In an utterly disheartening Letter to the Editor, Columbia President Lee Bollinger has just made a public endorsement of both Athletic Director Dianne Murphy and Head Coach Pete Mangurian.
This letter shows just how out of touch Bollinger is with reality and his truest disdain for our student athletes.
I won't give up hope despite this public show of unwise support from Bollinger, but if Mangurian and Murphy are both still in place next season I guarantee another 0-10 season for Columbia football.
48 comments:
This is Campbell saying...its my program....I'm bankrolling it...and I make the decisions here.
The rest of you...thanks for your interest but I got this.
Bill Campbell...are you listening?
You are out of touch with reality....
Former All-Ivy, All-American
Bollinger's letter doesn't even have the facts right. In the last five years our results have not improved, they are worse.
Bollinger is now daring anybody to challenge his support of this failure. He's banking on decades of mostly apathetic students to leave him and this monstrosity alone.
we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore.
I posted this on the article but I will repost here.
Winning Ivy league seasons under Murphy:
Football: 0
Basketball: 0
Mens Soccer: 1
Baseball: 4
Womens Lax: 0
Womens Basketball: 0
Womens Soccer: 2
Field Hockey: 2
I am mind blown that he supports this. This isn't even ivy league championships, this is just an above .500 season
Bring in a good lawyer. Columbia turns out lots of them each year. Bollinger is one of them. He knows (think Rutgers, Penn State) that trustees and Presidents can fall from their Ivy League towers if student athletes are hurt, left unprotected, put at unnecessary risk of injury by incompetent Columbia coaches. Bollinger's legacy will be what he deserves; they'll be scraping the name off of Campbell's building if the damage goes viral.
Get a lawyer.
Also, there is likely significant evidence of bullying from this Coach.
Get a lawyer. Stupid and silly. Get real.
"In short, over the decade since I appointed Dianne Murphy ..."
I understand President Bollinger's letter in this way:
1) He stands behind his appointment of the AD.
2) That does not mean that he endorses all of the AD's coaching appointments -- no matter [obligatory] expressions of "confidence" in the football coach.
3) The fate of the football coach is up to the AD.
I am no fan of the current football coach. But I very much appreciate Bill Campbell. His public and private contributions to the University and to individual members of the CU football community deserve nothing but respect.
B. Josefsberg '70
Thanks Bernie, but can we agree that Campbell needs to step up here? This is a rock bottom moment for football.
If come start of 2014 season, Pete Mangurian is still the coach, Dianne Murphy still the AD, Columbia may have to do what the Jaguars do with their stadium & put tarps over empty seats because no one in their right minds is going to support this team the way it is after the way the 2013 season has been for the Lions.
You've lost. Neither Murphy nor Mangurian are going anywhere. Since anything you do after Bollinger's endorsement is only going to hurt the team, it's time to quiet down.
Exactly how collateral damage are you willing to inflict in a doomed effort to get your way?
Bernie makes sense. If DM survives here does she chance one more 0-10 season with PM and think she will survive? She has to dump him right now to save herself....One more season of this and they are both gone for sure. Bye- Bye, Pete........
If the President of the university is writing Letters to the Editor about your job you are on the precipice. Huge gamble for her. How many juniors quit after this season??? Will recruiting this year help next season? Diane better take a deep breath over this season because almost all of us think it is 0-10 next year.
However well-intentioned the argument, it's still embarrassingly naïve that anyone might think the president is going to knuckle under to a small group of activists.
Pete it's time to step down, you know it and we know it.
27 out 44 players on the two deep for Senior Day are freshman & sophomores. Anyone who disagrees that PM should not be fired NOW is not playing with a full deck.
Last year, the seniors and other members of the team who were not allowed to dress for home games were bussed to the field on a separate bus. My heart broke for those guys, you could see the pain & disgust on their faces.
It is crystal clear this coach needs to pack his bags tonight and the only thing we should see after Saturdays game is the back of PM's shoes running down Broadway.
