Columbia Head Coach Al Bagnoli has been tapped to lead the Ivy League Football all stars (yet to be named) in the latest incarnation of what used to be called the "Japan Bowl," originally sponsored by Epson back in the 1980s.
According to this news release from the league, the Ivy team will consist of a 52-man roster. I'm pretty sure Bagnoli's staff will be entirely his Columbia coaching crew, but I wouldn't be surprised if an assistant or two from another Ivy school joins in.
How one can watch this game without going to Japan is still an open question, but it looks like at least a delayed broadcast will be available.
So the question now is who would you pick as your Ivy all star starters? You can use the All Ivy teams as a guide, but I'd be sure to go beyond that if you want to really put together the best team.
67 comments:
The roster is seniors only, per League press release. If Bagnoli takes his entire staff, no one will be manning the store for a full week in mid-January. Whether there will be any recruits still to be corralled, I don’t know, but there are recruits who may be thinking of flipping, not to
mention if any juniors want to make an unofficial visit. I wonder if he will take some assistants from around the League while some of his stay home?
Tell Fabish to stay home and work on his play calling! Japanese already know about those deadly bubble screens!
The bubble screen was perfected by Phil Estes during his golden years at Brown. Not everybody can run it. I personally hate it because I don’t like to have to see my QB make that particular throw and the likelihood of a disaster is not insignificant.
Maybe Bagnoli should stay home and work on his own team..Keep the 3 Cupcakes and try to get over .500 in the Ivy League.
Lay off the Bagnoli bashing—he is a great coach and while we have not won a championship we have become a solid program. He is surely the best coach we’ve had for as long as I’ve followed the program; and he’s not finished.
I agree that Bagnoli should stay home...Is it time to go out on top?
Let’s get real; every coach in the IL would jump at the chance to go to Japan for a week.
Anyone know anything about freshman rb Xae Huerta? Strong bio but no mention so far.
Al is nearing 70... Are we working on possible replacements, or do we treat football like we treat basketball?
Al is in great shape and does not try to micromanage. I think we are not giving him enough credit for turning the season around after we had to switch QBs.
Al has earned at least one more season. The football team had a great end-of-season flourish and finished the campaign with yet another winning record. We are now at least solidly mid-tier on the gridiron, whereas on the hardwood we remain firmly in the cellar. I’ve criticized Bags on occasion, but the comment above this one is just ridiculous. Bags is a winner. Let me not add further comment about the hoops coach.
Engels has brought in some very good, very young talent, four frosh and one soph (Geronimo) are starting and looking much improved.
If Murphy, a junior, returns soon, I think we'll do better than expected, and with another class of top recruits coming in watch out next year!
Unfortunately, 43-106 (17-53 in conference play) to date. We’ve had promising talent before; our history of injuries, defections, and losses at the buzzer have tempered any optimism I might otherwise have.
Does any Columbia sports fan disagree with the following two statements?
1. If Al Bagnoli, Brett Boretti, Megan Griffith or any other current Columbia Coach were in charge of the Columbia Athletic Department, Engles would have been terminated a long time ago for non-performance.
2. No Columbia sports fan has any idea why Engles is still Columbia's Head Basketball Coach.
What??? I have no idea what the respective temperaments or patience of Al Bagnoli, Brett Boretti, or Megan Griffith are? How are they relevant?
Isn’t Jon Schiller, he whose name now graces our court, the one calling the shots on Engles? So here is my scorecard: integrity of program—A; quality of recruits —B; preparation—C; player attrition —D; in game coaching/game management —-D; outreach to fan base and alumni—F; ability to get along with Columbia administrators—A
They don't look like or play together like ivy league players. It's not subtle. They seem like good kids, but more NJIT or Marist than Columbia. Far cry from the Joe Jones or Kyle Smith eras.
Bring back Penders!
In-game coaching/game management is definitely an F.
Oi
Please name the other schools that would tolerate the basketball fiasco under Engles....
Cornell
We should be better than SUNY Ithaca
Up 7 and under 30 seconds AND lose!
That’s up 6 with 19 seconds and lose
Cornell and?
maybe Dartmouth
We should be better than UMass Dartmouth
Totally get you. Engles has been a failure in stark contrast to Griffiths who has WBB soaring. Same sport, same product to work with....only difference is the coach. Engles should be replaced
How's that anger management class going?
We actually have some players who have talent; Engles has taken the position that with 4 first years playing starter minutes it will take time for them to play team ball. So buckle up your chin straps and expect a long and rocky ride this year.
That's exactly what we need. "Team Ball". Right now (and throughout the Engles era) we have seen too much playground style play and not enough team play. The contrast with the Columbia girls BB team in this is stark. I agree that we need to give Engles some time with his new recruits but we should see progress in team play as the season progresses. If he can't make them an Ivy tournament team by the time this group of freshman are juniors then it's time to make a change.
See above comment by NJ Lion as to the Engles' record so far. How many winning seasons?
Engles, 5 straight losing seasons, soon to be 6. It won't get any better. Pilling?
Pilling? There is no such person. Actually Columbia's Athletic Director is Lamont Cranston.
