2 More Commits

 

Luke Walker

6-3 235-pound DE Luke Walker from Naples HS in Naples, Florida has committed to the Lions. 

Walker also had an offer from Tennessee Tech. 

He will be the first Naples HS grad to come to Columbia. 

 Hutch Crow

Also committing is 6-0 185-pound WR Hutch Crow  from Parish Episcopal HS in Dallas. 

Crow also had offers from Brown, Holy Cross, San Diego, Georgetown, North Texas, and Valparaiso.

Crow will be the second Parish Episcopal grad to come to Columbia Football, the first being stellar DT Niko Padilla '16.

So the list of known commits/transfers grows to 19:

1) Richard Bell Jr. DE/TE 6"5 250 lbs. Northview Academy Kodak, TN

2) Benjamin Bruce WR/DB 6"0 160 lbs. Trinity Christian HS Lubbock, TX

3) Blaize Cameron TE 6"4 225 lbs. Clarkson Football North/Choate Rosemary Hall (PG year) Burlington, ON CANADA

4) Hutch Crow WR 6"0 185 lbs. Parish Episcopal HS Dallas, TX 

5) Rodrigo Diaz-Martorella DE/TE 6"4 255 lbs. Miami Palmetto HS Miami, FL 

6) Liam Donagher DB 6"2 200 lbs. Grafton Memorial HS/Choate (PG Year) Grafton, MA

7) Jeremiah Douglas DB 6"2 185 lbs. IMG Academy/St. Paul's HS Brooklandville, MD 

*8) Cole Freeman QB 6"0 215 lbs. Delbarton School Morristown, NJ 

9) Christian Gonzalez LB 6"1 220-lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

10) Miron Magee DB 5"10 160 lbs. Lake Highlands HS Dallas, TX

11) Carter McCray DB 6"0 185 lbs Cornerstone Christian HS San Antonio, TX

12) Emanuel Nazy OL 6"4 280 lbs. Hackensack HS/Don Bosco Prep Hackensack, NJ

13) Casey O'Sullivan TE/DE 6"3 245 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

14)Sam Pearman K 6"0 180 lbs. Los Gatos HS Los Gatos, CA

15) Xavier Phipps WR 6"5 190 lbs. Dekaney HS Houston, TX

16) Mason Robinson DB 6"3 160 lbs. Camden County HS Kingsland, GA

17) Benny Sasso OL 6"3 270 lbs. Wall Township HS, Wall, NJ

18) Caleb Solomon DB 6"1 180 lbs. Miramar HS Miramar, FL 

19) Luke Walker DL 6"3 235 lbs. Naples HS Naples, FL

*transfer from Northwestern 

Lured from Lubbock

 

6-0, 160-pound WR/DB Benjamin Bruce from Trinity Christian HS in Lubbock, TX has committed to the Lions.

Bruce also had offers from Navy, Marist, Stetson, and 3-4 others. 

Bruce will be the first Trinity Christian grad to come to Columbia Football. 

So the list of known commits/transfers grows to 17:

1) Richard Bell Jr. DE/TE 6"5 250 lbs. Northview Academy Kodak, TN

2) Benjamin Bruce WR/DB 6"0 160 lbs. Trinity Christian HS Lubbock, TX

3) Blaize Cameron TE 6"4 225 lbs. Clarkson Football North/Choate Rosemary Hall (PG year) Burlington, ON CANADA

4) Rodrigo Diaz-Martorella DE/TE 6"4 255 lbs. Miami Palmetto HS Miami, FL 

5) Liam Donagher DB 6"2 200 lbs. Grafton Memorial HS/Choate (PG Year) Grafton, MA

6) Jeremiah Douglas DB 6"2 185 lbs. IMG Academy/St. Paul's HS Brooklandville, MD 

*7) Cole Freeman QB 6"0 215 lbs. Delbarton School Morristown, NJ 

8) Christian Gonzalez LB 6"1 220-lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

9) Miron Magee DB 5"10 160 lbs. Lake Highlands HS Dallas, TX

10) Carter McCray DB 6"0 185 lbs Cornerstone Christian HS San Antonio, TX

11) Emanuel Nazy OL 6"4 280 lbs. Hackensack HS/Don Bosco Prep Hackensack, NJ

12) Casey O'Sullivan TE/DE 6"3 245 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

13)Sam Pearman K 6"0 180 lbs. Los Gatos HS Los Gatos, CA

14) Xavier Phipps WR 6"5 190 lbs. Dekaney HS Houston, TX

15) Mason Robinson DB 6"3 160 lbs. Camden County HS Kingsland, GA

16) Benny Sasso OL 6"3 270 lbs. Wall Township HS, Wall, NJ

17) Caleb Solomon DB 6"1 180 lbs. Miramar HS Miramar, FL  

*transfer from Northwestern 

Biting at the Apple

The Columbia Football coaching staff is doing something really interesting today by sending its recruiters to just about as many high schools with football programs in the New York metropolitan area that they can in one day in what they're calling the "Empire Rush." 

