Top Flight D 2 / D 3 Football Programs

A family friend asked me for some ideas for top D 2/D 3 football programs for his son. The kid is a good player with decent size ( 6'3" 230) and average student.

For those of you that cover that level what are some programs that you have come across where you are impressed by program / HC?

 

Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater for D-III.

This may help:

http://www.d3football.com/landing/index

 

Northwest Missouri State has played in about 100 DII championship games. Carson-Newman is also a good program.

 

Just based on winning tradition, the Gulf South Conference has a bunch of strong programs. Valdosta State, North Alabama and Delta State are among the perennially strong teams. Valdosta State won the national title last season.
Carson-Newman and Northwest Missouri State have also won a bunch. Northwest Missouri State went to five straight championship games at one point.
No idea what most of their current coaching situations are. I know Delta State is on its third in three or four years, but it's still a solid program overall. Great baseball team, too, and the basketball program has had its moments. Good athletic program there and a decent academic reputation too.

 

I can't believe I'm beating Apeman to this, but Pittsburg (Kan.) State is the winningest program in D-II history and has four national titles, the most recent in 2011. It's a big rivalry with Northwest Missouri. That game is at Arrowhead every year.

 

St. John's of Minnesota has a long-storied program, but coach John Gagliardi just retired after 60-someodd years.

 

Oh, don't worry, Boom would have never suggested St. John's for the kid.

St. Thomas in Minnesota has become a power (runner-up last year) and their coach Caruso definitely recruits nationally.

Linfield, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wesley, Bethel, other longtime powers.

thing with D3 of course is that many times the schools are extremely expensive and sometimes have tougher academic standards, so could be an issue depending on his grades (although the cost is the big thing).

Some D2 ones: Minnesota-Duluth in Minnesota.

Here's final D3 top 25 and a lot of these teams are there year after year.

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2012/final

 

West Texas A&M is a D-II program, but it's a bigger one and the game-day atmosphere is Division I. They play in a 20,000-seat stadium and fill it regularly (when Texas Tech is out of town) and a lot of their games are on local TV.

 

Pacific Lutheran has been a pretty solid program for a long time.

 

The coaching staff also knows how to score some primo stuff.

 

Real good ideas folks. Appreciate it.

 

What part of the country is your friend living in?

Here's the final D3 poll from 2012: http://www.d3football.com/top25/2012/final

Final D2 poll: http://www.d2football.com/top25poll/11/