Yale 35 Columbia 7
Why Yale Won
The Eli offense was efficient all day while the defense never lost control of the line of scrimmage either. Even some Yale turnovers never did much to hurt them.
Why Columbia Lost
The offense continued its season-long ineptitude, with the offensive line doing a particularly poor job at run blocking. Meanwhile, the Lion defense put in their worst performance of the year.
Key Turning Points
-After Columbia went three-and-out on its opening possession, (thanks greatly to an under-thrown pass from QB Joe Green to WR Edan Stagg that would have gone for a big gainer or a TD if thrown accurately), Yale took over at its own 30. The Elis then marched down the field easily on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that included just two 3rd down plays.
-With the score still 7-0 and 4:15 left in the 1st quarter, Yale began an even more impressive 75-yard TD drive on 13 plays that included a 4th down conversion. After that score, the competitive phase of the game was essentially over.
Columbia Positives
-The Lions did not turn the ball over.
Columbia Negatives
-The Lion defense had no answers and seemingly made no adjustments to the more than dozen times Yale QB Nolan Grooms threw sideline screen passes for gain after gain.
-The Lions offense was putrid, and did not even complete a pass until the 2nd quarter.
Columbia MVP
-P William Hughes averaged 43.1 yards per punt and had some beauties during the day.
118 comments:
How can we keep posting comments? No Nothings keep insisting that all is well and that we should let the coaches run things! It will be ok at the end! " I still have the greatest confidence in the mission, Dave"
H.A.L. in A Space Odyssey:2001
I do not think that it is fair comment to open this blog by hammering Joe Green for missing on a pass in the opening possession.
Not sure that this blog serves much of a purpose. Old timers seem to think Jake has some kind of special access to info/insight about team which is just not true. In fact he tends to report misinformation frequently. And whether frustrated “fans” are alumni or parents, providing a forum for their anonymous vitriol is the college football equivalent to twitter disbanding content moderation of hate speech combatted by ADL
Of course it is. The point that is being made is everyone on this board screamed and cried for him to play. Full on toddler tantrum. So he was given play time and did not show up the way the screamers on assumed he would. Jake is making a point.
So you can chose to leave the discussion.
Has Buff Donelli returned from the Beyond and taken over the body of Coach Fabish?
Despite winning the 1961 championship, he averaged 3 wins and 7 losses over 10 years. A perfect streak of Lion mediocrity which has continued over the next 56 years.
The fault is not the coaches or players. Administration after administration has not given a crab about the football team which is only viewed as a necessary evil to remain in the Ivy League.
"....we should let the coaches run things." You don't have a choice in the matter. Give Pilling a call if you want to discuss. He doesn't read all this nonsense.
This drivel qualifies as discussion? A very generous assessment
Agreed. He is a fabulous passer and true leader.
More whining.
62 years not 56years
It’s fine to trash Bell but commenting on Green off limits?
Jake does an amazing job at cultivating some sort of fan base and interest for this program. These negative comments should not be directed towards him at all. He does this because he loves Columbia football and we thank him for it. No need for that.
It is 56 years since Buff Donelli coached and 62 years since the last Ivy championship.
Does Pilling watch football and men's basketball games? If so, what alternate universe does he reside in?
Is Pilling making M.Diane Murphy look good?
2-8 or 3-7? Reminds me of Nories "Running" on the field to celebrate our win to finish our 1-9 season. He was gone shortly thereafter. Here's hoping that Fabish is too!
Once again let's lift the sisters of the poor W's off this blog. We all know what Pilling/Bags were doing there scheduling cupcakes/non peer opponents for the last 7 years. I'll give them G'town ein as that looks like a legit W now...but the Ivy record has been subpar for years. Pilling is not a football guy. Bags fell into his lap after he was "retired" at Penn. Kudos for him changing the culture and financial commitment to CU football. His asst's made more than most Ivy HC out of the gate. He certainly helped update the Campbell weight room and the new bubble for off season practices. But it's time to get a proper young HC in there to put this train back on the tracks where we at least finish 500 in the league. I believe Bags did that once with inherited recruits and once on his own so lets hold the balloons and glitter for now.
