OMG

This. Is. Real. 

Getting the Band Back Together

 

Columbia's marching band is back... 

Again.

And I'm glad. 

Despite all the issues with the band over the years, I did miss hearing the sounds of the team fight song being played and other tunes during games. (When I could hear them... see below).

If you're wondering how this can all happen from scratch, remember that Columbia starts this season with two games on the road. That means the process for assembling a band has plenty of time to go before the first home game of the season, 32 days from now.  

My biggest beef with the band in recent decades wasn't the off-color jokes or even the bashing of the team, (though I didn't love that last part).  

The problem was that whether it was the songs played during the games or the halftime comedy show... in recent years you could almost NEVER hear them at all! Hopefully, that will be a lesson the university employee hired to oversee the band will teach them first. 

Letters from Camp

Justin Townsend

The biggest buzz surrounds Columbia's receiving corps and how it looks like the strongest WR group the Lions have had in anyone's memory. 

"COVID Juniors," (meaning they're all really sophomores who could each have three more years of eligibility with the Lions if they so choose) Bryson Canty, Wills Meyer, and Marcus Libman look like a three-headed monster that will be hard for opposing defenses to contain. Canty is emerging as the star of training camp which doesn't surprise those of us who watched him closely last year, but apparently will surprise many of the other published Ivy and FCS football pundits who have overlooked so many Columbia weapons this preseason. 

Canty will draw a crowd of defenders several times per game, creating tremendous opportunities for Meyer, Libman, and a few other WR's who are also excelling right now in camp. Also don't forget how lethal RB Ryan Young has been as a receiver out of the backfield, especially as an emergency option for QB Joe Green. And with the talented and unusually experienced offensive line in place to give Green time to throw, this has the ingredients of a very potent passing offense. That is, with the exception of the Tight End position, which remains a question mark so far. 

On the ground in addition to Young, transfer RB Malcom Terry is looking good in camp and will get a good look this season. Whether the Lions will pursue an outside running speedster to replace the running style of Dante Miller is not as clear right now. But it's possible those kinds of runs will now be a job for that talented WR crew on jet sweeps, etc. 

On defense, an emerging talent on the defensive line is Sophomore Justin Townsend. That's welcome news for a unit that needs to make up for the loss of the graduated, (and now a transfer to UVA), Paul Akere. Last year, the D-line looked like it would be a potential weak spot with the graduation of Daniel DeLorenzi. But D-Line coach Andrew Kukesh actually led the unit to an improvement over the previous season in every statistical and intangible category. Now, Kukesh has moved on to coaching the secondary and new DL coach Christopher West is in the hot seat. But West is a hit with the players so far. 

Speaking of the secondary, returning COVID 5th year senior Fara'ad McCombs is adding leadership skills to his prowess on the field in a unit that will have to deal with the loss of the graduated Ben Mathiasmeier... who led the Lion defense on and off the field for more than two seasons. 

Some of the questions I still have are about who will be the third starting linebacker to join the strong duo of COVID Senior Scott Valentas and COVID Junior CJ Brown. I also want to know about hybrid DB/LB Seth Parker and whether he's coming along from the impressive showing he made at last summer's training camp. 

Snubs & Flubs

Ignore this man at your peril...

Longtime readers of this blog and its predecessor  may have noticed that I no longer make much of a deal about Columbia being picked lower in the preseason polls or Lion players not getting much preseason recognition.

The reasons for that are twofold: 1) I really didn't want to spend much more time whining about things like predictions that don't really matter for much... most of the time. 2) As the Lions have begun winning pretty consistently since 2017, why focus on predictions when there are so many more actual victories on the field to celebrate?

But the more I think about the Ivy preseason media poll that ranked Columbia 5th, and the preseason All Ivy teams that all failed to mention even ONE Lion offensive lineman to a 1st or 2nd team... the more I feel like there are some wrongs that need to be righted. 

On the 5th place prediction: Columbia was 7-3 last year and is returning a very large number of key players from last season. That includes the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year at QB. It also has the best coach this league has seen over the last 30 years. It's hard to understand why the Lions couldn't garner the votes to finish 3rd or at least 4th.

But it's the offensive line snub that is really egregious. Columbia is returning four of last year's five starters, a fifth player who may be the best of them all who started all of 2019, and a sixth player with significant starting experience on top of that. One of those players returning is 5th year senior Stew Newblatt, who was just chosen as Columbia's nominee for the Campbell Trophy.

But wait... there's more! These six returning players were the force behind an offensive line last year that put Columbia 2nd in the Ivies in rushing yards, and finished 2nd in the Ivies for fewest sacks allowed. I know this was all probably more of an oversight than a snub, but this is the best and most veteran offensive line the Lions have ever had. Overlooking them is a big miss. 

