Marquette, MI – February 17th, 2026 – This week on The Big Local Sports Show, we welcomed two exciting new members of the Northern Michigan football program. During the first half of the show, we sat down with Matt Janus, who was hired in January as the 24th head football coach in Northern Michigan University history.
We talked with Janus about his transition to the Upper Peninsula, his recruiting philosophy, and his journey from a college football player to a head coach. He reflected on his playing days at University of Wisconsin–Platteville, where he competed from 2006 to 2009 and served as a team captain during his final two seasons. Janus began his coaching career in 2010 as a graduate assistant and steadily climbed the ranks before earning his first head coaching opportunity in 2020.
That opportunity came at University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, where he spent the past six seasons transforming the Eagles into one of Division III’s premier programs. During his tenure, Janus compiled a 45–14 overall record and a 29–6 conference mark, leading the team to five consecutive NCAA Division III playoff appearances. Under his leadership, the Eagles captured Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships in both 2022 and 2023, including an undefeated 7–0 conference season in 2023, the program’s first outright league title since 2004.
In the second half of the show, we were joined by Pavel McCutcheon, who recently signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his athletic career at Northern Michigan. The Marquette native is a multisport standout with impressive size, standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 230 pounds, according to his MaxPreps profile.
McCutcheon shared insight into his recruiting journey, including his decision to flip his commitment from Grand Valley State University to Northern Michigan. During his high school football career, he earned numerous accolades, including All-U.P. Dream Team honors, All-Region Offensive Lineman recognition, the 2025 Mitchell Snyder Lineman of the Year award, and First Team All-State honors from the Detroit Free Press.
Click the link below to listen to the full show.
Next week, we’ll be joined by Carly Harrington and Steff Girard, two key figures in the local basketball community. Harrington serves as president of the Marquette Junior Wildcats basketball program, while Girard is the organization’s treasurer. Their mission is to grow skill development in the game of basketball through hard work, positive culture, and a relentless drive to improve. Tune in next week to learn more about their impact on our community.
The Big Local Sports Show will be live from Slabz Bar and Grill next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. If you can’t make it in person, you can listen on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 and 99.9, catch the replay at 6:00 p.m. on 97.5 GTO, or watch the show streamed live on the mediaBrew Communications Facebook page.
