Bullying Doesn’t Work Here

These signs don't work, but there is something that does...

There’s just too much evidence over the years to ignore the fact that Head Coach Pete Manguruian is a classic bully.

And in football, bullying does indeed often work as a way to motivate players.

But bullying doesn’t work as well in the Ivy League and it really doesn’t work at Columbia.

And that’s probably the biggest reason why Mangurian is not a good fit for CU, never will be a good fit for CU, and should have been identified as not a good fit for CU far before he was hired by Dianne Murphy.

It was the bullying of then-offensive coordinator Vinny Marino that destroyed Norries Wilson’s tenure as head coach at Columbia. And that bullying was well documented for more than three years. Murphy was aware of it as well, and yet she still went out and hired a well-known bully to be the head coach after removing Wilson. It’s bad decisions like that that make people wonder if the Columbia administration deliberately wants football to fail.

But let me back up a second and explain exactly why “hard-nosed bullying” is such a bad ingredient here.

1)      The Guys are Already Motivated

Ivy football players are not professional athletes getting paid to play. There are no athletic scholarships either. Most of the players have parents paying at least something out of pocket for them to be here. In many cases, we’re talking well over $200,000 in total costs over the four year period.

Ivy players aren’t phony students. They take real classes and don’t have an army of paid tutors to do their work for them.

At Columbia under Mangurian going to practice has meant getting up before 5am and taking the bus to Wien Stadium.

No member of any athletic team can lose their spot in their class, or any need-based scholarships even if they quit their team on day one.

And even though Mangurian has continued the egregious policy of making several players sit in the stands instead of dressing for home games, there STILL has not been a mass exodus from the team. Can you imagine busting your butt in practice week after week, taking the physical and verbal abuse, knowing you’re not going to play, and THEN being told you won’t even be able to stand with your teammates on the sidelines? The ONLY reason Mangurian institutes this policy is to get guys to quit the team. He’s always wanted a much smaller roster. He must be surprised at how tough these kids really are.

So in other words, we’re really not talking about a group of kids who need to do much more to prove their motivation. They can quit at any time and suffer no other consequences other than not being on the team anymore.

2)      Bullies Don’t Teach

Can bullying be effective in teaching the players proper techniques? Possibly, but it sure doesn’t work at Columbia.

Under Marino, key players like M.A. Olawale and Sean Brackett were bullied and attacked so fiercely in practice that it clearly affected their play in a negative way. Brackett was tougher than Olawale when it came to standing up to Marino, but the end result is that two team leaders were so torn down by the coaching staff that their ability to really lead was lost.

Under Mangurian, we have even more stark proof of how bullying is making the team technique worse. Have any of you ever seen more dropped passes, missed blocks, and bad fundamental pass coverage? If you have, I really pity you.

And it gets worse, I know of at least four players last year who needed to be treated for depression after enduring the punishment from Mangurian all season long. And you can’t say these were weak kids, they all came from high school programs with very tough coaches. It’s just that Mangurian’s bullying never seemed to fulfill a purpose other than maybe to get players to quit, (see above).

3)      Bullies Don’t Heal

In what is probably the most egregious example of fruitless bullying, Mangurian has pressured some injured players, (the ones he doesn’t want to quit), to keep playing and even not report their injuries to the trainers and medical staff. One player in 2012 who was possibly our #1 rated recruit, had a very serious injury and just could not play despite Mangurian’s threats and pressure. He eventually quit the team. Another star freshman player had a less serious, but still debilitating injury and Mangurian nevertheless pressured him to get back on the field. He did not play again anyway and now he’s off the team as well.

Injuries are frustrating and I realize that some players can be motivated to rehab and get back on the field faster, but Mangurian can’t get that done by bullying. Not here.

4)      Bullies Can’t do P.R.

Whether it’s erratic and hateful comments in postgame press conferences, or quotes in the school paper complaining about alumni negativity, Pete Mangurian apparently can’t turn the “bully button” off when practice and the games are over. In case he and Murphy haven’t noticed, Columbia Athletics needs a real P.R. boost  with the alumni, the existing student body, and the local Manhattan neighborhood.  Mangurian is failing miserably at this, and it’s not just because the team is losing so badly. Plenty of coaches of losing teams have played the P.R. game well and made themselves liked by the news media and even the fans during dry spells. That’s not happening here and it’s because Mangurian can’t stop being a bully no matter what.

How to Beat a Bully

If you’re a parent of school aged kids like I am, you’ve probably been inundated recently with printed material filled with a bunch of “anti-bullying” initiatives. Frankly, they all make me laugh. You can’t stop bullying by telling kids not to be bullies.

You stop bullying by teaching your kids how to STAND UP to bullies. It’s like arming a previously unarmed crowd; the bullies won’t stop existing but they will get out of your face.

If you think this past season, with the 0-10 record and the horrific stats were bad, just wait until you see what another year of Mangurian bullying will produce at Columbia.

This has to stop. I understand some people think it would be better if we all just shut up and let Pete have another year, but that just makes no sense. Being quiet will not make this situation even the slightest bit better.

Let’s not give up or be quiet. Let’s stand up to the bullies Mangurian and Murphy and not give in.