About Time

Despite Columbia’s rocky history, lack of an A.D., etc. I can report that there is indeed serious interest from a lot of candidates for our vacant football head coaching job.

Rumors of Columbia being a place no one wants to go have been greatly exaggerated.

The truth is, Columbia pays and houses its football head coaches very well. And if President Lee Bollinger adheres to Rick Taylor's report due at the end of next week, I believe there's a good chance we're about to pay our future offensive and defensive coordinators pretty well too. 

I'm a little more concerned about what's going on with our A.D. search, especially since news on that front has been so scarce. Closed-door or under the radar searches don't have a very good track record on Morningside Heights. So beyond my own personal curiosity, I think we all have a stake in finding out a little more about where we are in this process. 

I don't know if those pushing for Ted Gregory to get the job are still pushing, but I still don't think he's the right choice for a lot of reasons. I think Ted is a very good person, but not qualified for this position. Plus, Columbia really needs to eliminate any semblance of cronyism in its hiring process for Athletics. I don't see any reason to hire Gregory other than to please his friend Bill Campbell... and we don't even know if Campbell wants Gregory for the job anyway. 

I think there have been a lot of moves in the football program made by people trying to please Bill Campbell even though they had no idea what would or wouldn't please him anyway. A better policy is to make the best moves and the best hires and trust that a smart person like Campbell will be pleased by that alone. 

TIMELINES

It is now December 9th. For the record, Pete Mangurian was officially hired on December 8, 2011. So the argument to get someone in this early is much diminished in my eyes. 

That doesn't mean I WANT to wait a day longer if the best candidate is out there now. 

But I also think that in Columbia's case, we need to take our time and get these hires right. 

I know the recruiting race is still going on for 2015, but you have no idea what a new coach will bring to that party. For example, when we hired Norries Wilson in late 2005 he brought with him some recruits we previously hadn't even looked at. One of those recruits was the great WR Austin Knowlin. 

Any current head coach or top assistant at another school is likely to be close with some top recruits who he could easily lure to Columbia when he's hired here. That goes double for potential transfers. 

The fact is, I'm still in a euphoric state as the "100%, no doubt, we're going nowhere" cloud has finally been lifted off this program. 

A late, but good hire for head coach and A.D. is more than a fair trade in return for finally getting the ruinous former regime out of the way. 

COACH MAC EXCELS

So how did former Columbia Head Coach Larry McElreavy do in his first year as a the head coach of the Newport HS (New Hampshire) Tigers?

Check out this video to find out.