Brandon Krcilek
It's taken forever, but we finally know of one incoming member of Columbia's football class of 2019,
That player is 6-2, 185 pound WR Brandon Krcilek from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.
Krcilek also placekicks and punts.
Krcilek would be the first documented Hamilton grad to come to Columbia for football according to my all-time Columbia recruiting data base.
Here's is highlight video.
UPDATE: And now we have a second.
Connor Halm, #71
According to his Twitter feed, 6-7, 270-pound DT Connor Halm from Langley HS in McClean, Virginia has committed to Columbia.
You can see Halm's highlight video here.
Halm would be the first confirmed Langley grad to come to Columbia football.
While the Columbia head coaching situation is still very much a mystery, I can report that some of the remaining assistant coaches are still out recruiting across the country.
A big part of me wants to shut down my usual tracking of incoming freshmen until we get this coaching and athletic director situation settled... or at least until the administration decides the alumni and fans are worth the trouble of informing in the first place.
It almost seems cruel to pretend to be excited about a bunch of kids coming into a situation where Columbia can win, but the powers that be at the school don't believe that.
But it's still nice news for their families and friends, so I will do the best I can.
14 comments:
Jake
I truly believe we will get a better recruiting class this year than last.
We will have a new coach and a new AD, all the negativity surrounding the program will be dispersed, and the program will be publically endorsed. Next year's attendance will be noticeably beter.
On top of this, the multitude of alums who have woken up in these past two years (myself included) to the actual issues will continue to support the team. I believe this was Columbia's Wake Up Call.
Jake,
I ask again that you take some time off. You say that you are truly interested in the success of Columbia Football but that’s like Edward Snowden saying he had America's best interest at heart or Greta Van Susteren saying she reports the news. If you ever see Rick Taylor’s report you will see some of the issues discussed here like the assistant coach pay scale but you will also see what a negative impact this blog is having on recruitment and the Team. Even McElreavy mentioned it. If you want to do something positive take a month off. Really positive, take the blog down for a month before the comments about the new recruit's height, weight, or hair color start.
Alswingman, who are you? You need to google “wingman”. Name your price and I will put up a side bet with you against your 0 and 10 prediction for next year.
Coach Rippon has really stepped up and has some good things going, let’s stop cutting him off at the legs.
Yes Jake, we can win. Continue to do your part and hopefully recognize the need for a role change.
William Flote
The first few names are encouraging. Hamilton is listed by MaxPreps as one of the top 100 HS football teams in the country. They lost the Ariz. state championship, with our recruit scoring a touchdown in the final. Voy says we got another kid from a state champion team in Illinois. I presume the class will be small, but it is encouraging to see kids from top tier programs.
Mr. Flote I am just a fan from New York but no longer living there. Wingman is a silly pseudonym for being the insider to all things Al Davis. A terrible joke I admit but this was long before he passed.
Sorry to say, it's a lock at 0-10 in '15 and it's also a lock the beatings will be much worse if opponents choose to do so. This past season teams showed sportsmanship and restraint. There is absolutely no way for the current roster to match up to the competition - who is only getting better. To Mr. Dawg I would say the following year will be a better recruiting haul if they put the right coaching staff in place. You have to look at timing of this year. There are fewer players available now and through April and it is not the pool or depth to add immediate help. You never know, a surprise could turn up but best not to count on it.
This is actually all contingent on progression instead of regression. The latter is the status quo we collectively fight here on this blog and to whoever listens (often with a heavy heart as we continually watch the crash and burn cycle that is Columbia football).
Love the Greta Van Susteren analogy.
Blaming Jake for the failures of the admin and staff is the ultimate copout and is totally ridiculous.
News Flash, the internet is here to stay and every relevent football and hoops program in the country has someone operating a blog. CU hides from it while other programs accept it for what it is and try to make the most out of them.
They'd be smarter if they accepted that the internet is here to stay and focused on managing information and using it to their advantage. This whole shroud of secrecy thing only serves to anger the former players, alums and fans further and makes Jake's blog an even bigger necessity.
Without Jake's blog we would have gotten zero information this past year, and past month.
Yes , its called blaming the messenger for the bad news.
Jake will take a well-deserved month off after our next Ivy Football Championship.
What happened to the "we'll have zero recruits" crowd?
Recruits or coaching is like the chicken or the egg. Who cares? You need both, the talent and the coach who can improve and diect it.
The recruits are coming to join the fight. Now please hire a real coach. My informants tell me the sticking point with the top candidate--you'll swoon at his name--is whether he gets mileage and bridge tolls or only mileage. I hope Prezbo can swing this delicate negotiation.