Good luck to all those loyal seniors this Saturday, you fought the good fight for 4 long years and you've had to endure so much. It's your time, senior time on Saturday and if the damn coach won't put you in, put yourself in Lord knows you've earned it.
Thank you seniors for never quitting when most would have. Success is now on the horizon for all of you, just go out and take it.
There are good and obvious reasons to dismiss this football coach that have nothing to do with Bill Campbell or the presumption that he needs to “step up” any higher than he already has since he first stepped on campus, played on Baker Field, or contributed thereafter.
BJ
The Bollinger letter: My guess is that Murphy, in a rage following the Spec editorial, went to Bollinger and gave him a draft of the letter to which he added a few patronizing words and let it fly. I doubt that Bollinger challenged any of the assertions contained therein. Except for his half time cameo at Homecoming most years, I don't recall ever seeing Bollinger at any football or basketball games. Quite a contrat to the magnificent Ted deBary, who was at this year's Harvard game. Now that's a Columbian.
Lee Boll is feeling the pressure. Why else would he care enough to editorialize in The Spectator. F him and his lack of caring. Change can only occur at the top. Boll should resign...donations must stop. Players should strike and not Play this Saturday unless PM is fired before the game begins, see what happened at Grambling? Players...take control of your destiny.
Campbell is a very successful business man...and should be congratulated for all he has done for CU athletics. But also should take a lot of the blame for supporting the terrible Head FB Coaching hires these last two decades. He is now just an old Lush who should just step away from the process.
No road wins in over four years. Average loss of 34.5 points. Four road games giving up 50+ points. Unhappy locker room divided among classes. Do you stake your job on turning it around?? Not a high percentage decision to save your job and reputation.
If 27 of 44 players on the two deep are 1st and 2nd years, then either you think Mangurian won't play junior and seniors out of spite, or he thinks the players he's identified are better.
No football coach--especially one who's under pressure--would choose players with less potential out of spite. Yet many on Jake's blog keep insisting that Mangurian should play the junior and seniors whom Mangurian says aren't as good.
Who then, I ask you, is really invested in Columbia losing?
Here's my comments, worth re-posting here:
No disrespect to tennis, swimming and fencing athletes but the issues are a badly managed football program led by a tyrant head coach. His primary policies have been ostracizing upperclassmen and demonstrating his authority over the well-being of the student athletes. Pete Mangurian has been extraordinarily poor in game planning, coaching methods and people skills. He has REGRESSED the program to the very lowest of levels, not brought it forward as claimed. Mr. Bollinger clearly has his head in the sand and hoping this issue blows over. It won't. Not until Pete Mangurian is ejected from campus.
No where in the country are freshmen and sophomores as strong as juniors and seniors. Most freshmen and sophomores do not pass the conditioning test when returning from summer. No way they are as strong, fast, quick, experienced, and comfortable as the upper class men.
Nonetheless, the very fact that this is being debated is an indictment of his leadership. This should never even be brought up. His job is to build a TEAM. Unite, encourage and inspire. We have seen absolutely none of that. He is a professor of the football program and all it's students are flunking. That falls on him for not instructing them.
The biggest disgrace of all is if that locker room is divided. In many ways that is even worse than losing. When it is all said and done the TEAM supersedes everything including the score....
But he is instructing them. The upperclassmen who don't get it don't play.
Do you really want players who aren't as good to play in order to preserve the team? Sounds like this "team stuff" is just nonsense you've prefabricated so players who aren't good can play. In which event, once again, I ask you, who wants to do it right, and who is terminally invested in losing?
Your quote , "Sounds like this "team stuff " is just nonsense", is why you and Pete don't get and why you are getting 50+ Point ass kickings. Nothing is as strong as the TEAM. You obviously have never played football......
You will never get it.
