On Thursday, November 20, President Bollinger
announced that the University would begin a comprehensive review of our
football program. The review will be conducted by Rick Taylor, a former
NCAA Division I head football coach at Boston University and athletics
director at BU, Cincinnati and Northwestern.
The
comprehensive review, commissioned by President Bollinger and myself,
will include a thorough appraisal of all aspects of our football
program. Columbia is committed to success in football – and we believe
that this comprehensive review of our football program will pay
significant dividends in our future success.
During the week of December 1,
Rick will be on campus in New York City meeting with many individuals
involved with our football program. Rick is also interested in talking
to a diverse cross-section of football alumni, to get their insight on
how we can make our football program better.
I
am writing to you to let you know that because you are a former
football player, you are invited to participate in Rick’s review. I know
how much you care about Columbia and the success of our football
program – and getting the insights of our former Columbia Football
players will be very helpful.
On Wednesday, December 3, Rick will be meeting with some Columbia Football alumni on campus from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to
discuss our football program. This will be a group meeting of football
alumni. Your perspective will be incredibly helpful and I sincerely
hope that you are willing to be involved. If you are interested in
participating in this group meeting with Rick, please let me know by
noon on Monday, December 1. The meeting will be held at Faculty House
in Garden Room 2 from8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Please note, we will be begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and end promptly at 10:30 a.m., as there is another event in Garden Room 2 immediately following our meeting.
The
success of this comprehensive review is dependent on Rick receiving
candid feedback. Rick will not identify the names of individuals
associated with specific comments or observations related to our
football program.
All of us want the best for Columbia Football, and we know that together we can build a winning program of which we can all be proud. I know how long we have all waited for Columbia to build a winning football tradition. Your helping us by participating in this confidential review will go a long way in making our team successful.
Thanks so much!
Best regards,
DianneIf all you did was read this email, you might think this is a nice gesture. But so many of the most outspoken and dedicated former players were NOT invited. So the truth is, this is an attempt to stack the deck and keep Taylor from likely hearing what he really needs to know.
This is beyond an outrage, but not a surprise.
I keep telling all of you: the #1 goal of this administration is to reduce and kill off honest criticism of this administration. Even after the President of the University orders this outside review, Murphy and some of the minions are hoping to mitigate and cover up the reality this consultant needs to see and hear.
If Taylor's review is hampered in any way by this defensive group, the entire exercise will be compromised. And if that happens, the people responsible for hampering it are guilty of theft in my opinion since we're certainly not getting Mr. Taylor's review for free.
So, if you are an ex-player I urge you to contact Murphy directly as soon as possible and ask to be invited to talk to Taylor.
Obviously the first and most repeated thing Taylor needs to hear is that Mangurian must go... now! But there are other issues that we all know about and I leave it to you to enumerate them.
Right now, it's important to make sure the existing failed leadership in the Athletic Department does not succeed in its attempts to censor the truth.
I'll do it myself if I have to... even if I have to go to Mr. Taylor's house, hotel room or book the seat next to him on the plane to tell him.
So folks in the athletic department, please save your breath and energy. Taylor is going to find out the truth.
Oh and Coach Pete Mangurian, stop embarrassing yourself by trying to find out the names of the players who have had the courage to tell the proper authorities of your ineptitude and misconduct. You might find out, but not before it's too late anyway. Everyone already knows anyway. We know because of a little something called 0-21.
40 comments:
Not invited - is that an insult or a compliment?
Who are these elite alums who are invited to this gathering of the minds? If it’s more cronies, then it’s just more of the same. Are the likes of Bob Kent, Rory Wilfork and/or Des Werthman invited? if not, just pat yourselves on your backs now and we can continue with our mediocrity.
Dear Jake,
I WAS invited. Since I believe you in had a part to play in Taylor being hired, I want to invite you and any former player to give me ideas or solutions that are actionable or frankly, that I have not considered. Having gone through the streak and everything since, I certainly have my opinions. That said, I am happy to bring anything forward looking that will bring the program to where it can contend for an Ivy League title. Anything else is kicking an abused old can further down the road. I hope by the mere fact I am responding here (which will peev many in the CU admin) is proof I am no sycophant of anyone. Those that know me know I don't take shit from anyone nor do I kiss rings or asses. We might have a real opportunity here. I look forward bringing anything sane to this meeting.
John Alex '89
Elite alums. I like that. I guess I should take off my cowboy boots and sell my Silverado
Thankfully, Mr. Taylor is not a crony of the administration and if he hasn't done so already he has already combed this blog to prep for his consultation.
