Mangurian and Murphy need to be kept away from the equipment
Day-to-Day work and updates on the Ivy football season will continue on this blog. But to make sure the emergency situation Columbia football and Columbia athletics are under remains on the forefront, the following extremely common sense demands will be posted on top of every new post on this blog until changes are made:
We must:
1) Replace Dianne Murphy as Athletic Director right away
2) Replace Pete Mangurian as Head Football Coach the moment the season ends
3) Bring in an outside consulting/expert group to make the replacement hires and evaluate the positions and effectiveness of everyone in the athletic department.
4) Do NOT allow anyone who has had a leadership position or position of influence in any past hiring process to participate or interfere in any way with the overhaul process.
Please call President Bollinger at 212-854-1754 as soon as possible and asked to be connected to his office. Please respectfully ask that Murphy and Mangurian be let go as soon as possible.
You can also email: officeofthepresident@columbia.edu
Now Harvard Feels Sorry for Us
If anyone was wondering how our opponents feel about us these days, the answer is simple: pity.
And I can't think of a worse place to be in as a football team and a collegiate program.
Check out this column by Samantha Lin in the Harvard Crimson. It says it all.
Of course, it trots out the false point that the 20 minute bus ride to the Baker Complex hurts the team. That's been disproved many times and actually actively disproved now by the successful baseball team that whipped Harvard's butt this year for added measure.
But this piece and the Daily News column from Sunday are very valuable in the long run.
First off, the Daily News piece gets academic department officials ON RECORD saying they believe in Coach Mangurian and what he's trying to do. There is no retracting or room for subjective interpretation in the quotes published there.
Secondly, the pity factor makes it clear how this is not about hating a rival team or lampooning a bad play or two. This is about real concern from other members of the Ivies about how non-competitive we are. I mean, people other than the parents of our players are actively worried about their safety... and these people are from the OTHER schools!
Other Candidates
Once again, I have to make it clear that relieving Mangurian without relieving Murphy would be suicidal. Murphy cannot be allowed to hire anyone else ever again for Columbia University, (doesn't anyone remember what happened to the first new women's basketball coach she oversaw and then she suddenly disappeared? That was years ago, but was the beginning of a pattern of extreme failure).
So who could come in as our new Athletic Director?
I ask you, the readers to come up with some names.
We did this two years ago when we posted some great candidates for the coaching opening and we were ignored, and I think spitefully so.
I think anyone here could have hired a better person for the job than Mangurian, so let's try this again and maybe someone will listen. Or at the VERY LEAST, we may pre-vet a few very bad choices just by airing out their names here.
Movie Moment
I went to see the movie Kill Your Darlings last night and it was pretty good. Jack Kerouac's background as a CU football player was included, along with a fictional, (I think), picture of him playing football hanging on the wall at what was supposed to be the West End. Check it out.
Basketball Tonight
Contrary to some fans who are apparently already willing to hand a medal to head basketball Coach Kyle Smith, I like what I see but the say the jury is still very much out.
Tonight, he and the Lions are 4 point underdogs at home to Manhattan College.
At least this game should be competitive and fun.
Please try to make it if you can.
25 comments:
Murphy's latest self adulatory hosanna is her picture with the cross country team. I have never seen an AD with such a sense of shameless self promotion combined with a complete unwillingness to hold herself accountable for a series of world class blunders.
Kyle Smith is a superb coach ... great recruiter - delightful guy - has a young and vibrant team ..they looked fabulous in the first game. I have watched him closely at many games since he arrived. Columbia is going to have to work hard to keep him. His team beat Harvard and Vilanova last year ...and had injuries and illness affecting the team in key moments..this team is better than last year's by a mile. Go Lions. Go to see the basketball team. You will like what you see a lot..with a great coach too.
Most Dartmouth folks believe that Brian Mann would like to be an AD someday. He would be a good one.
