A Key Piece...

John Hunton and family

It seems like every year, I'm pining away for a steady and reliable Tight End target for our Columbia QB's to rely on. It's pretty hard to measure the huge value that kind of weapon can be for an offense.

Columbia has had some great TE's in my 30 years of watching the team. Guys like Matt Less, Brian Bassett, Wade Fletcher and Andrew Kennedy come to mind. 

Rising senior John Hunton is starting to show signs that he may be ready to join the above list. He played at an unfairly overlooked level last year, but now he's stepping it up even more. 

Hunton had what I would call a solid season last year with many flashes of brilliance. His fellow TE, the graduating Hank Trumbull, got a lot of attention because of some of the big plays he was involved in. But Hunton took most of the snaps. His effort and concentration during his TD catch vs. Harvard was probably the high point. But it was also very instructive on how sure-handed Hunton happens to be.

Now that new QB Coach Ricky Santos has let the cat out of the bag that the Columbia offense will be extremely up-tempo and no-huddle this fall, (almost like the U. of Oregon), the importance of a reliable emergency valve TE to throw to or fool a tiring defense with is maximized.  

Here's the exact quote from Santos:

“The hardest thing is putting in a new offense,” he said, but that’s exactly what the Lions are doing. “We’ll be up-tempo, no huddle.” 

Hunton could be emerging at just the right time to make his senior year extremely memorable. If he plays even at and All Ivy Honorable Mention level, this could be a special season for the Lions.

New Day, New Jerseys

The Columbia Football Twitter feed announced yesterday that the latest winners of the Black Jerseys from Sunday's practice were senior FB Jackson Conway on offense and senior LB Keith Brady on defense.

Conway received fewer accolades than his twin brother Christian last year, but he was a huge help as a blocker in the running game and in pass protection. I don't think his role will change to more of a ball carrier or pass receiver in 2016, but he's an essential cog for the offense. Having him back there really is like having another wing of the offensive line.

Brady had one of the most significant step up seasons for the Lions last year, stepping in for the injured starter Hagen Patterson and finishing the season as the team's leading tackler. With Patterson back from injury AND all the 2015 starting linebackers returning, the second two line of the Columbia defense are looking about as elite as we've seen them in 20 years. So, it's good to see Brady not resting on his laurels and tearing it up in practice.

Black Jerseys

I

Progress reports during spring practice used to either non-existent or overly general.

But now this spring, we’re getting more than just the usual bits of video, etc.

The coaching staff is basicallynaming offensive and defensive players of the week by awarding them “Black Jerseys.”

Apparently, there are two new winners for this past weekend’s set of practices. But the previous winners were DB Colin Early on defense and LT Kendall Pace on offense.

If they keep it up, both of those players could really help the Lions 2016 chances. Columbia’s secondary looked strong coming into this season even without Early emerging as another talent. But if he can complement the very good Jared Katz, Cameron Roane and Brock Kenyon, Columbia’s secondary could be an elite unit in the league.

Pace’s improvement is a key factor in the Lions chances to go from having a decent O-line to a very good one. With a new starting RB and a new offense being put in place, the usual crucial need for a good offensive line is even more urgent now.

New Star?

I really liked what I saw from then-freshman WR MarcusBriscoe in 2014. I liked him so much I thought he might be our leading receiver in 2015 and I even told some of the guys who cover other Ivy teams about him. But Briscoe missed the entire 2015 season due to an injury. The good news is that Briscoe looks good in spring practice so far and he was even featured burning a defender badly on one of the football programs quick video snippets on the Twitter feed.

Full Integration

Readers of this blog have often read about my wishes for a head coach and a football program that were truly a part of the overall university experience, even intellectually.

This was the way it was in the days of Lou Little, but not since.

I'm getting my wish with Head Coach Al Bagnoli in many ways.

The latest example comes from Columbia Business School where superstar Prof. Adam Galinsky invited Bagnoli to speak at his management seminar.

Success and leadership, in sports and in business, are valuable commodities and the experts know it when they see it.

The Golden Ticket

Last evening, the eight Ivy League schools sent out the emails confirming acceptances and rejections for undergraduate applicants. Columbia's admit rate fell again, now at a stunningly low 6.1% The chances of getting in to Columbia and most of its Ivy school peers are basically impossible, making an invitation to come to CU more coveted than ever before.

Twitter was filled with a few celebratory Tweets from happy admitted applicants, and a massive number of disappointed rejects.

At the same time, Twitter remains heavily populated by high school juniors celebrating their offers from Columbia football recruiters. I wonder how many of them know just how valuable those offers are at a school with a 6.0% admit rate. Do they know how tens of thousands of disappointed rejected applicants are probably wishing they were good football players right now?

And most importantly, how many of these students we're offering the virtual "golden ticket" have come to the wise realization that any non-Ivy offers they get from here on should be soundly ignored. If you spurn your Columbia offer to go to another Ivy or a school like Stanford, Michigan, Northwestern, or even UCLA... I get it. But when I see kids with Ivy offers choosing to go to places like UTEP, Central Arkansas, or the gosh darned Montana School of Mines, (yes, that did happen), I have to wonder, (trigger warning alert!!): are these kids and their parents tragically stupid? I mean, is someone who is either too stupid or too afraid to go to Columbia or any Ivy in favor of riding the bench at a mid-major school worth the risk of putting on the football field anyway?

I tend to be a lot more tender to recruits and their families, but after seeing what so many of my friends who are parents of college-applying kids are going through, I've lost my patience for people who don't know how to appreciate something of rare and ever-increasing value. And I say this as someone who doesn't think the Ivies are the be-all and end-all, but as someone who knows the value of an Ivy degree over the course of a lifetime.

So here are 5 things to remember if you or your kid has been offered a spot in an Ivy football program:


1) You just got handed a winning lotto ticket.

2) All non-Ivy, non-elite school offers from now on should be ignored. 

3) If you still think you can make the NFL, going to an Ivy school won't hurt your chances. It will help them.

4) If finances are really an issue, most Ivy schools will provide significant aid. 

5) If exploring career and internship opportunities while you're in college is a priority, then Columbia is your obvious best choice.