Look, the reality is that Bell had his shot and he underperformed, it's that simple. Green is in now and he's doing okay. Green has a better arm. Bell has better legs. I think we can all agree on that. It's a push either way.
My vote is to keep Fabish and give him full autonomy without the "interim" tag. Fabish was (is) an integral part of the Lion’s turnaround, let’s not forget that. Al didn’t do it in a vacuum, it was Fabish and D’Orazio who were there every step of the way. Nobody complained about D'Orazio as the RB coach, did they? As an OC, it's an all lose situation when your team can't catch or the O-line falters (again). The RBs continue to run hard and we are now using TEs more; great! Can some of the play calling in the Red Zone improve, yes, no question, but it is a learning curve. I believe both Fabish and D'Orazio have earned (and deserve) the right to stay! This is how I grade the team now:
QBs: B-
RBs: A-
TE’s: B
O-Line: C-
WRs: C+
DL: B+
LBs: A-
DBs: C-
Punt: B
FGs: C
Head Coach: B
OC: B-
DC: C+
We have talent, they just need to coach positions better and scale the recruiting to our weaknesses. You can’t have 5’8”-5’10” DBs cover 6’3”-6’.4” WRs. Also, please teach them how to tackle properly. I’m not sure why they try and tackle with their bodies and not wrap up opposing players. Just listen to the commentary from the announcers, they say the same thing during each game. This is a weakness that EVERY opposing team identifies and exploits (that, and the 10 yard buffer our DBs show when playing zone???). The O-line needs a complete overhaul, or move the coaches around. Give Auggie Hoffman the O-line next year.
I have no skin in this game except being a loyal fan for over 30+ years. If the parents and players are so unhappy, simply transfer or stay and play rugby.
Last thing, why in the world would any of you point the finger at Jake? There is no bigger supporter of the program than Jake. I find his analysis fair, objective and unbiased. For those of you who think otherwise, feel free to start your own blog…
Fair analysis anonymous. I fall into the same category of fandom tenure wise as well as an ex player.
I would go listen to his interviews with lance Meadow before making that proclamation of sticking with him. He's starting to sound like that everyone gets a trophy parent. " we practiced hard" " we lost by less of a margin than last year" on and on..its absolutely cringe worthy loser talk....
Lots of comments on this post and previous posts bashing Bagnoli but it seems to me like before his retirement people by and large felt positive about him. Were all the negative sentiments there but silently brewing, or did a lot of people change their opinion this season?
I am willing to advocate for Fabish to be named, “Head Coach”, but I need a reason. It seems as if no one of his “fans” can point to an intangible that he would bring to the job. Those who endorse him keep referring to the fact that he is already here. How is that by itself the “secret sauce”? People have said it best, if he was on the open market now, what schools would have interest in hiring him as an Offensive Coordinator or Head Coach?
There are many, many qualified people out there.
Why would we have reason to expect a different Fabish if the “Interim” was dropped?
He was part of the big improvement over the last 7 years. People here can complain about Bagnoli and saying he was mediocre but Columbia football has been horrendous for a long, long time. Not mediocre or average, truly horrendous. One of the worst programs in 1-AA or now Subdivision football. Pilling hired Bagnoli and he did a bang up job while he was here. Fabish was a big part of that. He's had a rough start but you gotta have some respect for what these coaches did under Bagnoli. That's what he brings to the program. He's going to be the head guy guaranteed so people need to quit whining and support the guy a bit.
It would be easier to support him if he beat out a host of others as part of a genuine search. If it is “guaranteed” that he wins going to be the Head Coach, why was he named Interim, or why a la Dartmouth was he not already named the Head Coach. Again, what, other than being next to Bagnoli, makes him the best qualified person out there?
Why guaranteed? I don’t want Mangurian 2.0 and plenty of losing seasons. Thanks anyway.
Guaranteed he's HC? Might want to check the pulse of the team because that's not the player's vibe/endorsement at all. Not a parent TBC, ex player.