The Columbia Athletic Department is bewildering in the lack of information it provides to Columbia Men Basketball Fans. Has Pilling ever commented publicly to anyone about the present or future of the Men's Basketball Program? On one hand, we have a highly successful Women's Basketball Team led by a terrific coach, while on the other, we have a men's basketball team led by a coach with a terrible record at Columbia who is simply not up to the task of competing with his Ivy League counterparts.
What does Schiller see in him?
That's a difficult question to answer given Engles record as Columbia's head coach. Moreover, Schiller's possible involvement in the decision making process is really just a distraction given that the responsibility for making any such decision ultimately lies with the Athletic Director.
Another win for the Women basketball 🏀 team. Wins over major national teams. Men lose to minnows. Sepoku time for Engles
I think Al has done great as Fb coach. Of course i was not happy with the team’s mid season results but monethe less i was surprised at some of the negative comments on this platform must have come from recent fans not long time fans who have to appreciate the last five years! Even if the team tanked this year that would have one losing season meanwhile Look at Cornell fb coach or our bball coach. In any event our fb team hd a great finish and another winning season! Lets hope for more! I assume mens bball is on the right track and we just have to be patient for a few more years. That must be the reason why the program is sticking with Engles. Those who oversee the program must be seeing good things but it may take till this crop is juniors to have a winning sesaon.
Columbia Women BB are ranked 34th nationally in the latest poll ahead of all the Ivies including Princeton who are 67th. The other Ivy rankings are Penn 121, Harvard 131, Yale 175, Cornell 215, Brown 235 and Dartmouth 351. (352 ranked teams). This Saturday the Lions play a very good U Mass Team that is ranked 54th. Then L.I.U. and Ohio U before starting the Ivy League Season on December 31st at Yale. Huge Princeton game coming after that. Hopefully, the Men's Team will follow the Women's Team lead and start winning games. The talent is there now, and Engles ridiculously long honeymoon needs to be terminated unless the team shows very significant improvement in the near future.
On football please remember that our season was projected on the basis of a healthy returning ROY QB in Joe Green. His shoulder injury made it impossible for him to make the throws he made last year and eventually he was shit down and had surgery. So we had to adjust mid season to a backup with virtually no game experience. So we had a rough patch until Caden Bell caught fire and finished the season with three great games.
Earth to Pilling... Come in Pilling... Is anybody home, Mc Fly?
https://www.collegeinsider.com/womens-mid-major-top-25
Enjoy this success Lion fans!!!
If faith is the evidence of things unseen, then the anonymous poster above appears to have it in spades with regard to CU hoops. I don’t, and I’ve seen nothing to warrant keeping Engles. Imagine if he’d performed this way at Princeton! I’m confident he wouldn’t have lasted three years. I just can’t hold out hope that we’ll be better in year 17. We’ve never had a winning record with this coach, we’ve never made the Ivy tournament, etc., etc. By the way, I don’t think Cornell would put up with this. Earl has that team rolling, and they almost knocked off Miami last night in Coral Gables. I expect the Big Red to beat us twice and to have another top-four finish in league play.
I agree with the NJ Lion. As things stand now, we are likely to win only two or three Ivy League games. We will probably be favored in our home game against Dartmouth and that's about it. So we will probably finish the season with a total of five or six victories including the two wins against Division III opponents Sarah Lawrence and Maritime. I also agree that Martin and Earl are far better coaches than Engles.
2 or 3 league games is optimistic (but I still think we need to give him 3 years with this recruiting class)
I hope Bari Weiss or Elon Musk reveal the reason that Columbia Football's Twitter account was shut down for a number of months. Could there have been a HYP bias inside twitter? Did it come from inside the Biden WH? Were they afraid the once lowly Columbia Lions would win an Ivy championship? This could have hurt our recruiting. I'm not sure Tucker will cover this angle, but I would like to know.
Very pleased with sucess of womens bball and FB but also surprised people are negative about Engles. We have a good Ad so he is obviously keeping Engles around for reason. I am a long time supporter lets wait two more years and evaluate. Too early to tell where we are going with this young team
Good point!!! I'm sure there was some fake liberal reason behind the ban, but I wouldn't blame HYP bias. It was more likely a former CU Marching Band member that was offended by thier own subconscious bias.
It amazes me that any "...long-time supporter" of Columbia Athletics would be "..surprised people are negative about Engles," and wants"...to wait two more years and evaluate." Surely you are kidding.
He's already coached about 150 games and lost most of them. Isn't that sufficient?
No, it's not. Buff Donelli lost most games when he took over football during the miserable 1950's, but by 1961 he had brought us our only Ivy title to date. Engels is getting good talent, starting four frosh is an expression of confidence in the future, patience required.
.
Cannot avoid the stark contrast between Engles and Griffiths. By her third season, the W-L uptick was there...and then straight winning seasons and tournament run in NIT. Eagles....started same year...same game....same everything....still waiting for any positive trajectory. He's had 5 recruiting classes if my math is right.
Not sure why there is not 100% impatience. In what sport or job would you stay employed after 6 straight poor performance years?