John Alex - glad to hear that you are attending! You were a great Captain and I am sure you will represent the majority very well. You were always very direct - not sure the current Administration is ready for that perspective. Thank you for attending.
Go Lions,
Bob Kent
Brother Bob. It's time. I am as pissed off as anybody. Believe me, I am going to be candid. Nice word. I would love a list of particulars for Mr. Taylor to add to my own institutional issues. Let's do something good here. Btw I am still going to call on you to protect me in some far flung disaster.
Why are we wasting precious time? Make Rick Taylor the AD for 2 or 3 years RIGHT NOW, pay him $500,000 or whatever he wants and move on!!
John
You have never been afraid to speak your mind! Does Dianne and staff realize you will be serving them a great big dose of reality?
I am going to email Dianne and ask if I can attend. Maybe I can convince Joe Joe to come up with me...
Flicker
Jake, you are so correct. These people never stop.
The first question is why in blazes is Murphy involved in this? She resigned months ago, before the season began, to distance herself from the fiasco of her pet coach.
Notice how she writes that the Taylor review "was
commissioned by Pres. Bollinger and MYSELF."
What did she do, look up his phone number? She should have done that 10 years ago. She wants a football program she can be proud of? Is that why she's running for the hills? Is that why she's invited only a few former players?
This is just another opportunity for her ego to do a spin job and pretend to be in charge. I hope the invited alum players don't let her run the show but demand to speak openly and at length to Taylor.
BEST OF ALL...the proof of what she's up to, and it's so funny too, is her crap, in bold type, about how the meeting must end at 10:30 sharp after only two hours because another event is booked in that room. What is it, the Faculty Wives Gardening Club?
Columbia has hundreds of lecture halls, theaters, auditoriums, a basketball gym that can hold thousands...but this room is the only one Murphy can use?
Same old crap, guys. Seize the opportunity, and don't let her get away with another dog and pony show before she disappears from Columbia. Demand that more players, and non playing alums, women as well as men, also students and current student-athletes from other sports, and any friend of Columbia have a chance to be heard by Taylor.
That is unless unless you're satisfied that everything's been covered adequately for Taylor
before they throw you of the room for the Gardening Club.
Well said Chick. I have been in the software world for a long time and something that really helps teams deliver quality is every release cycle (it could be 1 week or 2 or a month, etc) you get everybody in the room and you challenge yourselves to come up with post-mortem lists. You articulate what you did right and what went wrong. It's a foolproof system because everyone speaks their mind and you can't hide what went wrong. You can't explain away something that doesn't work. There's no "almost" or "we tried really hard." Either something works or it doesn't. Failure is blatant and you fess up to it. Next steps are to fix the failures.
You can't fix what you don't admit is broken!
That is exactly what is needed here. Ms. Murphy fears such a reality check. Pruning the invite list to hide from the truth is pathetic.
Ban Murphy from the meeting. Tell her she is part of the problem. Ask her to leave.
Chick- you are 100% correct with everything you said! Here's a thought... Change the venue to the Lou Gehrig Lounge in Dodge so that, God forbid, we have a more than 2 hour discussion about the program that Dianne has kept in the basement since her tenure???!!! You have to figure there will be 1 hour of the cronies patting themselves on their back, another 30 min debating if the cupboard was bare, and then closing. It's a joke!
Dianne selected the last two coaches, why in the world would she be included in this process? For that matter, I would hope that NONE of the Football Committee members are part of this process as well. There is a clear conflict on both fronts. One is an individual idiot, and the others are a collection of idiots!
I agree with #1 and Chick. This reeks of incompetence and insecurity.
So they invite hand picked alums to attend a meeting that presumably is the most important meeting in CU football history and they have a cold stop after two hours because the room is already reserved? "hey, let's have a meeting and get input from former players, but let's only invite ones that we think won't say anything too critical and just to be safe we will limit it to two hours"
They would have invited me then Flicker
Not invited
Time to start thinking out of the box- Here is first suggestion: A football dorm!
Jake, not to be off-topic re the Taylor mtg, but did this column by Mitch Mailman get noted on your blog? Found the comparison of football coaching talent from the 70s to today an interesting point of view. - http://columbialion.com/blog/the-state-of-columbia-football/
John, Im confused. I thought they did invite you?
