Quote from: Etchglow on August 17, 2023, 12:11:46 AM
I know Ron already did the counts but I was bored and wanted to test my tool on some other schools so I did the SAA.  Here is the google document that contains all of the roster breakdowns as of 11:10 PM Central.  If you see any errors or parsing issues let me know and I can write some code to fix those.  The script can now pull the rosters on demand so it should be easy to update.  Now off to the other conferences tomorrow!


SAA Roster Breakdown

Thanks so much for doing this, I have have been fascinated with the D3 sports world since my son started playing and the recruiting process.  It is almost more of a Sales Job than a Coaching Job at this level.  The attrition is somewhat sad but understandable, these schools that bring in 40+ kids makes it hard when these kids walk in the door and realize there are 7+ Freshman at the same position.  It would be interesting to see how many stayed at school and how many just stopped playing. 

Sewanee's new freshman class is up on the website.  New staff brought in 30+ kids which is a big class for Sewanee.  The Sophomore's lost 7 of 20 kids.  So they are going to be young.  I loved the old staff, great guys and really understood D3 just couldn't get it done on the field.  This new staff seems more intense (D1 attitude), it will be interesting to see if it pays dividends.  YSR

https://sewaneetigers.com/sports/football/roster?view=2

Quote from: Ron Boerger on October 15, 2022, 06:23:27 PM
Hendrix beat Sewanee 48-21 (after leading 41-0 at the half)
BSC is up 21-0 on Millsaps at the half.

Tough one for the Tigers.  On paper it looked like it would be a good game.  O and D line for Hendrix were tough to handle.  Those long bus rides have got to be tough too. 

Quote from: Pat Coleman on August 16, 2022, 02:58:32 PM
Division III football has been seen as an enrollment driver for going on 30 years, and probably longer.

Here's a story I wrote going on 17 years ago about the reasons schools add football programs at the D-III level, and yes, enrollment is one of the reasons discussed:
https://d3football.com/notables/2005/adding-football-why-and-how

It is a business when it is all said and done.  My wife is a professor at a small D1 school and it drives her nuts how important the athletics are but she also realizes it does bring kids in.

I'm new to the D3 world and just love how much more pure it is, especially since the advent of the transfer portal and NIL.

I appreciate this message board it's about the only one I can find with solid info and fans.  Thanks to all those that contribute.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on August 16, 2022, 12:26:07 PM

Quote from: rjtiger on August 15, 2022, 03:36:40 PM
I'm always shocked at these schools that talk 55 young men to come in as freshman.  Do you think they don't know how big the class is or the cherish the competition?  I have a feeling they don't realize how big the class is.   Why pay all that money to go D3 and get stuck trying to beat out that many kids for playing time not to mention the upper classmen.

One of the beauties of D3 is that it allows schools and student-athletes to handle things in whatever way works best for them.  For some, the joy of continued participation in the sport they love, be it on game day or only on the practice field, is a huge plus and you go wherever the school and all of its programs, not just the team itself, suits your needs.  For the schools themselves, bringing in a large number of student athletes usually helps the bottom line as those students will often pay a premium so they can keep enjoying whatever sport they play.  UMHB had almost 100 first years last season, probably at least that many this year due to their success.  Hardin-Simmons has close to 80 this year.  Texas Lutheran, over 70.  Even Austin College has over 50.  Trinity is a bit of an outlier in Texas in that it deliberately keeps its yearly classes small - that's something Urban put in place because certainly the classes during the program's glory years under Steve Mohr were larger.  Some of that is no doubt due to the difficulty of getting into the school in the first place; requirements now are considerably higher than they were at the turn of the century, but there is a premium placed on retaining as many players as possible and that's difficult with larger class sizes.  And I'd say the SAA in general follows a "less is more" approach - looking at rosters I see Centre, ~45; Berry, 13 which makes me wonder if they haven't got everyone posted; Rhodes ~25, Hendrix ~50, Millsaps ~60, BSC 55, Sewanee not posted.

Oh I agree with everything everyone is saying and I'm passionate about D3 for the emphasis on education and the love of the game.  I just have a feeling that some of these kids may have gone a different route if they new they would be competing with 15 other QBs, 25 other WRs, etc.  Sure some don't care and you would hope they went to the school for the academics and experience and football was just a bonus....but we know that isn't always the case.

I hate it but I think it turns more into a sales job by the coaches for tuition dollars rather than a "building as many young men as possible"  especially those schools that do not have a large endowment and rely heavily on tuition.

Think about bringing in 75 kids and they are paying 15K in tuition.  that is over a million dollars a year coming in for these small schools.

Just my  2 cents. 

I'm always shocked at these schools that talk 55 young men to come in as freshman.  Do you think they don't know how big the class is or the cherish the competition?  I have a feeling they don't realize how big the class is.   Why pay all that money to go D3 and get stuck trying to beat out that many kids for playing time not to mention the upper classmen.