The night of October 18, 2022 was a multi-year low point for Columbia Football.
The Lions had just been mauled 41-16 at home by Yale on national TV. Neither the offense nor the defense had performed consistently. The season, and the program seemed lost.
But what happened over the next three weeks, against three very different opponents, changed both the final results for the 2022 and the program's outlook for the future.
It started with an improbable 21-20 win over Harvard at Harvard Stadium, the first Lion win over Crimson on the road since 1995. While the offense performed well in the clutch during that game, it was the Columbia defense and special teams that was most impressive.
You can read the full summary of the game here, but the emotional highs and lows of that game clearly lit a fire back under the Lions that lasted for the rest of the season.
It was also a crucial coming out game for some younger Lions, especially linebackers Jack Smiechowski and Anthony Roussos.
The following week, it was the offense that reigned supreme as the defense had its hands full with Brown's very potent offense.
The 31-24 win in overtime was the best performance of the year for QB Caden Bell, who punctuated it with a winning TD pass in the face of a pass rusher that he knew would clobber him as soon as he let the ball go. Bell earned the right to come back in 2023 as the starter that day.
The last game of the season was a needed 45-22 blowout win over Cornell. Sadly, the offensive line that totally dominated that game will be mostly gone due to graduation this coming season.
Columbia's other three wins in 2022, all against non-conference teams, were blowouts that made us feel good as fans but did not come close to what the Lions did during this three-game season ending streak.
Since the season ended 12 weeks ago, we've learned of three more good developments:
1) Al Bagnoli is coming back as head coach for next year
2) Caden Bell will return next year for his "COVID 5th Year" option
3) A pretty strong incoming freshman class has been "signed."
It would appear the biggest challenge will obviously be replacing all the graduation losses on the offensive line. That's a very tall order, but stranger things have happened.
31 comments:
Jake, I think you are not giving a presumably healthy Joe Green his due. In his Penn years al frequently used two QBs. Unless you have information which I am unaware of I assume Joe Green will not give up a starting role without a battle.
In those last three games, Giorgi showed he too has what it takes to lead a winning Ivy team. As did the coxhing staff. Columbia has something now I never remember it having since I started following the team in my freahman year at the College (1974): depth. There's going to be some great competition for playing time next year.
Caden Bell coming back is exactly what we need - a good 'ol fashioned QB competition. Best man wins. I give it 50/50 shot we see Bell or Green take the field week 1. Competition breeds excellence
That being said, the odds would tell us both will see significant time this season and both need to prepare like the starter every week
I think that a third QB should get significant pt too..I don't get why First Year players, if they merit it, don't play more... Bagnoli seems reluctant to dip into)the new talent pool.( I anticipate the argument that they aren't ready physically.)Don't sweat the OL, we have tons to chose from, it's the D line that needs some beef eaters.
I'm glad to hear that Bell's coming back. I would say that the onus is on Green to show why he should start. Last year he looked nothing like his former self (I know he was hurt), but I personally think Bell's case to start -- based on better play more recently than Green -- is stronger. As others have said, competition breeds excellence, and I'm very much looking forward to football season. Our team is going to be tough, and here's to hoping we can start to make the move to the top tier of the Ivies.
As for men's basketball, it was another biff this weekend. We gave up 58 in the second half and let Yale put up 99 points. How Engles is still employed is beyond me. Basically the whole league is happy we're as bad as we are because in every game against us, victory is virtually assured for the opponent. I'm glad that's no longer the case in football, as things were pretty bleak during those Mangurian years in the wilderness. Not sure why I didn't realize it sooner, but Engles is the (more mild-mannered) basketball equivalent of Mango.
There is a story being circulated that a late supporter of the MBB program gave a huge gift to MBB with a string—that Engles would keep his job for some unspecified and indefinite period. Pilling and Schiller seem wedded to Engles. Those of us who follow MBB are profoundly disheartened by this fiasco and have stopped following the team. Of course this is year 7 of the disastrous reign of Engles, yet most of us expect him to be back for year 8–because he has some big men coming in, some/all of the first years have real potential, etc. All I can say is that nobody other than Pilling and Schiller know the real reason why we stay with Engles.
justin townawnd doesn't need more beef. he's already a monster, ready to tear up the league. if we keep getting NJ talent like that, something Bags specilized in while at Penn, we're going to be just fine.
Regarding the young LBs, Smiechowski looks more like a candidate for strong safety than LB; Roussos was a junior last year, so unless he has a redshirt year he only has one more year. And as far as Green, I understand that even before he went down for the season he was nursing a bad shoulder. He was ROY when healthy, so I would not count him out.