Sincere thanks, Jake, for everything you do. You are Columbia football's best friend in a sea of apathy and lunacy that surrounds the normal students and alums like us who love our school and the fun game of football on brilliant autumn afternoons. Some nut complained on Spec's sports blog last week that football harms Columbia's intellectual standing. I wonder if he told that to Harvard or Stanford? That type of fool obviously doesn't think our intellectual standing is harmed by students who physically assault invited speakers whose views differ from their own anti-American and anti-free speech delusions.
Another nut insisted football should continue because he thinks all that losing is really funny.
No need to talk about the field action any more. It's probably worse that anything that's happened since Lou Little, Sid Luckman and Gene Rossides departed.
Worse than the punter who kicked the ball backwards over his own head during The Streak At least the losing scores were slightly less lopsided.
I have no idea what will happen but Bollinger and Murphy have had a dozen years to do something. Bollinger promised to end what he labeled a culture of losing but I doubt he's lifted a finger. The only blessing at this moment is that the season is close to ending. And what do we have to look forward to? This is one huge botched mess.
my take on the daily news article is there is no other position for the administration to take other than support for the current coach. To do otherwise goes against genetic political posturing. Bigger programs will trot out the line "at the end of the season. we will evaluate where we are as a program." Columbia is not that sophisticated with their treatment of the football program.
I do agree, Pete will be given at least one more season which is why the pressure must be ramped up and give the powers that be every reason to question their wisdom in hiring such an awful candidate in Pete Mangurian.
Sorry, typing from my phone. it should say generic.
I know this is a football blog but your reference to the first women's basketball coach Dr. Murphy hired is incorrect. She was not on board as AD when that coach was hired.
Here is an AD resume:
Chad Klunder is in his 11th season at Notre Dame and first as associate athletic director for football operations. In his role, Klunder coordinates and oversees all day-to-day administrative and operational details including team travel, budgets, pre-season camp arrangements, the annual coaches clinic and summer camps.
A former graduate assistant coach at Notre Dame in 2003-04, Klunder worked with the Irish offense for two seasons. He previously served as running backs coach and coordinator of football operations at Harvard from 1998 through 2002. During his tenure at Harvard, his running backs led the Ivy League in rushing on three occasions. He coached three all-Ivy League players, including Chris Menick, Harvard's all-time leading rusher. Harvard in 2001 finished 9-0 in the Ivy League and became the first Harvard team to go unbeaten or untied in conference play since 1913.
Klunder also served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Minnesota - and worked as a graduate assistant football coach at St. Cloud State. At St. Cloud, he coached Randy Martin, who was a finalist in 1995 and '96 for the Harlon Hill Trophy that goes to the NCAA Division II player of the year. The Waverly, Iowa, native played defensive back at Wartburg College in Waverly. He earned four letters, was twice a unanimous all-league pick and gained honorable mention All-America recognition. He served as a Wartburg co-captain in 1994 when his team advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
Klunder received a degree in sports management from Wartburg in 1995 and has done master's degree coursework at St. Cloud State, Minnesota and Notre Dame. He is married to the former Lisa Malin who is executive director of the Kelly Cares Foundation. The couple have one daughter, Allyson, and reside in Granger
Here is a potential HC or OC:
One of the brightest young minds in the game, Mike Sanford is in his third season as an assistant coach on Stanford’s staff. The 2013 campaign marks his first overseeing quarterbacks and wide receivers while continuing his duties as recruiting coordinator.
Sanford was the Cardinal running backs coach for his first two seasons with the program after serving as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Western Kentucky in 2010.
Sanford is in his second stint on The Farm, having worked with the Cardinal quarterbacks from 2007-08 as an offensive assistant.
Sanford worked closely with 2012 Doak Walker Award semifinalist Stepfan Taylor, who became Stanford’s all-time career rushing leader (4,300 yards) by breaking Darrin Nelson’s record which stood since 1981.
