12 Committed Men

The powers that be in the Columbia administration and consultant Rick Taylor are counseling patience as the Lions head into February without a head coach.

This delay is unprecedented in modern Ivy history. The only team to find itself without a head coach later than this date had an untimely death as its excuse. 

Of course, I refer to Princeton's Ron Rogerson who died of a heart attack while jogging not much more than a month before the 1987 season. He was replaced by Steve Tosches, who I always thought was a very good coach. 

Columbia cannot blame accidental death for its lack of an athletic director and a coach, but perhaps patience will pay off. 

What isn't paying off is the fact that we still don't even have a "we're working on it" official statement from the administration. We don't even know if next month's meeting with the football alumni will yield any solid information. 

But we've all made the valid case against the university's lack of decent public relations before.

So, let's just update our list of committed incoming football freshmen for now with five new names:

Kyle Castner is a 6-2, 211 pound QB from Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis. According to my full database of Lion players and their high schools, Castner would be the first Ben Davis grad to come to Columbia football. Castner has an interesting story as he is a successful athlete despite suffering from diabetes. 

Adam Armesto is a 6-6, 235 pound OL/TE from Canton HS in Canton MICHIGAN, (not Ohio). Like many football players, he also spent some time on the wrestling team. Armesto is the first documented Canton HS grad to come to the Lions. 

Ryan Gilbert is a 6-0, 178 pound DB from Bellevue HS in Bellevue, Washington. Gilbert is only the second confirmed Bellevue grad to come to Columbia football and the first since Matt Weber '92. 

John Riley McLaughlin is a 6-1, 192 pound CB/WR from Alcoa HS in Alcoa, Tennessee. He is currently doing a PG year at Phillips Andover. McLaughlin is the first documented Alcoa grad to come to Columbia football, but one of many to do so via a year at Andover.

Sean "Jimmy" White is a 6-3, 220 pound DB from Friendswood HS in Friendswood, TX. White will be the first Friendswood grad to come to Columbia football, but not the first player from the town of Friendswood. That honor goes to Uche Osadebe '07, an excellent DL/OL for Columbia almost 10 years ago. White also looks like a good one. 

So, here's the list of our 12 confirmed players so far: 

1) Adam Armesto OL/TE 6-6, 235 lbs. Canton HS Canton, MI

2) Kyle Castner QB 6-2, 211 lbs. Ben Davis HS, Indianapolis, IN

3) Calvin Falkenhayn LB 6-2, 230 lbs. Loyola Academy, Wilmette, IL

4) Ryan Gilbert DB 6-0, 178 lbs. Bellevue HS, Bellevue, WA

5) Connor Halm DT 6-7, 270 lbs. Langley HS McClean, VA

6) Danny Hong QB 6-4, 215 lbs. Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas, NV

7) Brandon Krcilek WR 6-2, 185 lbs. Hamilton HS Chandlerm AZ

8) John Riley McLaughlin CB/WR 6-1, 192 lbs. Alcoa HS Alcoa, TN/Phillips Andover Academy Andover, MA

9) Luke Melsop DE 6-5, 220 lbs. St, Francis de Sales HS Newark, OH

10) H.T. Minor RB 5-9, 175 lbs. Woodberry Forest HS Woodberry Forest, VA

11) Jason Vravick LB 6-2, 225 lbs. Stevenson HS Lincolnshire, IL

12) Sean "Jimmy" White DB 6-3, 220 lbs. Friendswood HS, Friendswood, TX