QUOTES + INSIGHTS

D3 Glory Days is quite an undertaking. Why are you doing this? The audience can't possibly be the same as what a D1 Glory Days podcast would be. Speak to what all the effort is for.

"I'm always consistently surprised by how large our audience is because we're the only entity covering a lot of this stuff. And the Division 3 world is huge. I mean, there are so many Division 3 schools and for a long time there was so much hunger to have somebody covering Division 3. I think the fact that we're doing it, and if I can say doing it well, it brings that audience. It's a niche, but it's a pretty large niche. And I think we've done a pretty good job of exploiting content there."

I think the thing that characterizes D2, D3 and NAIA athletes is that they're super passionate about running in a way that differs from DI athletes. I always see the D3 guys and gals who are going to keep running well after college. They love it and that’s why they’re going to the smaller schools out of high school – because they want that opportunity to keep running.

"That's kind of the underlying ethos of the Division 3 athlete... I think there is this chip on the shoulder D3 mentality of, 'were we good enough to get D1 scholarships coming out of high school?' No, and no one's going to lie to you and say that. But once you're at a D3 institution, you're doing it primarily out of the love of running. There's no perks, which is one reason I think D3 athletes make great post-collegiate runners."

How much of that stuff actually matters and how much of it is just talent differences? Do the perks [of running at a D1 college] make you run faster?

"They don't make you run faster. When you are aware that those perks are being administered somewhere and that you're not getting them, you can internalize that and use it as motivation. Everybody wants to be the blue collar hero, right? And Division 3 is like that... It's the blue collar mentality of, 'hey, we can do this just off of passion and mileage.'"

With the Internet, the exposure is all there. You're fully aware and you have a better sense of what it takes. Do you think that's maybe some of the reason why we're seeing D3 athletes progressing and having more competitive times on a national U.S. level?

"The Division 3 ecosystem has gotten so much better in the last few years... The amount of information that's available in general is huge. I remember coming out of high school and really had no idea what people were doing. There was no way for me to follow other people's mileage if they weren't using the same online log that I was using. Now the top athletes are running over 100 miles a week in college training for an 8K. For me, that would have been insane. I didn't know people ran that much. So the knowledge base is there and they're definitely utilizing it."

Are D3 coaches as good as D1 coaches? Is there a difference?

“A lot of times D3 coaches are going to be your head coach for men's and women's cross country and men's and women's track. So I think the pay for a Division 3 coach can be decent because you're actually the head of everything, whereas some D1 coaches are really just the men's head coach or just the women's head coach...

If you look at the the high end D3 programs, the coaching knowledge base is comparable to any other division. Another cool thing about Division 3 coaches is that a lot of them have been at their schools forever. If you get a good D3 coaching job, a lot of these coaches will stay there forever. We've talked to a lot of them. If you go back through our podcast catalog, you don't see a lot of coaching transfers at these great programs. They have a historic base at their schools, they have a knowledge base and they get to know the student-athlete at that particular school very well."

I have a friend who's been a coach for a long time at a small school. Every now and then he gets antsy and considers going to D1. And it's like, ‘why’? So you can jump around every two years and join the rat race? It just seems like a better life as a coach with a family to be a part of D3 and have consistency. It seems more sustainable.

“I ask coaches that too. I'll ask, ‘hey, you've won 13 national championships. What keeps you at Wartburg when I know you've had D1 offers?’ and they'll say, ‘I have this office and my family is here, the whole institution supports me. And I know that I can stay here as long as I still enjoy it.’ They become a part of the fabric of the program.”