Selected 140th overall in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals, Taylor collected 40 career rushing touchdowns (second best in school history) and 45 total touchdowns (first). The 2013 Rose Bowl Offensive MVP was the first Stanford player ever to record three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Under Sanford’s direction, the deep and versatile Cardinal rushing attack ranked 18th nationally in 2011, averaging 210.6 yards per game. Stanford’s 2,738 yards were the third highest single-season mark in school history. The Cardinal also set a single-game record for rushing yardage when it rolled up 446 yards against No. 22 Washington.
Stanford’s ground game keyed an offense that ranked seventh nationally in scoring average at 43.2 points/game and eighth in total offense at 489.3 yards/game.
While at Western Kentucky, Sanford oversaw an offensive unit that featured running back Bobby Rainey, who finished third nationally in rushing average (137.42) and 11th in all-purpose yardage (156.58).
Prior to joining the staff at Western Kentucky, Sanford worked as the tight ends and fullbacks coach at Yale, where he also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
A former quarterback at Boise State, Sanford played on four bowl teams during his collegiate career as the Broncos compiled a cumulative 54-9 record during his stay, including an 11-1 record in 2004 which culminated with a Liberty Bowl victory over Louisville.
Following his playing career, Sanford served as a volunteer student assistant on the Bronco coaching staff for spring practice in 2005 before accepting a graduate assistant position at UNLV, where he worked with his father, Mike, then the head coach of the Rebels and former offensive coordinator at Stanford.
Sanford received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Boise State in 2005. Mike and his wife, Anne-Marie, reside on the Stanford campus with their daughter, Peyton
Dianne took over just as Waites was being hired. I'm not sure how much of a role she played in the hiring process. But something very wrong happened there.
OK, I am going to send a twist to this blog. I am going to make ten points of why recruits should come to columbia. When I am done I hope others make a serious effort to add to my points.
1) Columbia is the most centrally located school in the Ivy. League. Our trips to games are the shortest of all the schools.
2) for families traveling long distances, Columbia is the easiest school to reach by plane. We have two major airports within subway system commute. More and cheaper flights than any other university.
3) WHEN we win it will be unbelievably satisfying. The players will be the toast of all of New York and the university. You will be a legend forever. Ask Bill Campbell.
4) Proximity to big time Wall St jobs. After four years at columbia you know what the city is about, that you can make it! and how it all functions. Subway trips to your interviews.
5) Best and most internships available of all the ivies.
6) WHEN we win I guarantee Wien stadium will be banged out all the time. I can't believe the intensity and loyalty of the alumni with all they have been through. It is beyond reason. There are so many alumni in the city it will be a difficult ticket to get.
7) great place for family to visit. My wife and I visited from the Lehigh game to the Penn homecoming game. One of the best vacations of my life. We bought 7 day New York passes. Visited 911 memorial and met firemen there. Empire State tour, water taxis, biked Central Park, toured Carnegie Hall, ate at Carnegie Deli, Madame Tossauds, night Tall Ship sail out to the Statue, visited Ellis island! toured Yankee Stadium, toured Greenwich Village, toured the NBC Studios and SNL set, and a lot more. Can't do that at Princeton or Dartmouth.
8) great game day experience. Great pageantry and color, cleanest and nicest facilities in league, barbecue grills available! intimate experience. Unbelievable views of the Hudson and Harlem rivers.
9) After the game you can dine with your sons at an endless number of great restaurants within walking or subway distance.
10) Live in the greatest city in the world! Hear every possible language spoken. Where diversity really works. Access to everything and anything in stores and entertainment. New York has the best of everything from art, to music, to theater, to entertainment. I am going to Rockefeller Center and the Rockettes the weekend of the Brown game.
I am grateful my son chose Columbia! It has been great for him and great for us! Beat Cornell!
I would like to see people add to this list.....
