COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University J-Club released its candidates for the 32nd annual
Gagliardi Trophy, presented by Stearns Bank, on Friday, Dec, 5, recognizing the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III, with
Kaleb Blaha representing UW-River Falls, named a semifinalist for the second time in his career.
The Gagliardi Trophy, given annually since 1993, is awarded to the most outstanding NCAA Division III football player and recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service. The award is named after John Gagliardi, Saint John's legendary Hall of Fame head football coach who passed away at the age of 91 in 2018. John retired in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most in college football history.
The list of 15 semifinalists features another quarterback-heavy class, as well as nominees from all six NCAA regions. Nearly all the semifinalists participated in at least the first round of the Division III playoffs. Three nominees – Wisconsin-River Falls'
Kaleb Blaha (2023), Susquehanna's Josh Ehrlich (2024) and Curry's Diamontie Quinn (2024) – return from recent lists.
Kaleb Blaha, also a 2023 Gaglardi Trophy Semifinalist, was the 2025 WIAC Offensive Player of the Year and has led the Falcons to one of the most successful seasons in program history, winning the WIAC Championship for the first time since 1998 with a program-record 10 wins and reaching the third round of the NCAA Playoffs. A D3football.com Preseason First Team All-American, this season he's been selected to the D3football.com Team of the Week twice, and is a four-time WIAC Offensive Player of the Week. Currently, Blaha is the nation's leader with an average of 405.8 yards of total offense and has continued to rewrite the Falcon record books. He became the UWRF all-time leader in scoring and passing yards, broke single-season records in passing yards, completions, along with breaking his own single-game record for total offense with 569 versus Coe College on Sept. 13.
Off the field, Blaha is a two-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll member and has maintained a 3.337 cumulative GPA, majoring in Health and Physical Education at UWRF. During his career as a Falcon student-athlete, he has volunteered his time in the River Falls community for events such as 'Youth Day With Falcons', 'Change Drive for Food Pantry', UWRF's 'Trick or Treat for Canned Goods' Project, BRIDGE efforts with handicap populations, along with Breast Cancer, Military Appreciation, and Coach to Cure MD initiatives.
The Gagliardi Trophy national-selection committee is comprised of 18 Division III coaches (three from each NCAA Region), six Division III administrators (one from each region), 12 regional notable voters (two from each region) and six national voters with Division III backgrounds.
A fan vote, which runs until Dec. 15, is live on D3football.com.
The Gagliardi Trophy finalists will be announced during a live show at 4 p.m. ET Thursday, Dec. 18, on D3football.com, and the 2025 Gagliardi Trophy winner will be revealed on D3football.com during the week of the NCAA Division III football national championship game. In the lead up to the announcement of the 2025 Gagliardi Trophy winner, D3football.com will provide updates on specific dates and times of the announcement.