Had we hung on against Princeton and Penn, games in which the defense could not make plays at the end, my guess is that we would have beaten Dartmouth. Had that happened, no matter what happened at Yale, we would be saying on this board that we have a great young staff which handled the transition from a coaching legend to the next generation brilliantly. So we were a day late and a dollar short, as the old expression goes. the real question is how we will close out the season and whether we have the pieces in place to have a better record next year. If the players want to keep the staff they will leave it all out on the filed over the next three weeks. that will tell the story.
Not going to get into coaching hires, which are decided by the AD. I thought his recruitment of Al Bagnoli was brilliant at the time, and resulted in taking a program at the bottom of FCS football and brought it to the precipice of greatness. What is disappointing is that we're regressing into noncompetitive football again- a slippery slope if the ship is not righted quickly. I will say also that the timing of Al's retirement was unfortunate. I think the current staff could have used more time to upgrade their roles. An Offense that cant move the ball with any consistency at all will tank a team because the D is out there all day, and Saturday was a hot one. My last observation is that Joe Green's throwing
arm /shoulder is not 100%, and the broadcast color man picked up on this. Contrast the way the ball was delivered by Grooms. Green threw the ball better as a Sophomore. Like Bell he is a great competitor but alas, many throws rushed due to OLine breakdowns. Then there were the dropped passes. Arghhh.
Siedlecki the former Yale HC thinks that Green’s shoulder is not 100%. And we miss Canty.
I wonder if Joe D’Orizio was rushed from being a position coach into the OC position before he was ready. On defense, we basically seem to concede the 12 yard out pattern. We so may WRs on the roster query why we don’t have more quality size and depth at DB.
Been reading comments, several of which are very fair including Doc’s above. I also revisited the results from last year. Recall that we were also bombed by Yale in 2022 albeit they only turned it into a rout with 17 points in the fourth quarter. Other than falling short, with hard to take losses early in the season to Princeton, Penn, and even Dartmouth, I guess I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I’m not ready to say that we are “regressing” although that may be true through nine quarters, squandering the 9-0 lead at Dartmouth and the catastrophe in New Haven. The group of folks who comment here can argue and debate about coaches, recruiting challenges, playcalling, execution or lack there of, injuries, etc. I really did expect more but the whole experience thus far still feels a lot like last year. Unfortunately, we are 0-4 in league. I feel there is still time to salvage the season but we have to run the table and shock Harvard at home on Saturday. There is still a lot of football to play. It’s all conjecture - but if we close the season winning all three it will be a carbon copy of 2022 and there will be a strong case to retain the entire staff. If we go down the drain in two or three of the remaining games, I’m afraid it will be time to usher in a new regime.
Guaranteed
We can run the table? Haven't won ANY league games so far! Maybe one?
Oh so jake is off limits? Grow up crybaby. And you can choose to leave this “conversation”
This blog has gone downhill. I know bloggers and they would never open up anonymous comments. Jake is clearly not any good at this and i deserve better. In fact I am entitled to better. Time to start over
Good post. I think the most likely outcome is that we lose all three. It’s possible we win one, but if I had to guess, I’d say we’re looking at 2-8. Winning all three seems extraordinarily unlikely, but hope springs eternal, I suppose. But assuming we do go 2-8 or 3-7, Mangurian 2.0 must leave the building.
Guaranteed? “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”
Jake is not good at this? Arhise you serious? He has been terrific! A big backer of CU football! Very astute observations, week after week! Who told us to support Fabish? Give the guy a chance, etc. Who stood up for Bagnoli and still does, even when his time at CU was nothing like his time at Penn?
Couldn't have said it better
You people CANNOT be serious about saying that Coach Fabish is Mangurrian 2.0. Mangurrian was an abomination (to put it kindly)! He was playing concussed players, was arrogant to fans and defiant to alums. Even after all that, the Hot Dog Committee (AKA Football Committee) gave him a vote of confidence. Go figure??? Please keep in mind that Mangurrian was 2-19 in-league, and 3-27 overall! That is NOT Mark Fabish at all. Speak of what you know, and not what you think you know. The moral to this story is to keep the HDC away from the process.
