Not only recruiting the right states, but also Admissions department can dictate which areas to recruit.  Some of the HIGHLY ACADEMIC schools such as Carleton and Kenyon and Oberlin and NESCAC schools have to recruit nationally to keep their Ranking what it is.  Te be a top ranked academic school like Carleton is at Number 8 I think, they can't recruit from just in state.  They have to go out of state and be a nationally recognized school.  That is a reason why some small private liberal arts schools can;t compete against teams like UWW and Mount Union because they have a small recruiting area.  Meaning, although they recruit nationally, a lot of the kids they recruit are looking at academics and not solely football and it is tough to get kids nationally to visit a school, but some admissions department make it mandatory to recruit that way.  I think as a whole, admissions, coaches and the school need to be on the same page to be successful.  If you are not on the same page in all three phases, you will struggle. 

Why move up to D1 and be an average D1 team when you can be the dominant team in Division III?  Also in response to the post about most of the money at Whitewater is work study?  How can students afford to work that many hours to have most of thier aid package be from work study?  At most schools, work study money is capped so how can most of thier financial aid come from work study?  When do they go to class then?

Also, to the post about getting help from Admissions, that is a huge thing which separates a lot of Division III schools.  If you recall, Larry Kinnnard in the early 2000's was an OT for Mount.  He was declared Ineligible at Ohio State, but some how was eligible at Mount?  I recall or heard the same thing about Pierre Garcon.  He was ineligible at his previous school before coming to Mount Union?  It has happened at a lot of OAC schools.  How can this be?  If DIII is supposed to be about education and putting the true meaning in the value of Student-Athlete, than how is that possible?  Just a thought throwing out there

I am not saying Leadership Scholarships or talent scholarships are unique to DIII.  The fact that the Athletic Department at some schools can assign a certain number of leadership scholarships to each athletic program, I have never heard of before.  Usually all the financial aid and scholarships comes from the financial aid office and not the athletic office.  I have never heard of a DIII athletic Director being able to tell each head coach of thier program how many Leadership scholarships they have per year to give out.  And NOT ALL DIII SCHOOLS HAVE THESE SCHOLARSHIPS!  A lot of DIII schools are need based only and it never includes leadership or talent scholarships.  So unless all schools have the same types of scholarships, the playing field will always be uneven.  That was my point.  I wasn't saying these scholarships were new to DIII, it is the way they are being given out.  From what I understand of the DIII rule, the same opportunities and number of scholarships have to be given to students who do not partake in athletics, meaning that if Mount Union were to give out 30 leaderships scholarships to football alone, then 30 leadership scholarships have to be available to other students who are not athletes.  With all the varsity sports Mount Union offers and each program being assigned a number of scholarships to give out per year, roughly you are looking at 100 Leadership Scholarships per year just to athletics.  To justify that, Mount would have to give out 100 leadership scholarships to other students who are not athletes.  I guess all of Mount's and other schoosl financial aid offices only give out Leadership Scholarships and no other forms of Financial aid.  Where as a lot of other schools will give out merit financial aid or need based, meaning they only give out financial aid to students who need it.  Some of these leadership scholarships students get, they may not even need, which is why there is an uneven field, between schools who give out need based aid and those who just "buy" kids away from other schools

I do not know if it is good or bad for Division III football.  I have heard many rumors from credible sources that although Division III does not offer scholarships, Some schools likes Mount Union have found a loop hole around this.  Many schools do give Leadership Scholarships as part of their financial aid packages.  With Kehres being the Athletic Director at Mount Union as well as the HEad Fotball Coach, I have heard that he meets with every coach and assigns them a certain number of Leadership Scholarships per year.  It is not giving out scholarships, but in a way it is.  I wonder if Whitewater gives oout scholarships like this?  I have also heard of schools out west that give Talent Scholarships.  Talen scholarships can be for students who play a varsity sport.  So until all schools can have leadership scholarships or talent scholarships, there are always going to be an uneven playing field in Division III.  At least at the Division I level, every school gives scholarships.  At the Division III level, NOT all schools have Leadership scholarships or Talent scholarships to give out, which in a way makes it different from DI and makes for an uneven playing field