McFeely's Tip Sheet: There is momentum for Dakotas schools to rebuild old DAC

McFeely's Tip Sheet is a compilation of notes, quotes, rumors, gossip and commentary by Forum columnist Mike McFeely. If you have a tip, a note or a hot rumor feel free to send it along to mmcfeely@forumcomm.com. Not all will be printed because of, you know, legal reasons. But they might lead to something. All tip sources will remain anonymous.

There might be more momentum for a return of the Dakota Athletic Conference than the Tip Sheet originally thought. This could get interesting.

To review: The Tip Sheet recently posted a column based on a chat with Dennis McCulloch, the football coach and athletic director at Valley City State who is lamenting the scattered nature of conference and division affiliation among small colleges in North Dakota and South Dakota. McCulloch said he "just wants to start a conversation" about the possibility of schools from the old DAC re-forming. The DAC was a 10-team league consisting of small schools from the Dakotas that dissolved in 2012.

He'd like to see Valley City and Mayville State get back together with Minot State, Mary, Black Hills State, South Dakota School of Mines, Dickinson State and others — like the good old days — in the interest of competitiveness and finances.

The Tip Sheet passed this off as the wishful thinking of a football coach and AD being stuck on an island because most of the schools around Valley City have moved to different conferences and divisions. That includes the University of Jamestown, Valley City State's rival, which recently was accepted into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and will transition to NCAA Division II.

Valley City State, as a matter of fact, will be without a conference home after the 2024-25 school year because the NAIA North Star Athletic Association to which it belongs is dissolving. Valley City State, Dakota State, Mayville State and Bellevue (Neb.) University will be orphaned.

Lo and behold, multiple sources in the NSIC and the North Star have told the Sheet that McCulloch's conversation-starter isn't nearly as far-fetched as first believed and some schools could be persuaded (perhaps easily) to re-form the old DAC.

"Minot State, for sure, and maybe Mary wouldn't mind getting out of the NSIC because they are sick of not being competitive. And everybody is looking at finances and how to save money, so getting those old schools back together would make sense in a lot of ways. Especially travel," said one NSIC source.

Why, for example, is Minot State traveling to Winona State and Minnesota State Mankato in the NSIC when more similar schools like Valley City State and Dickinson State are much nearer?

There are about 100 moving parts to re-forming something resembling the old DAC, especially considering some schools are currently NAIA and some are Division II. But make no mistake, there is a stomach for it.

One source said imagine a league with Valley City State, Mayville State, Dakota State, Bellevue, Minot State, Mary, Jamestown, Dickinson State, Black Hills State, South Dakota School of Mines and perhaps Montana-Billings (a Division II school that is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference that stretches into British Columbia and Alaska).

Helping the momentum is recent legislation from the NCAA that guarantees every Division II conference an automatic bid into postseason championships in every sport except football if the league has 10 members. So a reformed DAC, once postseason-eligible, would get automatic access to Division II national tournaments in men's and women's basketball and all other sports (other than football).

There's a growing sense of haves and have-nots in Division II, just as there is in every other NCAA division. Schools in a re-formed DAC would only have to compete against similar institutions to get to the postseason, instead of Minnesota State Mankato and Colorado School of Mines, for example.

It's going to take somebody in power in the small colleges in the Dakotas to stand up and publicly force a discussion about this before it really moves forward.

Something that likely won't happen, but if it does I'll look like a genius:

— After much online chatter about the NCAA opening bids to host the Football Championship Subdivision title game and other cities getting involved, longtime host Frisco, Texas, will ink a multiple-year deal this summer to keep the game.

Tennessee State football coach Eddie George says he reached out to Tyler Roehl two years ago about becoming George's offensive coodinator at the Ohio Valley Conference school, but Roehl remained as the OC at North Dakota State.

"Shot in the dark. Fortune favors the bold. I said, 'Hey, I'm a big fan of what you guys do. I'm looking for an offensive coordinator. Love your philosophy. Love what you guys do.' But the timing wasn't right. This year the opportunity presented itself," George told Nashville radio station WNSR of his previous conversation with Roehl.

George eventually got his man. Roehl left the Bison last week to become Tennessee State's offensive coordinator, ending a 17-year relationship with NDSU. George said he had many good offensive coordinators interview for the job, but Roehl was the only one who met 100% of the criteria he wanted.

George, a Heisman Trophy-winning running back at Ohio State who had a fabulous NFL career, said he wants Tennessee State to establish a power running attack that uses play-action like NDSU has implemented so successfully.

"They run the ball downhill time and again and again and again," George said. "That's what we've lacked since I've been here as a head coach is developing that identity. We've had it in spurts, but not consistently to where we can compete at a high level. He brings in that philosophy, that ideology."

The Tigers open at home against Mississippi Valley State before playing at NDSU on Sept. 7.

Correction: The Tip Sheet recently said NFL Draft guru Dane Brugler of The Athletic didn't have any FCS players in the first two round of his latest mock draft and that was wrong. Brugler had Yale's Kiran Amegadjie going late in the second round with the 63rd overall pick. ... Bison men's basketball senior guard Boden Skunberg surpassed 1,000 career points in Thursday's loss at St. Thomas. ... Former Bison defensive back Bobby Babich, a Fargo South graduate and son of ex-NDSU head coach Bob Babich, will be interviewed for the defensive coordinator job with the Green Bay Packers, according to media reports. Miami and the New York Giants also requested interviews with Bobby. He is currently the linebackers coach of the Buffalo Bills. Bob Babich, now retired, was a longtime NFL assistant after leaving NDSU in 2002. Bob Babich was the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars. ... NDSU men's basketball commit Isaia Howard scored 52 points for Plattsburg (Mo.) High School in a win over Southeast. Howard is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard. ... Three-star prospect Grant Vigen, a 6-foot-6 quarterback from Bozeman Gallatin High School, received a scholarship offer from Montana State. The Bobcats are coached by former NDSU player and coach Brent Vigen, who is Grant's father. ... Quarterback Clifton McDowell, who transferred to Montana and led the Grizzlies to the FCS title game with a win over NDSU, has transferred to FBS Temple. ... Former NDSU cornerback Marquise Bridges signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. ... Defensive end Ben McNaboe, who transferred from North Dakota, found a new team with FBS Ohio. ... Montana signed head coach Bobby Hauck to a three-year contract extension that will keep him in Missoula until the 2027 season. Hauck led the Griz to a runner-up finish in the FCS playoffs in 2023 while in the last year of his contract. Reporting from the Missoulian newspaper says Hauck's base salary in his new deal will start at $265,000 with an annual retention bonus of $50,000 as well as additional performance bonuses. ... Quarterback Matthew Sluka landed with UNLV of the FBS after transferring from FCS Holy Cross.