If Pilling dismisses Coach Fabish, he sets the program back by at least five years. The reason why you keep Coach Fabish is because he built this program alongside Al. We were in three tight in-league games and lost an ugly game to Yale, understood. Coach Fabish will make changes. All he has to is acknowledge the issues, make changes on the staff and then we can move forward.
As a former player and fan, I’ve seen Garrett, McElreavy, Tellier, Shoop, Wilson and Mangurrian… Fabish is a class above all of them as far as his coaching ability, so stop looking elsewhere when the answer is right here.
And in my opinion, Jake is not off limits, but don’t blame him for his candor.
No, allowing anonymous comments shows he does not have what it takes. I expect more. Have you looked at Dartmouth’s fan content. Far better. We refuse to accept anything less than great. Time to clean house!!
Said Anonymous!
Clean house? Start with your moniker.
I totally agree, and I am incensed at some of the comments from clowns over these past months. Jake is and has done an outstanding job. Giving those who care about Columbia football a place to share thoughts. This forum never used to have the preponderance of anonymous comments until recently. So, again we are for free speech and critique, but one can dismiss many of these comments because we simply do not know the source. Jake should be commended for permitting this free service to go on, but he may very well need to re-examine given some of the nasty, inflammatory comments.
Love Jake! Anybody upset with him needs to fix a drink and rethink who they are truly mad at :)
First of all, you don't put an interim label on a head coach if you intend to keep him regardless of performance. Interim hurts recruiting immensely so there is no way the coaches were guaranteed to be here next year and no way they are now based off this performance.
And as much as we see that dorazio is in over his head, fabish is 100% responsible for the offense. It is his legacy stuff with some tweaks. He is a control freak and has actually made things worse with his lack of trust and the manner in which he has tried to fix the poor start of the season. It's an impotent concoction of being inept and overbearing as the HC with also trying to be high five extraordinaire.
Players know when a coach is legit and when they are not. This team has figured it out and it shows more and more each week.
Really crummy showing from the offensive line this weekend -- it was quite apparent the inexperience of our OL was no match for the firepower and experience of the Yale DL. Maybe it's time we play some experienced and seasoned seniors, like Dave Bartholomew and Taylor Johnson, instead of leaning on younger guys that haven't been there before. It's downright irresponsible of the coaching staff to let those two freaks of nature rot on the bench as seniors while the young guys get steamrolled each week.
On balance assuming the team shows up and plays hard for the rest of the season and doesn’t quit on the coach then Fabish should be retained. I don’t think it makes any sense to start over again.
Where is Canty???? Will we see him again this season< or is he being held out to secure another year of eligibility?
Among the losses of this season is how Jake’s Beloved Blog has been turned into a circular firing squad by … whomever. No grace, no sense of history, no regard for how to get through this tough moment into a better future.
Leonlion
You have 100 plus faculty members openly supporting Hamas’ aggression. This will affect recruiting. Football players and their families lean conservative. CU administration could care less about football.
Injured
Entitled???
May be guaranteed but undeservingly so. I don’t think your assessment of the programs growth equates to Fabish’s performance. The offense has been bottom tier of the entire FCS outside of a few individual player performances.
Don't you just love the 3 and Out! Expect big changes against Harvard! NOT!
Ummm you are Anonymous…
Lets face it, Columbia and its "peer institutions" are shit-holes. I wouldnt want my kids going there. That's the results of decades of preferential admissions to angry insecure people who know they dont measure up so they lash out against jews and koreans and others who did not get preferential treatment.
it was always a firing squad, now its just circular.
i think jake should expand hus blog to politics. Columbia football is so irrelevant. Colunbia is irrelevant. They founded a climate school last year. The Columbia School of Fad. Whats next, a School of anti-Racism ?
Such similarities to Wainright
Now that is hilarious
I checked out Brodey Berg, our prize rb recruit, and I'd say he looks good with all-Ivy potential. Anyone else have thoughts on Brodey?
interesting name
As relates to recruiting, all of the ancient eight are in the same boat. The recent horrors in the Middle East and despicable behavior on Ivy League campuses won’t change the recruiting. Football players and their families have been accepting the cultures and orientations of the Ivy League schools and similar now for many years.
