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Podcast: The Swing
Episode:

Janus leaves UW-La Crosse for DII’s Northern Michigan
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2026-01-05 19:18:25
Description:

After getting UW-La Crosse football to five consecutive trips to the NCAA Division 3 playoffs for the first time in school history, Matt Janus is moving on and moving up.

UW-L announced Monday that Janus is taking the head coaching job at Northern Michigan, a Division II school in Marquette, Mich., that competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

UW-L’s search for his replacement begins immediately. Janus was the 24th coach in program history and sixth since 2002.

The Eagles finished No. 8 in the final D3Football.com poll this year, going 8-3 before losing in the third round of the playoffs, after a first-round bye.

Janus leaves with a 76.3 winning percentage (45-1) — second only to UW-L coaching legend Roger Harring’s 77.1% (261-75-7 over 31 seasons).

Janus’ best season with UW-L was 2023, when he was named WIAC coach of the year and D3Football.com’s regional coach of the year. He led the Eagles to an 11-2 record overall and an unbeaten 7-0 in the WIAC and first-ever automatic bid to the playoffs.

There, UW-L made it to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996, before losing to the eventual national champions, North Central — the same team that eliminated the Eagles this year, before losing to UW-River Falls in the title game.

TOP PHOTO: FILE – Matt Janus on the sidelines coaching the UW-La Crosse football team (PHOTO: UWL Athletics)
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