Give the People What they Want

Al Paul

The last three athletic directors at Columbia University have been Al Paul, John Reeves and Dianne Murphy.

It goes without saying that no amount of alumni or fans ever clamored for the hiring of any of these people. That doesn’t mean that their lack of popularity had anything to do with their well-documented failures, but it does mean that there’s ample evidence that the administration at Columbia has never taken a flyer on a fan or alumni favorite when it comes to filling this crucial job.

As far as the head football coaching position, the last time a fan/alumni favorite got that job at Columbia was when Bill Campbell was hired in 1974.

I know the conventional wisdom is that Campbell was not a success at Columbia, but that’s not really fair. His 1976 and 1978 teams were competitive during a time when Columbia, NYC, and Morningside Heights might as well have been Siberia. If Campbell had been able to ride out the storm of the late 70’s and remain through the city’s and the university’s financial and cultural rejuvenation in the 80’s, the story may have been very different.

But that’s not the main point. The point is since Campbell left the job in 1979, Columbia has hired no less than SEVEN COACHES who weren’t fan favorites and weren’t even on any real fan’s radar!

Here’s the list of those seven coaches just to prove the point: Bob Naso, Jim Garrett, Larry McElreavy, Ray Tellier, Bob Shoop, Norries Wilson, and Pete Mangurian.

Bob Naso

Sure, some fans and alums liked and supported the seven names above once they surfaced as candidates for the job. But none of them, not one, was someone fans/alums organically wished or lobbied for at all.

And that’s what makes the “we’ve tried everything and nothing’s worked” narrative we often hear from the administration so infuriating.

The fact is no they HAVEN’T EVER done what the fans have asked for when it comes to hiring. And it shows. Not every choice of the people is going to be a success of course. In fact, maybe most of them won’t. But never going with the people’s choice and failing every time sends a strong message and that message is: “Screw You.”

I suspect the evaluation of the football program just completed yesterday by Rick Taylor will go further to destroy the administration’s “we’ve tried everything” narrative. But just in case anyone is confused, remember that in the coaching and AD hirings alone, that narrative is ridiculous on its face.

Now I don’t pretend to represent most of the fans/alums. But I can tell you this: every serious fan, committed alum, and even the Columbia employees I have spoken to over the last few weeks believes Tim Pernetti would be a slam dunk excellent choice for Athletic Director.

And every serious fan, committed alum, and even the Columbia employees I have spoken to over the last few weeks believes that Joe Moglia or Tom Gilmore would be a slam dunk excellent choice for head football coach.

Does that mean we’re 100% right? Of course, no one can know that.

John Reeves

Still, I feel very confident saying that Pernetti and Moglia/Gilmore are solid fan choices that Columbia should pursue seriously and do it now. If the university does not pursue them and once again presents us with two hires for those jobs that no fan has ever even considered or supported, then let the record show that the onus for any failures by those hires is once again squarely on the shoulders of the administration and not due to “fan pressures.”

There are many other strong names to consider for these positions, and I’ve named them on this blog over the last few months. So, I don’t want to make this solely about Pernetti, Moglia,and Gilmore.

But after 53 years of football futility and 46 years without an Ivy title in basketball, it’s time for this administration to stop acting like it knows better than the fans, better than the alumni, or better than anyone.

Give us what we want for once, and then you can start acting like you know better.