibly merging ...............
What the heck is Loras' current enrollment? D3Hoops shows it as 1,440, but D3Football shows them about to dip below the thousand figure mark with only 1,059 students currently enrolled. 🤗

We updated enrollments on D3football this fall but since D3hoops is much bigger, we haven't gotten to it yet.

hazzben · December 30, 2025, 09:26:30 AM

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on December 19, 2025, 08:26:26 PMI'm told Novak has a short list of guys he wants as coordinators/assistants, but I don't know any names.

I'm sure he'll have some SJU guys in tow, no one knows that staff and who the hidden gems are better than Novak. The biggest piece will obviously be his OC hire. Fascinating to see who he brings in and how it plays out.

The simple narrative is that he's ready to be an HC, SJU boosters ponied up major dollars a few years back to keep him from a WIAC school, but he's finally decided he's done waiting. From a MIAC angle, how much longer does Fausching have at SJU? Assuming Novak can turn things at Loras, that'll put pressure on Fausching's timeline.

Or does he carve out a home at Loras, you can do a lot worse than Dubuque. Especially for a guy who has lived his whole life in Central Minnesota and feels very small town midwest oriented.

Another wrinkle, how does Novak do recruiting when he's not at an established brand and getting to put the best aid package in front of the players he really wants? No one in the MIAC, since UST left, can compare to the way SJU finds money for their top recruits. It's one thing to put together a legit package for coaches, it's another to extend that to the top 15-25 players in a recruiting class year over year at an enrollment driven school. And not have the ability to go grab 2-4 key D1/D2 transfers each year to fill holes with some NIL incentives.

I wouldn't bet against Novak. The fact he said yes is the biggest evidence that Loras is serious. He's had other opportunities and I doubt he would have said yes to anything he didn't see as a pathway to success.

DriftlessDuhawk · January 01, 2026, 09:12:46 PM

Quote from: hazzben on December 30, 2025, 09:26:30 AMI'm sure he'll have some SJU guys in tow, no one knows that staff and who the hidden gems are better than Novak. The biggest piece will obviously be his OC hire. Fascinating to see who he brings in and how it plays out.

The simple narrative is that he's ready to be an HC, SJU boosters ponied up major dollars a few years back to keep him from a WIAC school, but he's finally decided he's done waiting. From a MIAC angle, how much longer does Fausching have at SJU? Assuming Novak can turn things at Loras, that'll put pressure on Fausching's timeline.

Or does he carve out a home at Loras, you can do a lot worse than Dubuque. Especially for a guy who has lived his whole life in Central Minnesota and feels very small town midwest oriented.

Another wrinkle, how does Novak do recruiting when he's not at an established brand and getting to put the best aid package in front of the players he really wants? No one in the MIAC, since UST left, can compare to the way SJU finds money for their top recruits. It's one thing to put together a legit package for coaches, it's another to extend that to the top 15-25 players in a recruiting class year over year at an enrollment driven school. And not have the ability to go grab 2-4 key D1/D2 transfers each year to fill holes with some NIL incentives.

I wouldn't bet against Novak. The fact he said yes is the biggest evidence that Loras is serious. He's had other opportunities and I doubt he would have said yes to anything he didn't see as a pathway to success.

There has been no official announcement but a few new Twitter accounts have popped up with bios saying they are on staff at Loras. Erik Bjork and Hayden Sanders are both SJU grads and played defense under Novak. It appears Sanders is slated to be the DC and Bjork is going to coach the defensive line. Bjork looks to be a 2023 grad and Sanders was a 2024 grad. The sidelines at the Rock Bowl will be full of youth and former Johnnies it appears.

As I have stated before the new admin at Loras has professed an increased amount of "support" for the football program. "Support" can mean lots of things, but if it doesn't include extra money for coaching staff hires or financial aid packages, then I would argue that not much has changed. If you want to win in college football, you'd better be ready to spend to do so. As an alum, it feels like the money part of the equation is there, considering they hired Novak in the first place. Many around the program felt that the offer was not going to be competitive enough to draw interest from top-tier coaches. The fact that it did tells me we are on the right track.

I had heard from others that he has turned down other HC offers in the last few years. The fact that he took this job tells me that he thinks there is something different/special about it. I hope I'm right.

DriftlessDuhawk · January 05, 2026, 10:56:47 PM

https://nwusports.com/news/2026/1/5/nebraska-wesleyan-university-names-jacob-donohoe-head-football-coach.aspx

NWU makes their hire going with the former Coe OC Jacob Donohoe. Donohoe oversaw a very explosive offense at Coe last year.

From people I have talked to, it's going to be a very tough job to turn the NWU program around. NWU is offering only 2 full time assistants for the football staff and the administration wants 135+ on the roster. Lot of student athletes with not a lot of full time staff IMO.