But I can tell you the interest is very HIGH in this job from very qualified people at all levels of football right now.
I report this for two reasons: 1) to soothe those who think our situation at Columbia is so bad, no one decent would ever want to come here. 2) to preempt anyone from the administration or anywhere else from claiming we hired a nobody because nobody better was interested... if indeed we hire a nobody.
Now, the following name is NOT one of the people I can confirm has applied for the job.
But I do think we should discuss a current D-III coach who might be a good fit for Columbia.
Chris Wilkerson
I have already mentioned U. Chicago Head Coach Chris Wilkerson very briefly on this blog one or two times.
But I wanted to talk a little more about Chris because he brings a little more than just success on the field to his resume.
Coach Wilkerson is also a great personality and I'd be a liar if I didn't say that I think having a gregarious personality is important considering our long-suffering fan base.
Just to rate our recent head coaches by that criteria, I will say that Norries Wilson exemplified that kind of a personality much of the time, but not quite enough. Ray Tellier was too soft spoken, And Bob Shoop and Pete Mangurian were basically hopeless.
Wilkerson is a good talker, and he'll need to be if he's hired because the first couple of years aren't likely to be that rosy.
11 comments:
Thanks for this. All along you had to assume that it's a buyer's market -- there are too many out-of-work or underpaid coaches, and also too many big egos who are convinced that they'll be the one to turn things around, regardless of the obstacles in place.
Any word on a timetable? Any chance that the February 18th meeting will be to present the new hire?
Jake: don't know what you mean when you say some coaches have "applied" for the job. Columbia, I hope, will be much more aggressive than waiting for coaches who show an interest. This AD has to do identify those coaches that he feels can turn the program around and make a tremendous offer. The whole process at Columbia is too soft. Grab a top guy!!
Coach:
Correct, I don't mean a formal filled-out application. Some have been approached, others have done the approaching.
It would be interesting to see a list of who is making their application known. There will always be coaches wanting to upgrade from HS, DIII & DII as well as underfunded FCS programs. Any number of them could be a good fit given the opportunity. That is a given.
However, I would be curious what coaches who are in good situations (or not on any staff at the moment but with a compelling background) are interested in making such a transition.
i like wilkerson from chicago , great person good coach , from dartmouth , knows waht the ivy league is all about , still there are many great coaches out there , like the head coach from franklin and marsall , john troxell , he coached under tellier at columbia , he won 4 patriot league tittles at lafayette , he has won for 10 years at franklin and marshall, he is an awesome recruiter , heck i think he even played for mike whalen , he would be an awesome coach at columbia!! we need coaches like wilkerson and troxell not some one elses retreads like ripon and BIG PETE , i have heard ripon tell people that the kids at columbia loose becuase they dont like football , again who needs a guy like ripon with that attitude , we need great recruiters who know how to motivate young men!! ripon says stuff like that to people , but waht he is really saying is BIG PETE did a terrible job recrutiting the kids he has!!
look you can make the statement that columbia is the number one school in the country it is in the gateway for the business world , the big apple , if you cant recruit great kids who love football here , then you shouldnt be coaching in the ivy league , it is that simple!!
lets get coaches who know how to recruit , that is the key !!
not bad coaches who gave scholarships at marshall and cuse , that got fired and cant coach or recruit!!!
we need coaches like wilkerson or troxell !!
At one point in the process Ralph Friedgen was on the list. I just saw it reported that he will not return to Rutgers... related?
In the story I saw, Friedgen said he was "getting up there in years," so it doesn't sound like he's interested in a head coaching job.
Ah... makes sense. 67, I think. Thank you!
Most if not all of these guys have agents anymore. I would think "apply" means that their agent or another go between inquired about the opening...
For years many of us who obviously have a CU bias have believed that we are a sleeping giant in the league, if only the school wanted us to succeed and was willing to support that with the necessary means (coach, facilities, admissions, FA, etc.).
It sure would be fun to finally get the chance to see if we were right about thaat.
I wouldn't go so far as to say giant but the degree of separation between bad and competitive is not that far. A few adjustments with facilities, recruiting, coaching and staff - as has been discussed here many times - and the program would be on track. If the administration stops treating the program like necessary baggage and hires competently then we are looking at a 2-3 year window to get out of the cellar.
We should be shooting for several years of 5 and 5 ASAP. First step is to schedule 3 OOC games with some very weak opponents. Only need 2 Ivy wins after that to hit 5/5.
Contractual obligations aside, we must have some great lawyers in the wings to help with that.
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