Oldlion, if you think the xc picture is bad (and the staff can't stand her), look at Murphy in the tennis photo. I doubt she could name the two young men who won the tournament. A shameless self promoter to the highest degree.
Dear "10 points",
I too am glad that your son chose to attend Columbia.
I am agreement with Anonymous and his reasons to attend Columbia, all very valid. What you missed however, is that these kids are coming straight from High School and football is Still a priority in their mind. They know all the great things about NY and what it has to offer. And when they are here for a year or so, they then start to understand about job opportunities, internships , and big time Wall Street jobs. I think though if they still want to play FB, they will not choose Columbia. Graduating from an Ivy League ( any one of them) will create great jobs. One will,at least get his foot in the door. The thing about the other Ivy schools they have Better teams and people running those teams ,Winning teams. I think most kids will choose another one of those schools.can you blame them? I absolutely hate what has gone on this year with this team . Mostly I am sickened by what has gone on for the kids who never expected this .
Men's hoops lost. The woes continue.
And they lost in what is becoming the "Kyle Smith Way." Another shocking blown lead in the final seconds. Who loses a game on a missed foul shot rebounded and then put back in for an and-one at the buzzer???
We can throw out names of candidates but who says any of these guys would be interested? Our job is a career killer in reputation right now. A Stanford or Notre Dame guy would rather stay as a high paid assistant then take a FBS job than join the Murphy circus. We need a young current head coach from D2 or D3 who understands recruiting with no scholarships and with limited resources.
You couldn't be more wrong in the above statement. Many very good coaching and AD candidates have contacted me and much more important alums in recent years eager to come here. That includes the top names of coaches many of us have openly mentioned here.
Not sure about limited resources. Am sure not making best use of present funding. We all have to become "spotters" to enhance the recruiting effort. Not sure about talking to potential recruits (NCAA rules), but forwarding stats to coaches should be enough to bring plenty of kids to their attention. My son, now a starter was recruited because my brother sent in film to the coaching staff. Friends of CU football can be a huge scouting
army that would make more quality
kids available.
We have the largest recruiting budget in the Ivies and the most eager donors, (just look at what happened on Giving Day), you could ask for.
What's killing us is the cronyism in the dept, the LAZINESS in the dept, and the arrogance in the dept.
How people who have fostered such failure could be so arrogant is beyond me, but there it is.
We're cleaning house.
Rich Forzani '66C
This "not making best use of present funding" post above Jake's last sums up the crux of the problem.
This isn't about one bad coach, it's not about who is a good or bad person. WE DON"T CARE about that. Because if that is the focus, we are just treating the symptom; not the disease. The entire attitude and focus and leadership of the department must change. Far too much money has been spent for far too long for far too few results.
This is simple math and simple professional expectation. If management anywhere (corporate, athletic, military) consistently under-performed as our athletic management has, it would be fired. If you can't do the job, you move on. It happens all the time.
It is now past time for that to happen here. If Murphy is a fundraiser, then let her do that. But keep her away from athletics. If PM stays another year, does any reasonable person expect his record to improve significantly?
We can always get the players. Columbia has a magic name, as do some other schools. But we need the alums to help spot talent and spread the word, per above post, and we need good, supportive and inspirational coaches and a professional, goal-oriented and hungry Athletic Department.
We have none of this at present.
PS.........
Except for a couple of decent coaches, out of 36.
Jake, You're wrong about the basketball coach Lyle Smith and the team this year. Manhattan is a very good team though Columbia should have won. Smith is a great recruiter and has a good team without any seniors. Basketball should be on the upswing
i like to top reasons to attend CU, but the jos and internship info, up to now, have been more a mirage than anything else. Princeton/Yale/Harvard all do a far better job than Columbia, by a landslide. However, i would like to see CU hire somebody to coordinate this process and have an eager list of people willing to hire. Outside of the guys at Choice Energy, who have done wonders in hiring CU people, there really isnt anybody else to speak of that steps up when needed.
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