ATN Podcast 405: New faces, new places in D-III

The Coaching Carousel took many spins since we dropped our previous podcast, and it's time we caught up with those movements and get someone on the podcast! That honor goes to Michael Zweifel at UW-La Crosse, who replaces Matt Janus after Janus's move to Division II. Zweifel was one of two finalists who were UW-L coordinators, but he says there was no feats of strength competition with fellow Eagles staffer Tarek Yaeggi, who is a La Crosse alumnus and remains offensive coordinator. 

Key topics of conversation: Will Zweifel continue to call the defense? And how did the all-time record-holding wide receiver in NCAA Division III history make that transition from offense to defense in the first place? As a guy who grew up around the UW-Whitewater Warhawks program, where his dad was an assistant coach, who were his favorite Warhawks? What changes does Zweifel have in mind for the La Crosse program? 

WashU didn't change coaches, but the football program is changing conferences this season, and that means going from the CCIW, where North Central and Wheaton stood between the Bears and the playoffs, to the North Coast Athletic Conference, where the list of teams at the top is even longer: John Carroll, DePauw, Wabash, now WashU. Bears coach Aaron Keen talks about what kind of offseason preparation they are doing to get ready for nine new opponents this fall, the long career of former head coach Larry Kindbom, who coached Keen as a player and remained on as a full-time assistant coach up until retiring at the age of 72. 

We also finish our mini-tour of Division III football programs in Southern California which are being revived as we chat with Azusa Pacific football coach AJ Parnell. Parnell is a former Bethel quarterback and assistant coach who returned to the west coast to bring this football program back, after it had been dormant since 2020, and to bring some Division III experience to an athletic department which could use it, as the school reclassifies from NCAA Division II to Division III. 

Our guests on this podcast: UW-La Crosse coach Michael Zweifel, WashU coach Aaron Keen and Azusa Pacific coach AJ Parnell.