June 22, 2026 · Dead Period · Heritage Window · 2026 Outlook

Franklin

5-5 2025 final

Franklin College is the HCAC program that brought back its all-time winningest coach Mike Leonard — the Grizzlies are betting the 129-win legend can restore the program to championship contention.

Quiet weeks in Grizzlies country.

Record

5-5

win% .500

Conference

5th of 7

Heartland · 3-3

Index Rating

49.7

D3 #125 of 240

Playoff Path

Win the league

Dead PeriodOffseasonPatientPost-loss — diagnostic

The Long Wait·Offseason

Franklin College is the HCAC program that brought back its all-time winningest coach Mike Leonard — the Grizzlies are betting the 129-win legend can restore the program to championship contention.

Standard GapA program that struggled without its legendary coach vs the return of Mi…

Franklin College brought back legendary head coach Mike Leonard for the 2025 season after he retired in 2019 with a 129-55 record and six HCAC Coach-of-the-Year awards. Leonard's first tenure (2003-2019) was marked by sustained ex…

offseason · quiet

Read the full program story ↓

Offseason

69 days

until kickoff · Sun Aug 30 · 17:00 UTC

Act I

The 2026 Outlook

DIVISION III · THE PATH TO THE STAGG BOWL

Franklin sits 3rd in the Heartland Conference and 125th of 240 in the CFB Zeitgeist — outside the at-large picture — the path runs through the conference title.

Heartland · 2025

	Team	Conf	Overall	Index
1	Hanover College	6-0	9-3	66.0
2	Mount St. Joseph	5-1	6-5	52.4
3	Franklin	3-3	5-5	49.7
4	Bluffton	3-3	5-5	46.9
5	Rose-Hulman	3-3	3-7	42.8
6	Anderson (IN)	1-5	2-8	36.2
7	Manchester	0-6	0-10	28.5

49.7 CFB Zeitgeist#125 of 240 D349.8 strength of schedule1 quality win

Win the Heartland Conference for the automatic berth into the 40-team NCAA Division III bracket. Miss it and the path is an at-large bid, selected by NPI — the metric the CFB Index mirrors. Six wins survive the bracket to the Stagg Bowl.

Source: CFB Zeitgeist — conference records + NPI-style rating from 2025 games · the field is 40 teams, NPI-selected

THE 2025 SEASON · 5-5

Signature win 41-7 over Anderson (IN); toughest day 18-51 against Hanover College.

—

Quiet weeks in Grizzlies country.

What moved it — offseason · last 30 days

June Dead-period quiet — official-visit + heritage window —

Camp Fall camp ~40 days out

"Go Franklin" — Franklin fanbase · recurring line

46 mentions · sample growing

Winning record—

The baseline for a successful season.

Conference title—

The primary goal and national bracket path.

32-team bracket qualifierLocked—

One of 32 national tournament entries.

Stagg BowlLocked—

The Division III national championship game.

Floor 3-9

Base 5-7

Ceiling 8-4

floor3-9Rebuild year. Below .500.

base5-7Mid-table finish.

ceiling8-4Conference title race. Bracket qualifier in range.

Variance assumed at ±2 wins from last-season record. Replace with the season-path projection once preview data is built.

Act II

Who We Are

Home-Field Advantage · Franklin · 2018-present

Strong

45% home win rate vs 35% on the road. margin runs +12.0 better at home.

Home9-11Away7-13

Act III

Last Season Reviewed

2025 season · tap to expand

Recent Form · last 10 games

Mixed

Three of five. Trending up, not yet hot.

Streak L1Last 5 · 3-2Last 10 · 5-5

Schedule Strength · Franklin · 2025

Balanced

Average opponent win rate 47% across 10 finalized games. Balanced slate across the conference slate.

Opp Win %0.474

Moment of the Year · Franklin · 2025

Won 48-21 vs Manchester

Week 8 of 2025. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

From the Archive — Franklin

2024: Lost 43-46 vs Mount St. Joseph

In 2024, the program lost 43-46 vs Mount St. Joseph — a close home result, 3 points either way.

Go Grizzlies.