Also snubbed was 5th year senior RB Ryan Young. Young has been an impact player since 2018, with a number of standout performances. His decision not to transfer and return to the team was probably the best news of the offseason for Columbia, and he too isn't on anyone's 1st or 2nd All Ivy  preseason team. That's despite the fact he made Honorable Mention All Ivy last season. 

Hopefully, these snubs will help motivate the Lions just a bit more this season. 

Face Time

 

A.J. Simpkins

The updated football roster now includes the pictures of all the new players, so we can all get better acclimated with the way the team literally looks like now. 

It does not appear that weights have been updated, however. 

In the coming days, I'll be putting together my full Columbia and Ivy League previews/predictions. 

 

Opening it Up and another 2023 Commit

After a quiet summer because of a key staffing change, the football communications team has been offering up a nice bit of video and other material on the athletics website and on social media for the last few days.

On Twitter, I've like the short intros the team is posting to showcase the new players. So far, QB A.J. Simpkins, TE Stryker Leschber, and DB Jayden Marshall have had a chance to introduce themselves. 

I also thought the first real recap video posted on the athletics site, with on-camera comments from Head Coach Al Bagnoli, QB Joe Green, and LB C.J. Brown, was excellent, (but I couldn't catch which defensive player was on crutches walking behind Brown during the beginning of his comments. Anyone catch it?).

David Garland

Surprise Addition

Scrolling through the roster this morning, I noticed very intriguing new name: 6-2 230 pound Freshman DL David Garland from Glendale HS in Springfield, MO. Garland is obviously a walk-on, but he's no ordinary walk-on or freshman. He's actually less than two months shy of his 27th birthday, enrolling in the School of General Studies after a seven and a half year stint in the U.S. Navy. 

Garland was a all-conference DE his senior year in 2014. It's not clear what kind of recruiting interest he had. He is the first Glendale grad to join Columbia Football. Whether Garland ever sees the field for the Lions or not, he really seems like a great story. 

Columbia Athletics was the beneficiary of a veteran who came to college at about the same age as Garland is now. That was baseball slugger Joey Falcone '15 who helped the Lions win the Ivy title his senior year. 

5-11 175 pound DB Levi Robins from Saguaro HS in Scottsdale, AZ has committed to the Lions. Robins also had an offer from Yale. 

Robins will be the first Saguaro HS grad to come to Columbia Football.

So our unofficial commit list is up to 15 names:

1) Qwincy Amos 5"11 170 lbs. DB Warren HS San Antonio, TX

2) Terell Battle 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

3) Jaylen Carter 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

4) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

5) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

6) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

7) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

8) Jaden Hinton OL/DL 6"3 300 lbs. Ames HS South Easton, MA

9) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

10) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

11) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

12) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

13) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

14) Levi Robins DB 5"11 175 lbs. Saguaro HS Scottsdale, AZ

15) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ

Report Day & a New Commit

For the players, coaches, and the rest of the CU Football personnel, the season starts today as the team reports for the beginning of training camp. Real practices won't start for the next couple of days, but this is where it starts to get real. 

Barring any major surprises, it's no exaggeration to say this is the most talented and deep team the Lions have brought into a season in decades. I don't write that to put pressure on anyone. I do it just to state the facts. 

New England Grappler

6-3, 300 pound OL/DL Jaden Hinton from Ames HS in South Easton, MA has committed to the Lions. Hinton is also a wrestler, and many of us have long been fans of football players who also wrestle, like the great Lions Daniel DeLorenzi '20 and Lou Miller '10, just to name two. 

Hinton will be the first Ames grad to come to Columbia Football. 

So our unofficial commit list is up to 14 names:

1) Qwincy Amos 5"11 170 lbs. DB Warren HS San Antonio, TX

2) Terell Battle 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

3) Jaylen Carter 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

4) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

5) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

6) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

7) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

8) Jaden Hinton OL/DL 6"3 300 lbs. Ames HS South Easton, MA

9) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

10) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

11) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

12) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

13) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

14) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ

The Green Light

Not all Ivy League Media days are created equal.

Well, usually the league's remote news conference, (it went all remote well before the COVID era), is just chock full of cliches, rehashed material, and boredom. 

But during Columbia's turn at bat at today's preseason conference, Columbia fans in the know heard exactly the substantial information that we wanted to hear.

That would be the comments Head Coach Al Bagnoli made about junior QB Joe Green, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Bagnoli started by telling us the story we all know well about how Green did not have the luxury of spring practice or preseason workouts in 2021, but still managed to win the starting job in training camp and have such a stellar season.

Then, Bagnoli said what many of us were waiting to hear: that now that Green has had more time the offense will feature more of what he can do and open up its attack.