Can't tell if you are being serious about a possible top candidate Chick because there was a similar post here (sans the tolls quip). Usually things move much quicker. Either someone wants the job or they don't. If it's a matter of money and getting board approval or something, that is a few phone calls. Silence from the empty shirts running things speaks for itself.
That would be very sad if no kids with good grades and a physique good enough to play college football went to Columbia but what other offers were there for this new group? Just a very quick search revealed one of those guys did not even play his senior year of HS due to injury.
The best recruits are not recruitable because prospects are less likely to take a chance not knowing who the coach will be. You are always going to find a crop of kids who want to go to Columbia regardless but the lack of leadership would have to be a concern. If you were a solid HS player with top grades would you care of Jaime Elizondo wanted to talk to you?
Give him a Town Car with a full time driver and a GD butler if he wants one.
If he's as good as you say,
William,
Start your own blog. Stop reading this one. It seems to me that there has been some recent protestations/demonstrations regarding freedom of the press and expression.
Jake has earned these rights.
Take a hike.
Perhaps I need to clarify;
Jake mentioned that he was considering taking some time off and I’m only encouraging him to do so.
Blame the messenger? Hope you all jump on Rick Taylor for his assessment, which I agree with. Jake knows what it says or the “I do it for Columbia Football” paragraph was an amazing coincidence.
Columbia Fan; The beauty of free speech is that it goes both ways. Your argument is flawed if free speech is not extended to dissenters. Personally, I get no satisfaction out of these exchanges, but like Jake, I believe that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
Doc; When a player writes in and is accused of being PM because he disagrees with what is being said here I need to ask, who is attacking the messenger?
WOF; Appreciate the News Flash. Now I don’t have to dig out my Beta Max because Netflix is going away. I looked at all the other Ivy League blogs and the blogs for multiple mediocre football teams. Columbia wins as the most venomous. A win is, a win, I guess.
Al; How about a side bet of $500. I say we don’t go 0 and 10 next year. We can donate it to the Columbia Football program and they can use it to pay tolls. I stand behind my assertion that there is talent on this team.
Coach; last year’s recruitment was pretty good. Just need to utilize it properly.
Off to bake cookies for the booster club.
Will Flote
I don;t need to check with all the other Ivies or with other mediocre programs to konw that Columbia is the worst at managing information.
How many of those other Ivies and mediocre programs leave their alums and fans hanging for a month while a search for an AD and coach drags on? And let's not forget, we are arguably the worst team in the country, perhaps the school has a little bit to do with that and perhaps the school shoudl consider being a little more transparent with their initiative considering our disastrous history and past 3 years.
I'm guessing the blog would not seem so toxic if the coach and admin knew how to communicate better to their audience and the program had even a semblence of recent success.
I don't want to get into a war with you, I realize how negative it must seem, but honestly what has the school or staff done to promote enthusiasm?
PS: I am a former player and sent an email to Rippon and the admin in charge of recruiting about a local kid who was recruited by other Ivy and Patriot League schools and blew out his knee the last game of his season. It has been over three weeks and I have yet to even receive the courtesy of a response. I get that they probably receive plenty of emails from enthusiastic fans about potential recruits that aren't feasible but I am a former player. A simple reply of thank you does not seem too difficult, does it? Especially since the days of betamax are well in the past...
As far as I am concerned this is more of the same until the admin gives us a real good reason to believe otherwise...
The difference, to state the obvious, is that while I am willing to publish Will's comments, he urges me to remain silent.
But to the larger question, I could see the criticism against me being valid if it weren't for a massive preponderance of the evidence proving me right.
Where is the virtue in remaining silent when you see an egregious problem in the program and simply know that an 0-10 season is coming?
Answer: there is none. I'm all for cheering mindlessly at the games and lord knows I still choose to celebrate the incoming freshmen.
But it's maddening to warn and warn and warn everyone about a problem like Mangurian and his terrible strategies, be told that I'm too negative, and then see the prophecy come true not once, but over and over and over again.
Asking the people who see a legitimate problem to remain silent is a constant symptom of failing regimes. I don't think Will is a member of the administration, so it's even sadder that he takes the same tone in a sycophantic way without at least being paid for it!
I am indeed trying to pre-empt the dishonest critics here who will surely try to lump me in with the crowd that never really believes we can win when every sane person knows that I have never accepted anything short of winning.
Will,
I agree with some of your statements about the "15" team, but the fact that you are trying to throw a blanket over Jake's head, does not sound like you are a proponent of free speech.
What part of the solution are you playing?
Post a Comment