Jake , please answer one question . Aren't the injuries alone , some very serious, and now bullying reason enough for PresidentbBollinger to take action and Stop this fiasco? How in the world can he be supportive of this? How does DM keep her job , let alone live with herself , when this has been brought to her attention. Pres. B. may not be a FB fan , or even care about athletics, but now that it has affected the safety of our boys...We as Parents Demand Answers!
You have serious comprehension problems. This "team stuff is nonsense" obviously refers to your desire to organize the team around its weakest players just because (seniority rules) they're older.
If that's the team concept you want to sentimentalize, go for it. Personally, instead of boilerplate bs about the great virtues of the team, I prefer an occasional victory.
You are deluded beyond reason if you think the upperclassmen who have been ostracized are weaker players than the underclassmen who displaced them. This is clearly about a head coach making a statement about who's in charge. He probably thought he he would have a master plan of overhauling the roster with fresh talent and everyone would see his genius. Pete's miscalculation of his own abilities and his abrasive personality have brought shame to the program.
NO COLLEGE TEAM ANYWHERE specifically deploys underclassmen in the manner Pete Mangurian has unless they are in serious need of backfilling. Those upperclassmen earned an opportunity to play and they have been shunned. Where is the fullback? The all-ivy OL-lineman? Get real. FIRE MANGURIAN NOW.
Al,
You are spot on with your comments about PM and what a fraud we have as a coach.
Thank you for saying it so well.
I have seen Flannery, Di Novo, Connors, Wannamacher, gross, and Garner play. You haven't.
Did you see that offense move last week when Flannery and an injured Connors played? Everything looked better.
No way we would have had as many dropped passes, sacks, and incomplete passes.
What would that have meant? A major difference. The quarterbacks could have gotten rid of the ball faster to open receivers. Maybe not gotten hurt (there goes your injury excuse, sorry), the offensive line would not have to sustain their blocks as long if receivers were open. Opponent defenses wouldn't be entirely rested and fired up every series on the field. If the pass was respected we wouldn't be seeing eight in the box to stop M Garrett.
Quarterbacks could have thrown better and with more confidence. Played with more rhythm. More first downs would have kept more time of possession. The defense would have been off the field more and not playing 100 plays a game. Fewer defensive injuries. Oh ya, maybe we would have had more than four touchdowns!
That offense was the worst in all FCS. It would have helped those offensive linemen a ton.
And in the end, the whole experiment failed because the offense played so poorly, they were three and out so many times, the poor freshmen really didn't get a lot of repetitions ! The whole idea was to get the freshmen playing time and all they did was sit on the bench after three plays. It DID NOT WORK.
Check that, three touchdowns! Brian East the LB. Scored the fourth TD
I do not know why many of you guys even battle against the people who defend Mangurian. They have clearly shown that they know little about football, never got the concept of TEAM, cannot recognize talent (since they think all the Freshmen and Sophs are the greatest), oh yeah we have all IVY players riding the pine and other very good kids no longer on the team.
BTW, freshman and sophs, what do you think happens to you when Pete doesnt win and either is canned or brings in the next round of players...look at the juniors and seniors and take a good hard look and put that picture in the memory bank.
Bollinger can write whatever he would like to, but his numbers are incorrect and he has not got a clue.
Dianne is damned if she does and damned if she doesnt. this will be her umpteenth coach that has come in under her watch and not won. she is tied to Pete..if he goes she goes.
for Pete to leave, barring him having the epiphany that he sucks as a coach and person, is if the parents and upperclassmen speak out. The former players can only do so much as Uncle Bill still controls the levers and to get around that you need more than just former players, regardless of who they are.
The only way Pete leaves is if Kraft gets him a job with the Pats. Dianne's ego won't allow her to fire him, she never admits a mistake.
It is coming to the end of the season. Let me tell you a story.
I am not related to nor a friend of Tom Callahan.
Tom arrived here at 6'8" tall and 306 lbs. an athlete and a very bright student. Tom was a sure fire all Ivy left tackle. I have been told he was on track to be better than Jeff Adams, last I heard playing for the Miami Dolphins.
You know our coach, the certified member from "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest", this is what he did...
