Adrian, MI – Once again, ‘Hail Adrian’ was voted the top fight song in all of NCAA Division III. D3Playbook held a 32-team bracket style tournament where NCAA Division III institutions went head-to-head in a voting poll on who had the better fight song. Adrian College was crowned Champions in the last Fight Song contest in 2021, and continue to sit at the top in 2023. After sweeping its way back to the Championship round, ‘Hail Adrian’ defeated Christopher Newport University by a 60.5-39.5 percent margin with almost 1,100 votes tallied. The story behind Adrian College’s current fight song began in the fall of 1988 when Darin McNabb, Class of ’89, went to his band instructor and asked if he could write a new one. He was given the green light and the new song was a hit and played for the next couple of seasons before getting shelved.
In 2007, McNabb heard the Bulldogs were creating a new marching band and asked the band director, Dr. Marty Marks, if he could rework his old fight song and create an updated version they could play. The idea was taken to Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking and he gave the go-ahead to update the song. Just a couple of months later, the marching band was proudly playing “Hail Adrian!” Hail Adrian’ continues to be part of the Adrian College tradition playing throughout the stadium at football games, after every NCAA men’s hockey goal, and throughout the campus community.