BGA doesn't appear to have a cooments section
@alawicius - No disrespect to Berg but he plays vs lower tier competition in Ohio. He is not close to a prized RB recruit for solid programs and clearly was not a priority for any Ivy league teams. He is the leftovers and what columbia gets when they appoint an interim coach and then perform horribly on the field.
Interestingly, the former RB coach never had this kid as RB1 but the all knowing and wise Fabish put him at RB1.
Good luck to the kid though. At least he will get a great degree!
You're a clown
Assh0le
The irony is profound when I read so many people complaining about the "anonymous" tags and yet they choose not to use their names?
As an alum and zealous Lion football fan, I vote to give Mark and the staff a chance. Believe me, I see what you see and I also see the potential that exists within the program. We are on the cusp of turning things around if we stay the path.
And relax on D'Orazio for goodness sakes. He's a very good recruiter and he was an excellent RB coach. Give him time... We go "three and out" because players drop balls or the O-Line is not as cohesive as it should be at times.
Coach Bagnoli believed in these guys and we should give them a chance.
Respectfully, my two cents...
Greg Abbruzzese
CC '91
Greg, thanks for going out on a limb with a positive, open comment. I think some of us have been reluctant to post publicly because of all the vitriol. But I commend you. Most of all, I remember well how you and your teammates were not to be denied in our historic victory in 1988 over Princeton. An incredible rushing performance that brought great joy to Lion faithful. There are definitely a few others on this board that were there and remember well.
Dan Albohn ‘81C
When Greg speaks, I listen to him--one of the best football players in Columbia Football History so he knows what he is talking about. I agree 100% with Greg that we should give Coach Fabish and his staff our complete support. I would urge everyone on this Board to do the same. All the negative chatter is bad for the Columbia Football Program, and, of course makes it much more difficult to recruit successfully. As someone who has been around Columbia Football for a very long time, and remembers fondly both Coach Buff Donelli and then Athletic Director Ralph Furey, my advice to the current AD, Pilling, is to show his full support for Coach Fabish and his coaching staff immediately by getting rid of the word "Interim," today. I'm sure that's what Ralph Furey would have done.
Time to go younger and fresher. There are many many D III qualified coaches, who are winners. Didn't Bagnoli come from D III! The weight of the evidence from the last few years is against this coach. I believe that earlier the list was compelling. The Bagnoli Era is over. Thanks for all his efforts.
The Fabish era is here! Let's Go!
I understand the reluctance to not wanting to start over but as one comment stated, seriously what has Fabish proven as an offensive coordinate and now head coach that makes you believe he’s the answer? The offense has received bad criticism for years. Of course he’s a nice guy, but does the equal winning? Look at some of the best coaches in the sport. Would most people call Bill or Nick Sabin “nice guys”? Please provide the numbers on why he’s the “answer.” Just because he’s been here along the ride doesn’t mean he’s the reason why we were winning. That’s a huge discredit to the defensive coaches and other offensive staff that have held their own and even outperformed him in coaching. Just look at the big discrepancy of all ivy guys on the defensive side versus offensive side since Bagnoli era. Would you have picked Paul Ferraro or Mark Fabish to lead the program if Bags had retired 3 years ago? How many years have the offense been ranked in the top half of the league under Fabish compared to the defense? Please bring numbers to back up the Fabish being the “answer”. If he’s the answer, than what the hell is the question? As a player that played under Fabish, players respected him as a person, not so much as a coach.
I want to acknowledge the columbia football alumni who do so much to support the program. Those I have met have been great. They have decided to take action to make positive change for the program. My hat is off to them. A special thanks to those active in the mentorship program which may end up being the most valuable part of my son’s Columbia education
Everyone is disappointed in the results this season. Look to these leaders for how to turn disappointment into positive actions
Signed
Happy dad (whose son would kill him if he knew I posted this)!