Tom is now 260 lbs and a NOSEGUARD!!!!!! A non playing 6'8" NOSEGUARD!! Unbelievable waste of talent.
He arrived here at 306 and is now 260. I am trying to decide if PM is "Chief" or jack Nicholson......
Rich '66C
Folks
Jake proved we have two fairly nasty and ignorant naysayers, so there's no purpose in paying them attention.
Truth is that the prez is feeling the heat or he wouldn't have acknowledged the Spec editorial. And they always stand toughest before they fold. Did anyone think that these egos would surrender in just a couple of months? No, it will be a while, and it will take a lot more fire under certain asses. So don't give up now.
Spec is on out side. Most football alums also. Heavyweight donors too. The two dweebs on the blog mean zip. The admin is nervous and getting more so, and we are NOT going to let up.
Parents, see me Saturday in the lot by the baseball field for buttons.
There are no soft landings for coaches that go 0-10 or 3-27 if we count next season. I also don't think Pete is a favored son by anybody. It's not like Kraft owes him anything. He'll still coach but not as a head coach.
pete is the new poster child for soccer and lacrosse because if he coaches nobody is going to want to play football
Could this team have used an All Ivy left tackle? Ask. Brett Nottingham? How much would that have changed this season?
Prae tell, where is the occasional victory????? Where is the infrequent victory??? Where is the seasonal victory???? WHERE is the annual victory..... Where is the bi annual victory??????
Norries was fired the day after the last game of the 2011 season. Realistically, if PM isn't fired and doesn't resign right after the Brown game, he will be the coach next year. There is a small window of time to fire the guy, do a search, hire the new guy and get him in place to start recruiting by mid December or early January. I think Bollinger's letter means that PM won't get fired and probably won't resign. He is going to get one more year to turn things around. Further bashing the guy after this weekend is counter productive for the kids who will be here next year.
To a degree I agree that the Pete bashing will die down because the season is over and there are no more games to lose.
However, I am curious as to how many kids will be back next year with a focus on the juniors who are about the be treated just like the seniors this year.
Is this Tom's mom or dad?
The junior aren't ABOUT to be treated like the seniors, the juniors HAVE been treated like the seniors - this year! We will be lucky if any of them come back for their senior year. Such a sad, futile situation for these young men.
I posted that. If you take a moment to read it. I clearly stated that I am not related to nor a friend of Tom Callahan. That is a fact. Jake can verify that, if necessary.
To the two negative posters;
If need be I will continue to blog true stories all through the next few days bearing out the incompetency of the head coach.I have no shortage or problem giving testimony to what has happened. When I get a break from work I will give you the Sean Brackett story, then the story about senior leadership confronting Pete mid season with a near revolt/ walkout about sitting seniors on defense, too. I am working on a few more to answer you two negative posters.
One thing that I do notice. Most of the discipline problems on the team have come from players shortly after they have been unfairly treated by PM. Cancer spreads.
Poster above, whether you are a friend or relative does not matter. I DO know Tom C . , great kid , hopefully one day you will get a chance to meet him and you will know yourself. By the way everything you posted is very true.
Tom Callahan is not 6-8, he's listed at 6-5 and that's stretching it. He has never been listed at 300. He has also been front and center in 2 embarrassing incidents off the field: hazing (put up on You Tube) and anti-Semetic tweets. Maybe his lack of playing time is discipline given out but not publicized? That said, he was a Wilson recruit which basically gave him 2 strikes in Pete's mind.
6 8 or 6 5 any coach who knows anything knows that a. There has never been a nose guard that tall ever, b. Nose guards are either short and wide or short and quick, c. Offensive lineman have different skill sets than defensive lineman and very had to make an offensive lineman into a defensive lineman.
Barring the off field incidents, this decision just shows that this coach has his head up his ass and really just wanted a place to bury this player.
Keep defending pete, like not being able to get dog shit off your shoes...smells bad and always seems to be there after you clean it up.
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