Chen 82
Amen, Chen! I can’t believe Engles still has a job. Are we really pinning our hopes on four freshman and what they might do in two years’ time? Ridiculous. Meanwhile, Yale is 8-2, Cornell is 7-2, etc. SIX YEARS of this nightmare. Enough is enough.
Chen is correct. Engles and Engles alone is responsible for Columbia's horrible record the past five years. If you keep him for another two years as one or two "loser" types are suggesting, then the standard for success for coaches in all Columbia sports including football has to be similarly reduced. Furthermore, let's not get carried away with the fact that Engles somehow managed to finally recruit four talented basketball players after five years as Head Coach at Columbia. The Head Coaches at Harvard, Penn, Yale, Princeton, Brown and Cornell have done that very thing or better every one of the last five years. Only one Ivy League school, Dartmouth, has pretty much equalled Columbia's Men's Basketball for mediocrity. At this point, according to the recruiting services, Columbia only has two committed recruits for next years. If Columbia were really on an upward recruiting spiral, the Lions should have at this time at least four high quality recruits. First, I find the "losing is winning" mentality of some people on this board to be disturbing. Second, I see nothing in Engles record that suggests he is another Buff Donelli in the making as someone suggested. That comparison is unfair to Buff's memory.
Why do so many players defect from Engles' team? Could it be that no one wants to play for a continuous loser? Someone please knock-on Pilling's door and see if he is awake!
Engles best season was his first, when he had Kyle Smith's players. It has been a pretty steady downhill slide since. He could not win with Mike Smith. He's had a continuous issue with transfers. For that matter, we've had a continuous issue with not being able to inbound the ball at the end of games.
Our front court starters recently shot 1-16 vs. Marist. Not vs. Kentucky. Marist. Our talent is not there, if you watched the games you would know that. Give him two more years and you'll have two more last place finishes in the league, a couple of transfers and maybe a few more recruits from Horace Mann. Time's up.
Roar Lion gets it. And great point from an Anonymous about the fact that the rest of the league recruits good young talent, often more capably than we do. It’s not as though our peers will stagnate or even regress while we alone improve, an important point that is worth calling out. We’ve also had A LOT of guys leave after 1-2 seasons, many of whom were slated to be just the kind of key players that sanguine posters are assuming will take us to the promised land (or maybe just a .500 record in league play) in 2-3 years. I personally don’t even think this core group of four freshman will be here intact in a few years. Injuries, transfers, deciding to stop playing, etc. It’s sad, predictable, and as others have intimated, very much preventable. The reality is that Engles will never win an Ivy title or even come close. We’re firmly in the cellar, and we have no reason to think we won’t be as long as he remains the coach.
Very thoughtful comments and healthy exchange. We are all concerned, frustrated and even disgusted. I've always felt that Columbia should be at the top in men's hoops. I've always considered Cornell and Dartmouth, maybe even Brown, as "hockey schools"; not meant disparagingly. CU in the Big Apple should always have better teams. Note that as abysmal as Dartmouth's record has been, last year and I believe the year before they were frequently competitive and lost hard fought games.
I began following CU women's basketball during the Ivy season last year and was amazed. I encourage all to tune in on ESPN+. They are fun to watch, precision passing, fine three point shooting, get on the floor, hustle and more. Even check out the social media (Twitter) - they're having fun, spirited and outstanding exposure to recruits as well as fans. Coach and her staff are doing a fine job including the PR. UMass at noon on Saturday.
I watched portions of Brown's games against Bryant and URI. Didn't think they'd top URI but the energy and talent were apparent, and they prevailed. They will be in the hunt for the title.
Regarding our mens' playing style, I totally concur with previous comments about playground style. Indeed, a lot like the Engles' NJIT teams. Seems like each time they go down court, the decision is kind of like who will go one on one. I have been impressed with the young talent - four frosh and one sophomore starting. To NJLion, don't give up - try to watch. I am forever optimistic. I think we'll pull off a few surprises in the Ivy season. Yeah, I know a few doesn't get us out of the cellar.
Finally, correct me if I'm wrong, but our schedule has been relatively weak this season. Columbia should be beating the likes of UMBC, UM Eastern Shore, Binghamton, Marist, Lafayette, UM Lowell, FDU. I know they're all scholarship schools, but our Ivy peers would compete and win most of these.
Pilling are you reading any of this?
Wow i really missed the boat on this one. I have been following the basketball team for 50 years and assumed everyone liked Engles. But everyone makes good points
Great guy, lousy couch... Facts speak for themselves... Even D Murphy would have acted already.
Oblivious.
Who is D Murphy?
Another dominant win for the 10-2 WBB team. Maybe they can take Princeton down this year. Coach Engles...you're being shown up badly. Do the right thing and resign.
Can’t tell if you’re kidding, or a newer alum, but Murphy was an AD who
apparently was hired to ensure that
Columbia never win anything again.
She was so talented that she set off an
alumni unrest that put the French
Revolution to shame.
She might have been the biggest joke ever at CU! loved your beyond truthful post
Post a Comment