Good as Gold

John Audino


At last night's annual Gold Dinner honoring our graduating senior players, Head Coach Al Bagnoli officially announced the arrival of new QB's coach Ricky Santos. 

But there's also news that former Union Head Coach John Audino is finally coming back to Columbia as tight ends coach. Audino took over at Union after Bagnoli left that D-III school and compiled an impressive won-loss record there over 20+ years.

Audino comes full circle after coaching under Bill Campbell and Bob Naso at Columbia in the early 1970s and 80s.

Before that, Audino was a running back at Notre Dame playing for the legendary Ara Parseghian.

Bagnoli wanted Audino to join the staff last season, but he decided to stay at Union for another year... a decision I wonder if Audino now regrets.

But don't let his final year fool you, Audino is a wise coach that Columbia is lucky to have on board. His hiring kind of reminds me of how lucky Columbia was to grab veteran coach John Gutekunst as an assistant back in 2010. Gutekunst had been the head coach at Minnesota during the 1980s.

Mornhinweg on the Mend

Rising senior QB Skyler Mornhinweg is still recovering from a broken foot and will miss spring practice. But I am told he will be ready in time for summer camp. That should mean the spring will be a key time for rising junior QB Anders Hill to step things up and should be a chance for the other QB's on the roster, rising sophomores Ryan Suitt, Kyle Castner, and Danny Hong to show what they can do.

Bubble Team

And one more thing... the long-hoped-for inflatable bubble over Kraft Field is going to become a reality in time for next winter.