Tough Loss

One of our more highly-regarded commits for the coming fall has ditched CU for Stanford. 

These things happen, but you hope guys like Braden Marceau have at least made this decision based on getting an athletic scholarship. We'll see. 

Poppe to Union

Former Lion Defensive Backs Coach Jon Poppe is the new head coach for Union College Football. Of course, Union was CU Head Coach Al Bagnoli's first head coaching gig and it appears he highly recommended Poppe to the Union search team. 

This is perhaps as good a time as any to speculate again about Bagnoli's tenure with Columbia. I'm happy to report that my sources telling me the 2022 season would be his last with the Lions were either incorrect or Bagnoli simply changed his mind. 

It feels like two strong candidates for the job whenever Bagnoli does hang it up are now head coaches. Many recent football alums are high on UNH Head Coach Ricky Santos, who was the Lions QB coach for three seasons under Bagnoli. Others are high on Poppe, whose case to get the job here seems to have improved now that he will have some head coaching experience to bank on whenever the Columbia job opens up. 

I'm hoping we keep Bagnoli for another three years at least. 

 

New Commits & Waiting on the Dream Bowl Video Tape

Titus Evans

Add 6-1 170 pound WR Titus Evans to our commitment list for the coming fall. 

Evans comes to us from Mansfield Timberview HS in Arlington, TX. I believe Evans is the second player to come to CU Football from that school, but I'm checking some records to be sure. (We had a Matthew Bloodgood '00 who came to us from just plain old "Mansfield HS" in the Arlington area. I'm not sure if that's a different school). 

Also joining us is another Texas WR, 6-0 180-pound Braylon Gardoni from Fort Bend Christian Academy in Sugar Land, Texas. He also had an offer from Yale. 

Gardoni will be the first FBCA grad to come to Columbia Football. 

 

So our unofficial commit list is up to 25 names:

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

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

3) Jalen Campbell DL/OL 6"4 295 lbs. Jackson-Reed HS Washington, DC

4) Jaylen Carter WR/DB 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

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

6) Braden Dougherty TE/DE 6"5 230 lbs. Dublin Coffman HS Dublin, OH

7) Titus Evans WR 6"1 170 lbs. Mansfield Timberview HS Arlington, TX

8) Braylon Gardoni 6"0 180 lbs. Fort Bend Christian Academy Sugar Land, TX

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

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

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

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

13) Griffin Johnson RB 5"11 190 lbs. Marysville HS Marysville, OH

14) Sean Kimani OL 6"5 290 lbs. Duluth HS Duluth, GA

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

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

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

18) Malachi Mercer LB 6"1 225 lbs. Bergen Catholic Oradell, NJ

19) Hugo Merry P/K 6"3  210 lbs. Frederick HS Frederick, MD

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

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

22) Ahmari Owens 6"5 305 lbs. Springfield Central HS Springfield, MA

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

24) Will Rubalcava DB 6"0 170 lbs. Rick Reedy HS Frisco, TX

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

Ivies win Dream Bowl!

In what sounds like it was an exciting game for the Ivy Football all stars against the Japanese all star team, Head Coach Al Bagnoli and the Ivies came out with a 24-20 win. ESPN+ is expected to provide the video of the game in the coming days. 

CU Japan Dream Bowl Players Named

I'm still trying to find the complete roster, but there are the Lion players who will participate in the game against the Japanese all stars in Tokyo on Jan. 22nd: 

(according to the CU Athletics website)

• Alex Felkins, Sr., PK (Tulsa, Okla.)
• Mike Fluegel, Sr., DB (Clarkston, Mich.)
• Ryan Hamilton, Sr. LB (Dublin, Ohio)
• Will Hamilton, Sr., OL (Suwanee, Ga.)
• Jackson Heath, Sr., TE (Overland Park, Kan.)
• Matt Klenk, Sr., OL (Pittsford, N.Y.)
• Parker Lefton, Sr., LS (Duluth, Ga.)
• Fara'ad McCombs, Sr., DB (Passaic, N.J.)
• Zach Minch, Sr., OL (Manchester, N.H.)
• Stew Newblatt, Sr., OL (Clarkston, Mich.)
• Ernest Robertson, Sr., WR (Bronx, N.Y.)
• Thomas Thibault, Sr., DL (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
• Xavier Thibault '22CC, DL (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
• Scott Valentas, Sr., LB (Wichita, Kan.)
• Ryan Young, Sr., RB (Wheaton, Ill.)

The big question now is: is every player a definite graduate who will not be coming back to play for the Lions next season? I ask that because I think Will Hamilton had some eligibility left, and he would be an essential anchor for a O-line that looks like it will be dominated by newcomers next year. 

I also wonder if Mike Fluegel is definitely not returning in the fall.