Take My Old Coach... Please!

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45 DAYS UNTIL THE SPRING GAME!!!


Norries to NYG?

Mike Garofolo of the New Jersey Star Ledger is reporting that former head coach Norries Wilson is a finalist for the assistant offensive line coaching job with the New York Giants.

That wouln't be the worst place for Wilson to land this fall after he's made several years worth of efforts to break into the NFL, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers.

Dodged a Bullet

Speaking of going to the NFL...

The more I talk to my sources, the more it looks like Columbia dodged a serious bullet when former OC Ben McDaniels decided to bolt for a job with Tampa Bay in the NFL.

It turns out McDaniels had a very visibly bad attitude and several players were worried about working with him this spring and fall.

I still contend that head coach Pete Mangurian is going to be very hands on with this offense, thus taking much of the potential power and authority away from whoever the OC was going to be.

But sometimes a marginalized person like that can be a lot tougher to deal with as an employee or a player. I do think that McDaniels would have been the point man with training the QB's and that would have made things unpleasant if he ended up feeling frustrated in that position alone.

After the Vinny Marino fiasco, the last thing Columbia needs is another hot headed coach likely to take things out on the team in anger.

The new OC Jaime Elizondo may get a more powerful role than McDaniel would have, but I still say he's primary job will be to coach the QB's and not dictate the game plans or call the plays from the booth.

I just hope Elizondo realizes this coming into the job.

This whole McDaniel incident is better proof for the point I have been trying to make about Mangurian since day one: HE'S IN CONTROL!

The relatively hands off days of Norries Wilson and even Ray Tellier are over. Mangurian wants a complete overhaul, and after the general futility we've seen since 1996, who can blame him?

Again, this is something that I think the fans will like but the administration may have a problem with Mangurian at some point.

Luckily, most of the namby pamby administrators who were here when Jim Garrett was head coach, (and demanding the same level of power and excellence), are long gone.

Garrett did make some mistakes, but other than his unfortunate comments about the players at his first postgame news conference, none of them was worth a reprimand.

I keep thinking that Mangurian may be giving all of us longtime Lion fans a chance to see "what could have been" if Garrett had been allowed to stay and finish a total turnaround of the program.

Childress needs to get more in the hunt!



Step it up on the Line

About a year ago, I first reported that Texas A&M defensive lineman Wells Childress was transferring to Columbia.

It was exciting news, and why not? Childress was a big specimen and the son of NFL great Ray Childress to boot!

Childress' integration on campus from a very different atmosphere in College Station was a big success... but his impact on the football team was a bit incomplete.

The good news is that Childress got better as the season moved on and I thought he played a good role on Columbia's one and only win over Brown in week 10.

But now it's time for Childress to step it up, get stronger, and prove that all of the people who said he'd be an impact player in the Ivies.

At 6-4 and 275 pounds, plus top flight coaching and competition in high school and at A&M, there's no reason why Childress shouldn't be making a very strong campaign to be a starter this spring.

What I also like a lot about Childress is his attitude. This is a player who is truly happy to be at Columbia and has clearly made some social and family sacrifices to be here.

Columbia's defensive line could still be very strong even if Childress doesn't register a big upgrade. I think rising seniors Seyi Adebayo and Nick Melka are both underrated and have a lot to prove this fall.

But the D-line will be a lot stronger with Childress seriously in the mix, and there's another factor at play here: encouragement for future transfers.

The more success Childress has at Columbia, the more fans and potential transfers alike will learn that this is a legitimate way to improve our football fortunes.

Remember that it was a PROFESSOR who suggested that Childress consider transferring to Columbia for academic reasons.

And when you have Ivy giants like Harvard and Penn using transfers quite often to get ahead, I don't see how Columbia could ever be seriously criticized for being welcoming to more impact player
transfers as well.

It's time for Columbia to get more aggressive, whether it's the higher expectations from Coach Mangurian or an open door for transfers.

Those who hate and disrespect the Lion program will criticize us either way.

We might as well win.