Former Columbia Head Coach Ray Tellier and current defensive coordinator Chris Rippon will share the leadership positions for the football team on an interim basis. Rippon has been named as the nominal interim head coach.
It's standard procedure to appoint a person to lead the team through the off season and recruiting events while the new head coaching search goes on. But the decision to add Tellier as a "special advisor" to the program tells me there is going to be more work than usual because the search could last a while longer than previous searches.
But the real headline from outgoing Athletic Director Dianne Murphy's letter, (see below), might be her wording at the end where she writes that "It is my understanding that the search for a new Head Football Coach will not begin until the new Athletics Director is selected."
I certainly hope that means she is as out of the loop on this search process as it sounds. After the debacle of the Mangurian hiring and the way it was handled, Murphy needs to stay far away from all things football.
I am writing to update you about our football program, as we work through our leadership transition.
I
want to let you know that we have appointed Defensive Coordinator Chris
Rippon as Acting Head Football Coach. Chris will be responsible for all
day-to-day football operations, and supervising our assistant coaches. I
have also appointed Ray Tellier as a Special Advisor to Columbia
Football as we work through this transition. Ray will work closely with
Chris and provide strategic input, advice and counsel during this period
of transition.
Chris
has more than 29 years of college football coaching experience. Prior
to coming to Columbia, he served as the defensive coordinator at
Marshall University. Chris has also coached at Rutgers, Syracuse, Ole
Miss, Boston University and Western Connecticut State.
As
you know, Ray was the Head Football Coach at Columbia from 1989 through
2002, and later served as our Associate Athletics Director for
Intercollegiate Sports Programs, where he oversaw football, prior to his
retirement in June. Few people, if anyone, understand Columbia Football
better than Ray.
Chris
and Ray are charged with ensuring the continuity of our football
program operations, including on-campus official visits and off-campus
recruiting. They will also work together to plan for spring practice.
Chris and Ray will also work closely with Strength Coach Bob Gilmartin
to oversee our off-season strength and conditioning program. Chris will
also manage all other off-season football operations, and will work
closely with our student-athletes to make sure they are fully engaged.
As
you know, Columbia is in the middle of a national search for a new
Athletics Director. It is my understanding that the search for a new
Head Football Coach will not begin until the new Athletics Director is
selected.
I
look forward to keeping you updated throughout this leadership
transition. Your continual support of our football program is most
important at this time.
I know that I can count on your support. Thanks so much.
Best regards,
Dianne
13 comments:
It does sound like MDM is out of the loop. Maybe it is time to put her in the rear view mirror. She didn't intentionally sabotage the football program, just made really bad decision. It's over and time cannot be repaired. We can only move forward and hopefully somehow, some way the right people are put in place to get things going in the right direction.
Rippon is a logical decision to be interim HC. He's the only guy on the staff that even remotely approaches qualifying. Good thing Ray is around as support.
We want a very good AD, but getting the best football coach for CU that we possibly can is much more important....the AD will oversee and assist football and all other sports but the AD does not train and coach the teams.
If hiring a good AD must come first so he or she can be involved in hiring the coach, well and good. But Bollinger says he's been at it a while, so speed it up so the coach search can begin. And no cronies as coach this time, not even the AD's pet. This next coach must be high-quality or don't bother.
Finally, Murphy's bit about the coach search won't begin till after the AD's hired is a bit off. Jake has already provided a long list of worthwhile candidates, and Tellier can find many more and begin a preliminary vetting so the new AD can get started the moment he/she is on board. And why not also ask for applicants in the meantime? We need a coach sooner not later, but need enough time to find the best one.
Who is on the committee to hire the AD once the search group is through with their recommendations.Obviously,
President Bollinger, and???
Why do we assume that there is a search committee for the new AD. This is such a train wreck that perhaps Bollinger and Schiller will run it themselves and at least come up with the short list if not the finalist.
CU hoops. Up at half vs #1 Kentucky. On ESPN
Fantastic effort in Lexington. The refs had to help bail out the #1 team in the country with 17 FTs to 4 for us. And no Rosenberg or Mullins. I am not saying we will, but we can, beat just about anybody on our schedule when we play our game. What a contrast between our basketball and football programs right now.
I anm hoping that Taylor will play a role in the AD hiring process.
Coach, you are right that a good coach is paramount but the new AD has to have a major role in the process
Which is why the new AD's highest priority should maybe be signing Kyle Smith to a long-term (and unbreakable) contract. Even before hiring a football coach.
Slowly but surely, the Lions are becoming a basketball power, to be reckoned with perennial Ivy powers Penn and Princeton and relative newcomer Harvard. I watched FDU stumble some against St. John's and all i could think was that we could have beaten the usually overrated Red Storm.
Unless we're hiring a hermit, I'm sure any coach in the nation is aware of Columbia, NYC and the Ivy League, and if not well-informed about them, can learn quickly. That's what coaches do.
We should throw out a wide net and see what we catch, including those who swim in themselves..
I'd like the next coach to last many years, win many games plus some titles.
Yes, when President Bollinger announces on the front page of the New York Times that
"Columbia Football will win!"
It is time for his outspoken commitment.
Tom Gilmore seems off the table due to Holy Cross signing him to a 3 year extension.
Not necessarily so... and that's not just speculation on my part.
C'mon, Jake
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