Opening it Up and another 2023 Commit

After a quiet summer because of a key staffing change, the football communications team has been offering up a nice bit of video and other material on the athletics website and on social media for the last few days.

On Twitter, I've like the short intros the team is posting to showcase the new players. So far, QB A.J. Simpkins, TE Stryker Leschber, and DB Jayden Marshall have had a chance to introduce themselves. 

I also thought the first real recap video posted on the athletics site, with on-camera comments from Head Coach Al Bagnoli, QB Joe Green, and LB C.J. Brown, was excellent, (but I couldn't catch which defensive player was on crutches walking behind Brown during the beginning of his comments. Anyone catch it?).

David Garland

Surprise Addition

Scrolling through the roster this morning, I noticed very intriguing new name: 6-2 230 pound Freshman DL David Garland from Glendale HS in Springfield, MO. Garland is obviously a walk-on, but he's no ordinary walk-on or freshman. He's actually less than two months shy of his 27th birthday, enrolling in the School of General Studies after a seven and a half year stint in the U.S. Navy. 

Garland was a all-conference DE his senior year in 2014. It's not clear what kind of recruiting interest he had. He is the first Glendale grad to join Columbia Football. Whether Garland ever sees the field for the Lions or not, he really seems like a great story. 

Columbia Athletics was the beneficiary of a veteran who came to college at about the same age as Garland is now. That was baseball slugger Joey Falcone '15 who helped the Lions win the Ivy title his senior year. 

5-11 175 pound DB Levi Robins from Saguaro HS in Scottsdale, AZ has committed to the Lions. Robins also had an offer from Yale. 

Robins will be the first Saguaro HS grad to come to Columbia Football.

So our unofficial commit list is up to 15 names:

1) Qwincy Amos 5"11 170 lbs. DB Warren HS San Antonio, TX

2) Terell Battle 6"3 190 lbs. Mountain View HS, Lawrenceville, GA

3) Jaylen Carter 6"0 180 lbs. Taft School Watertown, CT

4) Christian Carti WR 6"1 190 lbs. Bergen Catholic HS Oradell, NJ

5) AJ George LB/RB 6"2 190 lbs. Ottawa Hills HS Toledo, OH 

6) Chase Goodwin QB 6"2 200 lbs. Memorial HS Houston, TX

7) Quinn Herlihy DL/LB 6"3 238 lbs. Cheshire Academy/Shrewsbury HS Worchester, MA

8) Jaden Hinton OL/DL 6"3 300 lbs. Ames HS South Easton, MA

9) Baily Kornegay-Douhadji DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Sharpsburg, GA

10) Keelan Kornegay DE 6"3 230 lbs. East Caweta HS Shapsburg, GA

11) Braeden Marceau-Olayinka DL/OL 6"3 262 lbs. Melrose HS Melrose, MA 

12) Mikey Nabbout DE/TE 6"3 245 lbs. St. John's Prep Danvers, MA 

13) Chase Newton WR/DB 6"3 195 lbs. Walter Payton Prep Chicago, IL

14) Levi Robins DB 5"11 175 lbs. Saguaro HS Scottsdale, AZ

15) Nik Winzer OL/DL 6"6 285 lbs. Matawan Regional HS Matawan, NJ