Amen! Fabish must go! By the way, don’t look now, but Mangurian’s first year on the job he won two games in conference and finished 3-7. I think we can all agree Mango was an unmitigated disaster, but are we really going to enthuse about a coach who will have a worse record when the season ends and who will have gone winless in the Ivies (despite having arguably much more talent on the roster)? And sorry, I’m not buying any of the comments about us “being set back by five years” if we don’t go with Fabish. Um, is where we are right now so wonderful? Not sure about you, but my aspiration for the program isn’t for it to be the cellar-dwelling laughingstock of the league. And it’s rather telling that the Fabish flunkeys can’t provide any numbers- or evidence-based rationale for retaining him. Plenty of good candidates out there (some of whom have already been listed by other posters). Unless and until his teams stop beating themselves, I can’t see a compelling argument for retaining Fabish.
Kudos! Congrats to you and your son. Football wise aside, Columbia has the most alumni’s in its backyard compared to any other ivy’s. Please continue to leverage it. We may argue over football but not helping a fellow lion. Lifelong brotherhood
Clown
Clown? Where? Must be calling out Halloween costumes
Greg Abruzzese makes a lot of sense. We had a bad day against Yale, and yet those things sometimes happen. We might well have won our first three Ivy games had a few breaks gone our way. we have a good group of coaches. let’s give them a fair chance.
I predict a 3 way tie for the league championship. Yale will beat Harvard. Penn will beat Princeton. Ties at the top
Does anyone on this blog actually think this team wants to play for Fabish?
Here are some numbers... We lost by 3 top Penn and Princeton and only by 11 to Dartmouth. That translates to we were in all of those games. Yale was a bad loss, agreed, and nobody showed up. These are not catastrophic losses. We destroyed Georgetown, who, two weeks later, beat a ranked Fordham team. That means that we have the nucleus to succeed. Yes, I get that Penn, PU and Dartmouth still translate to losses, but that just means that they could have gone either way. And what has Fabish proven? He was the architect behind this turnaround. Why is the glass half empty with the crux of you people? Try and look at the positive. I wish Pilling would just announce that Fabish is transition to the HC position so that you naysayers can either move on or move out.
Again, for those CLOWNS who want to compare Mangurrian to Fabish simply have no clue what the players, fans and alums endured under that administration. And a cautionary tale to that story is that the football committee was still going to endorse Mangurrian even after he played concussed players. Keep them away from this process.
To the former player who asked who you would take if Bags retired three years ago, Paul Ferraro or Mark Fabish? Three years ago, Ferraro; agreed. Today, Fabish!
And to the genius who suggested taking successful DIV-III coaches and put them in the Ivies, that formula is dated. What may have worked 30 years ago is not a viable option today. *Exception would be Poppe out of Union with CV. Still, we should build on the foundation that Bags and Fabish established.
I re-pledge myself to ignoring negative for negative’s sake comments like this. No reason to add to the bad vibes that have taken over here. Join me in focusing on positives and debating football issues.
For example ignore, “Fabish stinks”. Happily engage on, “ I hate bubble screens.”
Idiotic question. Most kids were recruited by Bagnoli/Fabish and are thrilled to be here. Playing Ivy League football at one of the best schools in the world in NYC is a dream come true. Most of them are tough enough to handle a disappointing season and stay the course.
There are many facets to being a Head Coach. You have to be an administrator, you have to be a CEO, but you also have to know how to coach both sides of the ball and special teams. You have to recognize potent schemes, and you have to nix poorly constructed game plans. You have to be able to assess the personnel you have. You have to know how to coach in-game.
In all probability Fabish is, at present, good at some of the necessary attributes, particularly recruiting, but his coaching skills are suspect.
His stint as Offensive Coordinator was not distinguished. The team’s Red Zone offense this year has been moribund, and not just in one game. The close scores in the three losses werei attributable to outstanding play by the Defense. That these did not turn out to be victories is owing to an anemic offense. An offense that structurally looks no different after seven games.
I do not want to bash Fabish, but I need a reason to get behind his staying.
Just because someone is an All Star shortstop, does not make them suited to pitch Game Seven in a World Series.
Do we really believe there is no other qualified coach, whether it be an assistant, a head coach at another school, that is every bit as well suited to lead the program as Fabish? Is he the only viable option?
Question for NJ Lion: Why not share your thoughts and concerns with the AD? You're likely an alum and I recall you mentioning that you're a donor. Your arguments and analysis mean nothing to everyone here. Are you able to give Pilling a call and report back?
