Standing Out

With a couple more days to ponder the now-official list of incoming football freshmen, here are some key points of note:


1) After a long period of seeing fewer and fewer Engineering students on the football team, we have a real bumper crop of SEAS enrollees in this freshmen class. Six of them are enrolled in Columbia Engineering when the entire remainder of the team has only three SEAS students. But among those three are superstar WR Ronald Smith, and two very promising sophomores in QB Dillon Davis and DL Ogonna Oraedu. Get the picture?

When Norries Wilson was the head coach, he talked about how scheduling conflicts made it very hard for Engineering students to make it on the team. I assume Head Coach Al Bagnoli has helped to resolve these issues, thus helping to broaden Columbia's recruiting horizons. Being able to recruit and admit students with talents and transcripts more geared, (no pun intended), to Engineering is a big deal.

2) On the coaching side, I've been lax in reporting that Joe D'Orazio is back on the staff. He had been coaching tight ends in 2015, but is now overseeing the running backs. Joe is very dedicated to Coach Bagnoli and the idea of college coaching above all. The fact that he kept contributing in any way he could to Columbia Football during his two years gone from the program tell you all you need to know.

3) More and more, I hear players and parents telling me how relieved they are that QB coach Ricky Santos stuck with Columbia over some strong offers from Brown and his Alma Mater New Hampshire. The crucial work needed to prepare a new Lions starter at QB will be a lot easier with Santos and his talents and continuity on board.

The 2018 Freshmen

Columbia has unveiled the names of the 39 incoming freshmen football players for this coming fall.

The list is 39 players long, includes two names we didn't know about previously, and only has one name missing from the final unofficial list I compiled on signing day back in February.

First, let's get to the two new names.

Conner Collins

6-5, 270-pound OL Conner Collins from Myers Park HS in Charlotte, North Carolina was a Harvard commit as recently as National Signing Day in February. Collins will be the first Myers HS grad to come to Columbia Football.

5-11, 180-pound WR Ernest Robinson was a four year starter at Riverdale Country Day School and two-time MVP of his high school league. Robinson will be the seventh Riverdale grad to come to Columbia Football and the first since Evan Alvarez '11.

The one player we had on our unofficial lists who did not show up on this final list was Long Snapper Keaton Prevette, but let's see if he still shows up on the roster in the fall as a possible walk-on.

In the coming days, my LionFeeders database of all the documented players to come to Columbia Football listed by their high schools will be officially updated.

Based on the highlight videos, I pinpoint 11 incoming players who really stand out as of now. This is just my opinion, of course. My list is below with a very brief comment for each name:

1. Jordan Colbert CB (fast, good cover guy serious offers)

2. Connor Collins OL (experienced OL)

3. Cam Dillion LB (hitter, serious offers)

4. John Foreback QB (good size, big upside)

5. Jackson Heath TE (serious offers from other schools, looks tough)

6. Marquis Hubbard LB (hitter)

7. Derric Lee CB (lots of key offers, another Harvard decommit)

8. Dante Miller RB (JMU decommit, speed demon)

9. Mozes Mooney WR (all the tools, massive number of quality offers)

10. Mitchell Shinskie DL (quick DL, good offers)

11. Joshua Smythe-Macaulay LB (hitter, good offers)

Al's Pitch

We all know the best pitch for Columbia Football when it comes to recruiting.

But rarely have I heard it as well articulated as Head Coach Al Bagnoli made it on a Florida sports radio show last night, (click here for the show, Bagnoli's segment begins about 34 minutes into the tape).

As we await the official release of our 2018 freshmen class, hold off on any doubts you may have until you hear Coach Bagnoli on this program. And remember, these are also words spoken by a guy with nine Ivy League titles and has already turned around a 24-game losing streak team into an 8-2 championship contender in such a short amount of time.