That was music to many fans' ears, after it appeared that Green was held back too much from throwing as much as he could have. Green's miniscule interception total (just three for the whole season) and general passing accuracy had many of us wondering about what might have been.

Just as melodious to our ears was Bagnoli's praise for the wide receivers and other weapons Green has to work with this fall. That was as close as we'll probably get to Bagnoli telling us that guys like juniors Marcus Libman and Wills Meyer, and sophomore Bryson Canty are going to be a formiddable set of weapons at WR. 

The QB position is so vital, and Columbia got a good one in Green last year and managed to squeeze a 7-3 season out of him despite keeping him somewhat under wraps.

Last year, Green took a key leadership role on this team. This year, he should be one of the leaders in this league.

 

Texas CB and Filling the Open Slot!

 

Qwincy Amos

5-11 170 pound CB Qwincy Amos has committed to the Lions out of Warren HS in San Antonio, TX.

Amos will be the first Warren grad to come to Columbia Football, but he will join a long list of San Antonio natives who have played for the Lions, That includes current Freshman Xae Huerta, and current senior Andrew Pruske. The best Lion from San Antonio was DL Ryan Murphy '13. 

So our unofficial commit list is up to 13 names:

1) Qwincy Amos 5"11 170 lbs. DB Warren HS San Antonio, TX

2) Terell Battle 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

3) Jaylen Carter 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

4) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

5) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

6) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

7) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

8) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

9) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

10) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

11) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

12) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

13) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ

New Coms Chief

For those of us bemoaning the lack of official updates and material coming out of the team's official website, it looks like relief is here. 

Mike Kowalsky has been hired as the new Associate Athletic Director overseeing Football and Fencing. 

Here';s hoping Mike will be busy this fall writing stories about lots of records for wins, touchdowns, and sacks being broken. 

Polls & Recognitions

The Ivy League released the results of its annual media poll Tuesday and Columbia was picked fifth. 

I know I and a lot of the longtime readers of this blog and its original incarnation  used to get our noses bent out of shape over poll results that seemed to really disrespect the Lions. But now that the team has had three actual winning seasons out of the last four years, preseason polls seem less important all the time. 

What new fans need to know is that most of the people who cover the Ivies are either too used to seeing Columbia lose, or they are new at their jobs and just tend to vote for the league to finish roughly like it did the year before. 

What everyone else needs to know is that Columbia went 7-3 last year, has many key returning players, the reigning Ivy Rookie of the Year as its QB, and a very good offensive line that returns 4 of its main starters from last year and two other players with significant starting experience. 

To put it in the words of some of the most experienced and fair experts on this league, the Lions should be in contention for the title this year. 

"Steeley" Reception

Speaking of that offensive line, it was surprising that not one member of the Columbia OL made it onto the Phil Steele Preseason All Ivy 1st or 2nd Team list when it was released earlier this week. 

Again, this is essentially the O-line that produced the best rushing attack in the Ivies last year and allowed very few sacks or sustained pressure on the QB.

But there was some good recognition in other areas. It was very good to see LB CJ Brown placed on the 2nd Team Defense, since I would put him among the players who did very well in their first years on the field and seem likely to step it up this fall. That pairs Brown with LB Scott Valentas who was named to the 1st Team Defense, and makes for an encouraging core of talent at that position.

Also, the fact that QB Joe Green was named to the 2nd Team Offense behind Dartmouth's running/passing QB Nick Howard would seem to indicate that Steele's folks see Green as the best pure passing QB in the Ivies for this year.

But no other non-special teams player, including 5th year standout RB Ryan Young, and many others got their deserved recognition.

Again, this isn't meant to be a bitter comment, it's meant to help keep the readers of this blog much more informed about the Lions than they can possibly be anywhere else. 

As soon as the first reports come out of Columbia Football training camp (which starts in roughly 10 days), I'll have more annual assessments/predictions on the Lions and the whole Ivy League. But until then, here's a reminder of what things looked like for 2022 from just a couple of months ago. And here's a look at some key newer names to keep an eye on.

Another Good Get

 

Terell Battle

The 2023 freshmen class continues to look very good at these early stages, and now it's looking better with the addition of Terell Battle, a 6-3 190 pound WR/DB from Mountain View HS in Lawrenceville, GA.

Here's a quick article about Battle reporting on his commitment. He has great size, speed, and hands.

Battle will be the first Mountain View grad to come to Columbia Football, but two players on the current team, Aaron Brebnor '25 and Will Hamilton '23, are from North Gwinnett HS very nearby. 

So our unofficial commit list is up to 12 names:

1) Terell Battle 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

2) Jaylen Carter 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

3) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

4) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

5) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

6) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

7) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

8) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

9) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

10) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

11) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

12) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