Yes, congrats to you and your son. And you for having the right perspective
Open up the search and consider others! Skip the politics, the opinions of old players, former coaches ,etc. Interview candidates as soon as the season ends. What can be lost?
Who wants to decide the case on the merits?
I agree. Let Fabish appear before the Search Committee and make his case, just like the other candidates. What I fear is big donors, former coaches weighing in.
Let’s keep those stupid comments to yourself. Absurd.
This is very fair and a substantive explanation of what the ideal head coach should be. But the demands and requirements sound like the right person is a God. It takes many years to build a résumé and associated skill sets to become a God of coaching. Does the Ivy League currently have coaches that meet all of that? It would seem that Al Bagnoli is a prime example that meets that criteria after many highly successful years. Does such a person exist and is available? And would he take the helm at Columbia? Someone put forward an interesting list of potential candidates including several younger from D-3. It would be interesting if people agree with the above criteria to revisit that list and consider who fits the bill including our current coaching staff.
Columbia , could bail and get a new coach. But said new coach would come in with a new philosophy and methods and terminology. That THE WHOLE TEAM would have to learn.
Or give Coach Fabish, a year or 3 to learn the ropes, to go through the progression of mastering the craft of being a Head Coach. The last 7 years have been the best record and results of this program. In many years.
Know your history before you make it a downward spiral to Hell. With a slim chance of mediocrity. Not me or you are putting time into the process of this program. These young men are. You had 2 games Princeton an Penn. which could’ve easily ended in wins. Team is dealing with a coaching change, injuries and closing out games. They didn’t give up against Yale. They scored a touchdown with 11 seconds to go.!!
So don’t give up on them.!! Go Lions Beat Harvard.!!! Those SOB’s
Let's Go!!!
Zip it.
I'll take Harvard and give 21
Once again people, open your eyes and stop with this best record nonsense in last 7 years. We always played our peer Patriot League programs in 80's and 90's -not Wagner, Central State of Ct, Marist and any other weak program upright with a pulse. Look at the Ivy record- that's all that matters. Bags made us slightly more competitive and not always the bottom feeder where we have once again returned. I recall a few nice Ivy wins but it's certainly not a long list. So yes, give Fabish an opportunity to state his case at year end as well as a host of others who would throw their hat in the ring. The alumni support, administration buy in and resources are there for CU football to be very competitive. So the old heads settling for playing close games, practicing hard and everyone gets a trophy can beat it. We want and deserve a championship as do the players who commit to this program. That's the goal, period!
One technical point about our defense. Jake says that the screen passes are killing us. Actually we have defended those passes pretty well. What is killing us is the 12 yard square out to the sideline. We play our DBs to give the receivers a lot of cushion; likewise the LBs trying to cover TEs. So opposing QBs just need to toss the ball about 10 yards downfield and 2 yards from the sideline and it is always an easy completion.
Amen! Fabish won’t get us an Ivy championship. And the whole “if seventeen plays had gone differently, we’d have three wins in conference” schtick is tiresome.
One of the TV commentators( former Yale coach Sidlecki) made this exact point several times during the game. He expressed suprise that CU never adjusted.
Harvard played The University of St. Thomas (that's in MN by the way because NOBODY knows who they are) and Howard, so ENOUGH about not having a competitive schedule. I agree that Marist and CT State are soft, but you want to build on success. Not sure how that formula differs from AL playing Middle TN State and Chattanooga. Or Ohio State playing Youngstown State and Western KY...
Except that Harvard, Bama, and OSU win plenty of their in-conference games. I think the point the other poster was making was that under Bags, we didn’t win all that many games in the Ivies. So beating all those featherweights inflated our win totals and our win-loss record suggested our teams were better than they actually were. For BAMA and OSU (and Harvard, to some extent), more likely than not those teams would still have won against tougher opponents, so the creampuff games weren’t leading to “artificial” wins, if you will, in those cases.
