Small College Conversations: Crystal Lanning

UW-River Falls Director of Athletics Crystal Lanning joins College.town's Anthony Grassi from the 2026 NCAA Convention, fresh off the Falcons capturing the 2026 football national championships. Lanning dives into the special season, the unmatched support she's seeing as a result, but more specifically how she judged improvement and growth early on in then-head football coach Matt Walker's tenure where he went 3-27 in the first three years. The pair also discuss handling financial challenges with state budget cuts and extrapolating the Falcons' successes across the entire department.