A Kafkaesque Lesson for Jon Poppe

Everyone who knows new Columbia Head Coach Jon Poppe also knows he's a very energetic man on a mission. I'm excited to see what his energy and experience will produce for the Lions in the years to come. 

But one of the things Poppe is going to face, like every CU head coach before him, is a chorus of naysayers and scolds who stand in the way of any new approaches and even calculated risk-taking.

I know this is a football blog, but it's also an IVY LEAGUE football blog so I ask you to indulge me as I use a hardcore literary reference to make my point. 

One of the most important works for any goal-oriented person to read is the short story "Before the Law" from Franz Kafka's book, The Trial. 

I'm sorry if I spoil the story now by saying that it is an elegant narrative explaining how we often handcuff ourselves by listening to the naysayers and scolds in life who are either ignorantly or intentionally providing us with incorrect advice. These are the voices who play a huge role in impeding bold changes, even for the people or organizations who most need that change.

As I've been saying here all year, Columbia Football is not in need of a significant rebuild thanks to what Al Bagnoli, Peter Pilling, and many others have achieved over the last eight years. But there is still bold innovation needed, especially when it comes to Columbia's current recruiting needs in the context of all the new rules in place for college football. 

To be more specific: COLUMBIA NEEDS TO BRING IN A QB!!! And Poppe is going to need to ignore any weak-minded or weak-willed naysayers who may discourage him from taking some bold steps in the face of that need. 

For example, you know there are going to be people who tell Poppe NOT to aggressively explore the transfer portal, NOT to scour the country for guys with preferred walk-on offers from bigger programs, etc. 

One prime example of the former is a recent Cardinal Hayes grad who got offers from Princeton and other Ivies, chose an ACC program instead, but is now in the transfer portal. I can just hear the usual naysayers telling Poppe not to bother with someone who already rejected the Ivies in the past. That's baloney of course. 

All head football coaching jobs are hard, but it isn't the workload that waters down the passion of obviously passionate coaches like Jon Poppe. Like a challenging workout, he'll likely be even more energized by that work. 

I also don't think he'll be overly discouraged by honest criticism of what happens on the field, whether it comes from the fans or anyone else. 

But our job as fans is to make sure those discouraging, scolding, and narrow-minded voices stay as far away from Poppe as we can keep them.