There seems to be several on this thread that really diminish what Coach Bagnoli did here. I’m not saying our goal shouldn’t be Ivy titles, but the first step was consistent competitiveness, something Bagnoli was able to accomplish and many predecessors had failed to achieve. His last 5 seasons he had a 17-18 conference record. The 5 seasons before he got here we were 5-30 in the conference with multiple blowout losses! I’m not sure if Fabish is the answer or not, but I do think Bagnoli should have input on who should ultimately be named HC.
Why? Let's turn the page. Our offense needs a total revamping. Who besides Priore plays the Hurry Up Wait? Watch the big boys in D I. Learn from them. Bagnoli did right the ship but now it's time to move on (See 2-5, soon to be worse.
His first season was, with inherited recruits, also his best season. hmmmm.....and yes, the administration and alums made sure his staff was the highest paid in league( as was he), they gave him a tremendous upgrade in the weight room and an off season bubble-all things no one else before him had or was given. So if you want to applaud them beating some bad Brown and Cornell teams a few times as well as schools ranked bottom 5 in FCS, have at it. Also, if CU at 500 is your goal, you're on the wrong blog fella. He changed the culture, let's give him those props for sure. The rest?..I'd do some research on factual stats.
Guys who were 3-37 over their careers telling everyone Bagnoli sucked. What a joke.
Had to play freshman football so get your math right. Sub 500 Ivy record here and you want him enshrined. who's the joke?
It's unlikely that Columbia will soon go .500 over a 7 year stretch. Highly unlikely. Nobody wants that to happen and .500 shouldn't be the goal but that's the truth. It's also unlikely that Columbia will win an Ivy League title ever. If a coach could magically guarantee CU football was always on the either side of .500, the AD would give him a lifetime deal. I appreciate the ambition and hope we do better than that over time but what are the odds?
3-27.
For somebody who tells a person to check actual facts, you should take your own advice. Bagnoli’s first season was in fact his worst seasons (2-8 overall and 1-6 Ivy record) when he took over a team that was 0-20 the two season before he got here. His best season was his third season (8-2, 5-2). And I never said I wanted to enshrine him nor did I say I was content with .500 record. What I said was the first step was being consistently competitive in the league. He brought us there m, which none of his predecessors was able to do. Oh, and in case you didn’t notice, the guy had a 269-134 record so I would say he k owns a thing or 2 about what it takes to build a winning program.
Agree he did not bring us the championship but it felt like we had a chance each Saturday. Bottom line for a program that was known to be just about the worst in the Country we were 30 and 20 overall and one game under 500 in the league over the last five years - i dont think we had as good a five year period in the modern history of the program. only regret we never quite got back to the level of the 2017 team but those of us who have been following the program for more than 50 years appreciate what Al did and now we just hope Mark can build on this.
Good lord I feel so bad for the fans/players/families that have a sense of reality, understand that a change is required and have to deal with this weak approach to COMPETITION that so many on here display.
Go talk about your feelings and wishes with your therapist, not with actual football fans! It is so sad that you think Fabish is a leader or that what appears on the field is something to be proud of.
Greg, great enthusiasm and that's great you played for the program in the past. This team has quit on its 'interim' coach and other staff.
They are sending a message and, as a former player, you definitely should be listening.
Third and 6, trot out the Bubble Screen or run it up the guy! Don't you see it?
When was the last time the punter took off and ran for a first down? The QB ran a draw for a first down? Had more than 1 passing td in a game? We used to control the clock, but now? Who has been running this offense?
Disgraceful. I agree. These are the same fans who want to give Engles another go around!
You made this up.
Clown… if you’re “Numbers” are that we didn’t lose by much then I suggest you find a new argument. Here’s a comeback and some real “numbers”. DEAD LAST in all offensive stats except for rushing and DEAD LAST in Ivy League record. Close your eyes and hear this stuff without knowing it’s your beloved Fabish as HC. Would you want to retain that HC? If so, your feelings are clouding your mind for making a smart assessment.
Amen Leon! This blog now sounds like a vitriolic political blog Rabbit hole with russian bots......and not the constructive football place it used to be.
Hong Kong Lion
Jake has been an outstanding contributor of content and analysis that gives rise to proper football discussion. What's changed is the character of many anonymous people making personal attacks.
Hong Kong Lion
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