You can pretty much follow their progress in real time by checking the CU Football Twitter/X feed every hour or so.

I think this is a great way to raise the local awareness of the program and hopefully snag an athlete or two that we may have overlooked otherwise. 

It feels like the times when Columbia has tried some innovative recruiting techniques, it's paid off well for the program. 

Let's see how this turns out. 

 

Georgia Get

 

6-3, 160-pound DB Mason Robinson from Camden County HS in Kingsland, Georgia has committed to the Lions. Robinson also had offers from Dartmouth, Army, Navy, and VMI\.

Mason will be the first Camden County HS grad to come to Columbia. 

As you know, we LOVE to get DB's over 5"11. 

So the list of known commits/transfers grows to 16:

1) Richard Bell Jr. DE/TE 6"5 250 lbs. Northview Academy Kodak, TN

2) Blaize Cameron TE 6"4 225 lbs. Clarkson Football North/Choate Rosemary Hall (PG year) Burlington, ON CANADA

3) Rodrigo Diaz-Martorella DE/TE 6"4 255 lbs. Miami Palmetto HS Miami, FL 

4) Liam Donagher DB 6"2 200 lbs. Grafton Memorial HS/Choate (PG Year) Grafton, MA

5) Jeremiah Douglas DB 6"2 185 lbs. IMG Academy/St. Paul's HS Brooklandville, MD 

*6) Cole Freeman QB 6"0 215 lbs. Delbarton School Morristown, NJ 

7) Christian Gonzalez LB 6"1 220-lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

8) Miron Magee DB 5"10 160 lbs. Lake Highlands HS Dallas, TX

9) Carter McCray DB 6"0 185 lbs Cornerstone Christian HS San Antonio, TX

10) Emanuel Nazy OL 6"4 280 lbs. Hackensack HS/Don Bosco Prep Hackensack, NJ

11) Casey O'Sullivan TE/DE 6"3 245 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

12)Sam Pearman K 6"0 180 lbs. Los Gatos HS Los Gatos, CA

13) Xavier Phipps WR 6"5 190 lbs. Dekaney HS Houston, TX

14) Mason Robinson DB 6"3 160 lbs. Camden County HS Kingsland, GA

15) Benny Sasso OL 6"3 270 lbs. Wall Township HS, Wall, NJ

16) Caleb Solomon DB 6"1 180 lbs. Miramar HS Miramar, FL  

*transfer from Northwestern 

All Set

The official announcements have all been made and now there is confirmation of my report from December 17th that Seitu Smith is the new offensive coordinator. 

The other coaching staff names and bios can be found here on the official athletic department website. 

Of course, the big takeaway everyone will get is that this is an extremely young staff from top to bottom. I think there are two things at play here:

1) I believe Athletic Director Peter Pilling is looking to duplicate some of the key characteristics of the best coaching hire of his tenure at Columbia: Megan Griffith. Griffith was barely 30 years old when she got the nod as head women's basketball coach at CU in 2016. Assembling a younger staff sure seems to have worked for women's hoops.

2) Pilling is still pretty well connected to a number of NFL contacts and that league has clearly embraced a youth coaching movement for many years now. The fact that Bill Belichick hasn't been hired yet this off season seems to be strong proof of that. 

This kind of an extreme youth movement is something Columbia hasn't really tried before. Sure, Ray Tellier and Norries Wilson, are two examples of guys who were relatively young at the time they were hired. But both just seemed older in every way. 

Will it work? The immediate first test will be how well Head Coach Jon Poppe & co. fill out this incoming freshman class in the short time still available. Poppe himself has proven to be a great recruiter so far in his career, but his time to devote solely to recruiting is surely curtailed now that he's running a D-I program. 

The other big test will be how well he and Smith develop a QB for this coming season. 

The 2024 season begins in 238 days.