Coach, (respectfully) get back in the box. Bigger issues here... As far as recruiting, everyone has to get over the facilities issue, the bus trip, etc. (all of which have improved). The reality is that we are selling the University, not football (at this point). We are selling NYC and Wall Street jobs. If anything, we need to cultivate stronger alumni relationships with the players to get summer jobs and first jobs for graduating seniors. THAT will go a long way toward recruiting! Note, this network needs to extend BEYOND NYC. We need help in LA, SF, Boston, Houston (outside of Javier Loya Energy group), Dallas, Miami, Philly, Chicago, Phoenix, etc.
Let's face it, we're not going to et HYP kids. Dartmouth and Cornell kids like the outdoors and not big cities. So that just leaves Penn and Brown to really compete against recruits. Once again, we have GS for transfers and/or GI Bill players. They're out there... Yale has a Clemson transfer, a Ontario U transfer, and a Boise State transfer. We had Brett Nottingham, that's it; and Pete scared him off!
We need Pete out NOW and just sell the University, not a maniacal coach and his cloned staff.
Not everybody wants to go to Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Until recently, Bags was such an effective recruiter that he consistently out recruited all of those schools. There actually are people who hate New Haven, who think Harvard students are too self important, or who,don't want to spend four years in a NJ suburb. And as far as the quality of education, nobody can beat us.
I recommend more Petunias on College Walk - Oh sorry wrong meeting !!
A football dorm would be a positive in drawing recruits. There aren't definitive lines around student athletes' decision. This guy likes wilderness, this guy likes urban and has his eyes on finance. All qualified recruits are on the table until they aren't available. Housing is a big checklist item as it is for coaches. You want to make the same pitch for coaching candidates. Housing for coaches and their families would be a big plus to offer.
Old Lion- I wonder the percentage of players that Columbia beats other Ivies on- I would say@ 3%.
#Lion- we have been getting our kids jobs for 30 years now- Sure, we need to continue- think out of the box.
Bags didnt out recruit HYP- Penn let him bring players in and gave him financial aid money. And good for him! They should consult with Bags, also!!
Coach, again respectfully, these kids struggle every year for both summer internships and 1st (professional) jobs. I'm just saying that there is a long way to go. The network established by both Harvard and Yale takes care of their players.
Agree- Columbia must maintain the very best network for internship and job opportunities- I do think that the football staff and administration work hard on this issue.
Which brings me to my next out it the box idea.
First , the FOOTBALL DORM
Second, a full-time administrator in the athletics department whose only job is football administration. Recruiting, admissions, financial aid, jobs for players,
facilities.
Jake,
Testing new sign-in name. Old one causing problems. All players should be congradulated each and everyone for their guts and dedication to the Columbis football program.
Can anyone come up with an e-mail address for Coach Taylor?
All the alums meeting with Rick Taylor have to show are the statistics of Columbia football compared with all the other FCS schools and the Ivy League. No one in his right mind would want to have Mangurian stay on.
Just have Coach Taylor look at the statistics for Columbia vs the rest of the Ivy League and the FCS for the last two years. No one in his right mind would want Mangurian to stay on.
They should bring in Al Bagnoli and Jack Seidecki, former coach of Yale, for their insight into Columbia Football.
Not to critique the coaching, which would be inappropriate, but to make suggestions as to how the Columbia program can improve.
Can't have a football dorm. Ncaa "tom osborne" rule
Certain % must be non-athletes- not an issue-
If Rick Taylor focuses on the coaching situation, all is lost. It is what it is. That is just what the administration wants- blame everything on the coaching-
Rick should focus on what the administration can do to help the program- put the reaponsibility on the school- admissions, financial aid, facilities, recruiting budgets, coaching salaries, housing,etc.
Agree with coach. Is it really statistically possible that we have basically hired bad coaches since 1961?
It is much more than the coaches. The entire University, from the President on down, must make football excellence a chief priority.
Maybe we've made an effort to be competitive in the past 20 years or so and hiring Mangurian was simply a bad decision, but I don't have believe we have ever made being at the top of the league a priority and that is what it is going to take. Making top in the Ivy a priotity is not going to guarantee any championships but it will ensure that we are competitive annually.
I agree. All of the above needs to be fixed, however, we are bleeding from a severed artery that necessaries an immediate transfusion, unless this fiasco is to continue for another year.
Ha, there was a "football dorm", back in the 20s, when the players lived in the Dyckman mansion (later razed for the Field House).
Can go on line to see Rick Taylor's report on Dartmouth football.
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