Schmitz Happens

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                                                                       Bill Schmitz


Land O’Lakes HS Assistant Coach Bill Schmitz is best known as the former Head Coach of D-III Austin Peay’s football team from 1996 to 2002.

A few years after that he had a brief and controversial stint as the offensive coordinator at Penn.

But few people know that Schmitz was a graduate assistant coach at Columbia under Bill Campbell and then Bob Naso from 1979 to 1980.

And it was Schmitz’s connection to Columbia, however old, that led him to guide incoming freshmen Darin Patmon our way during the recruiting process.

Was there also a little revenge involved considering the way he was blamed for Penn's offensive troubles even though he helped craft the offense that would win two straight Ivy titles just after he was fired in late 2008? 

Perhaps.

But if Patmon becomes an impact player one day, Schmitz will probably be smiling broadly if he ends up doing great things against Al Bagnoli's Quakers.

You never know!

Oregon Trail

The announcement that Brandon Blackshear is joining the Lion recruiting class put the state of Oregon in the spotlight.

In addition to former Columbia assistant Chip Kelly making history at the University of Oregon, the state’s high school football programs seem to be generating more talent lately.

But Columbia hasn’t lured an incoming football frosh from Oregon in 19 years when both Guy Poppe ’97 and Jamie Joe Diamond ’97 both joined the team. 

And both of them were gone from the roster by their junior seasons.

(The other two Oregonians in CU football history were Jason Smith ’93 and Steve Jenning ’72. Neither of them lasted into their senior seasons).

So Blackshear is just the fifth documented Oregonian EVER to become a CU football Lion, and if he lasts past his sophomore season with the varsity he'll probably be the best.

Speaking of good Oregonians, those of you who watched the video of his high school team’s playoff game that I posted yesterday were probably wowed by Blackshear’s teammate, #22 RB Paul Dodson
Like Blackshear, Dodson was a 1st Team all state player.

Unlike Blackshear, I don’t think Dodson has been recruited seriously by anyone to play college football, which seems odd.

If he has the grades, he may be worth trying to get him on the same plane Blackshear is taking to New York this August!

Getting back to the All State list from Oregon, none of the other members of the first team or any other team are going Ivy as far as we know.

The only other Oregonian coming to the league is Carl Kreitzberg, and OL who is committed to Yale.

So far, Texas still leads the pack as the top feeder state to Columbia football in the class of 2016. The Lone Star state’s six incoming players beats out #2 New Jersy with four players and Ohio and California are tied for third with three each.

Adams Online

There’s a good interview with Jeff Adams now on the athletic department website that details all the hard work he’s doing to impress the NFL scouts ahead of the draft in April.

I got winded just listening to all the working out he has to do.

And I also got scared remembering that the Lions face the 2012 without him. At least Columbia got used to it a bit last year as Adams missed the last three games due to injury. But it’s still going to hurt.

Baseball Time

In case you’re new here, you may not know that Columbia’s baseball team has become a power in the Ivies in recent years.
Coach Brett Boretti has created a fantastic program and is a gem for the entire university.

Perhaps the most exciting player on the Lion Nine is Dario Pizzano and he’s the featured interview today
featured interview today at College Baseball Insider.

The Columbia baseball season begins in just 22 days with a four game set at the Citadel.