I am starting to believe it's time for Pilling to retire as well as Engles
Apparently, there is a Columbia Alumnus on the Ivy League Football Board who is contending that the direction of the Columbia Men's Basketball Program has been taken out of the hands of the President of the University, the Columbia University Trustees and the Athletic Director by a single alumnus named Gerald Sherwin who passed away last year. According to this person, Mr. Sherwin liked Coach Engles so very much that he bestowed upon the Columbia Men's Basketball Program, a considerable amount of money by some form of will, or other form of legacy, including possibly a trust, Furthermore, the gentlemen claims that the bequest was conditioned upon Columbia's agreement to allow its Men's Basketball Coach to remain as the head coach as long he wishes. Such bequest,at first glance, would appear to be totally improper and probably illegal for many reasons, but presumably was approved by the University's Trustees upon the advice of legal counsel to the University. Since all of the circumstances around this alleged bestowal are unknown it is just impossible for anyone to respond objectively. Of course, if what the gentleman is saying has any truth to it, and there is a legal problem with the Sherwin Gift, the Columbia Administration is going to have some explaining to do. Aside from the Sherwn Gift, the Gentleman is also contending that despite Coach Engles remarkably bad won-loss record the last seven years at Columbia the current players on the team are satisfied with him and his coaching staff and that he has two firm commitments from a pair of big, talented players. I am not sure where all this going
I gave up years ago on Engles, Sherwin's purported largesse notwithstanding.
Of grave import is the ongoing silence of Bollinger, the Trustees, and top administrators about what they know, or should have known, about the Columbia Data Scandal that has been reported to have lasted a decade or more. Every additional day of silence compounds this ignominy. Those who are complicit have betrayed all alumni of Columbia and will destroy it over time.
My only solace is that I received my B.A. degree in 1966 decades before this infamy occurred.
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
Dline should be fine. 6 of 8 on depth chart return. One frosh played a lot last year with another making travel squad by end of season
Imho the aggressive, penetrating technique now employed forces offenses to stay on combo blocks longer which enables smaller, quicker linebackers to play well behind them. Getting more speed and quickness on the field should be the priority
Btw all juniors on last year’s roster have a “covid” year and can play in fall ‘25 season so long as they dont finish their degree ( take either spring ‘23 or spring ‘24 semester off). Not saying they all will but it is generally available for them as their first semester was fal ‘20
The claim about Sherwin's holding the university hostage seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
But I really have no details on the matter, and I suppose stranger things have happened. Still, on the face of it, I'd give it about a 1% chance of being true.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so I'm afraid I'm going to need more than Valmas' assertions to convince me. Maybe I'll write to Pilling and ask why Engles hasn't been fired yet.
The Engles controversy has raged here and on the Ivy Voy Forum, the latter ostensibly for football, but, especially in the off-season, veering onto other Ivy sports.
I find the claim that a single alumnus, no matter how loyal, insightful, generous, wealthy or "inside" the institution, could pull off such a maneuver as to have a coach installed for life, improbable. It just doesn't make business or legal sense. Something else has to be afoot.
Anonymous, why not inquire of Pilling? In fact, of all these opiners, here and on the other board, has anybody had a direct discussion with the AD on the matter? Surely there are members of the men's BB Alumni Advisory Council who are disgruntled and want to know WTF?
And, is there a CU BB forum, ala Jake's blog, where the outraged could rise up in righteous umbrage (as they did when saddled with Mangurian) and maybe focus the dialogue back toward the AD, the President, and the University Trustees?
Let's pull a New Mexico State and disband men's hoop! Jake, can you contact Bollinger, ask for a sit down with Pilling, CONTACT THE NEW YORK TIMES and tell them what is going on... How about an investigation by them AND a front sports page result? Times knows how to get it done! In fact alert all the NYC papers about the situation .... This has been going on too long!
I never knew Sherwin, may he rest in peace, but he used to sit at the end of the bench as if he were a member of the coaching staff decked out in business attire for as long as I can remember. That alone always struck me as an incredible breach of decorum but was deemed to be sacrosanct. In several obituaries which were published when he passed last year it was noted that Columbia was his family and that he had enjoyed incredible success in the business world. In addition, he never married and as I recall his only heir was a sister. Normally large bequests are a matter of public record. Sherwin was I believe a resident of NYC and accordingly his will should have been probated in Surrogate’s Court in Manhattan. So if anybody wants to get to the bottom of this a little sleuthing goes a long way. As far as the Tod Hawks comments about the USNWR fiasco, you can assume that no explanation wil;l ever be forthcoming. The board of trustees was under Bollinger’s thumb, to the detriment of the College in my opinion. A university president should be in office between 8 and 10 years at most. Bollinger assumed king-like powers by staying for 21 years, supposedly because of his national stature and his fund-raising prowess. All of that may be true, but it should not be a lifetime job. So if some sort of bizarre deal was made with Sherwin, it would disappoint but not shock me.
Given what Mr. Valmas is coming up with now about Jerry Sherwin"s "gift with strings attached,", one must question whether any other possible improprieties might have occurred earlier in Coach Engles tenure. I certainly hope not. However, I do remember that a couple of Engles pre-Covid recruits struck me as highly questionable and they never did see much playing time at Columbia. So, let's not dismiss Mr. Valmas' assertions until all the relevent facts come out and show what actually happened, and that nothing inappropriate occurred. At this time, it appears as if we Columbians owe Mr. Valmas our deep appreciation for his revelations.
MBB has been flaky for a long time. Ever since they opted to hire Joe Jones, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wanted the job.
We all focus on the fact that FB has not won a title since 1961, well guess what, the last Ivy title MBB won was in 1968.
People also seem to forget that in 2002-2003 neither FB nor MBB won an Ivy League contest. There just not seem to be the passion needed to make the requisite changes to MBB. Unfortunately, the success of WBB takes the heat off of MBB.
The Columbia Men's Basketball Fiasco appears to be another time bomb ready to explode in a manner similar to what was described on this Board by Tod Howard Hawks as the "Columbia Data Scandal." President Bollinger is having a rough final year as Columbia's lame duck president allowing the fires to burn. Now he may have to deal with an embarrassing "pay to coach" scandal the likes of which may not have been seen before.
Bollinger’s “rough final year” has not had an adverse impact on his compensation. He is being paid a king’s ransom in salary and deferred compensation and just bought a CPW coop.
Instead of some of the drivel which appears in Spec, they should be investigating Bollinger’s comp, the USNWR fiasco and the Sherwin gift. Any other Ivy campus newspaper would be all over these issues.
I was acquainted with Jerry for many years, although I certainly can't pretend to have been a personal friend. I do, however, have some experience re arranging non-athletic endowments to support specific activities at two Ivies. The claims or insinuations, whatever they pretend to be, about Jerry and the basketball program have the same level of credibility as the claims/rumors about Pizzagate had.
Dr. V
The fiasco which has been MBB is more than a recent occurrence. I would love to hear the excuses why it is impossible to have a winning program. The famous lament that the practice field is an half hour ride away, does not apply. Granted our facility is not Jadwin, but what other Ivy program has a spectacular arena? Since Columbia last won a title in ‘67/68, even Brown has won a title. Cornell has managed to win four in that same span. There will likely be someone who will remind us that Dartmouth’s last title was in ‘58/59. Hanover is not exactly the hotbed of hoops, but New York City is. What gives?
It’s almost worse to learn that the dismal state of MBB is not attributable to a bequest with strings. The conclusion to be drawn therefore is that the administration has continued to ride with Engles because his lack of success is not his fault but is the culmination of a 7 year run of bad luck, bad timing, faithless recruits who left the program and presumably bad karma.
I very much agree. With no bizarre bequest in the mix, the logical conclusion is that Pilling et al. are in complete denial about the fact that Engles is an absolute train wreck of a coach. Unless there’s something else nefarious that is at play here (that none of us knows about), I don’t see any other explanation. All of which is to say that Engles appears to have been given the ultimate gift in terms of a consequence-free coaching post. Enjoy any and all potential success (none so far) while suffering zero consequences for failure in terms of employment status. Of course there are a myriad of other consequences, mostly for other parties—including players, alums, fans, and so on. And those of us not drinking the administration’s Kool Aid know that Engles has done an absolutely abysmal job. But still, he’s probably laughing all the way to the bank.
Assuming that there is a Sherwin will, restricting the university from firing Engles, let's have a legal analysis...The will of the testator is of paramount legal importance and is usually upheld. HOWEVER, not always. (See the Barnes Battle in Philadelphia wherein Dr. Barnes sought to keep his art collection in his home.) In the Sherwin case, in which we have no facts, as of yet, PUBLIC POLICY violation might be an issue. Let's get someone to flush out the facts.
Really!
This is all stuff and nonsense until somebody has a direct conversation, and gets a direct attributable quote from the AD.
C'mon fellas!
Cmawn Spuyten, That's what flushing out the facts means!
LATE BREAKING NEWS-new FB commit WR/DB Ethan Fullerton from LA, sub 11 100 meters
Puhleeze!
I remain mystified as to all this talk, and no one seems to have spoken to anyone within the administration. I am not a close follower the MBB, but it is certainly concerning when the facts speak so plainly that the ship has not been righted. I don't have the kind of standing, frankly, to approach someone in the administration about this, but I would assume some one of the vociferous complainers does or knows someone who does. It seems so obvious.
So why no direct conversations?
Until then, you are howling at the wind.
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