The latest online edition of Harvard Magazine continues the recent hand-wringing in Cambridge over the hiring of Andrew Aurich as the new football head coach.
It also contains this gem of a comment, Lions fans will love:
"On February 11, the Harvard Crimson published a scathing critique of the choice. Passed over (among others) were internal candidates Joel Lamb ’93, who was Murphy’s assistant head coach-quarterbacks, and Scott Larkee ’99, assistant head coach-defensive coordinator and linebackers. (Another onetime potential choice, former assistant coach and special teams wizard Jon Poppe, is the new head coach at Columbia. Watch for the Lions to get good, and fast.)"
We'll see.
232 comments:
1 – 200 of 232 Newer› Newest»Thanks for posting, Jake. Can’t wait!
This Aurich cat sounds a little like Mango. Just me?
What kind of offense did Jon run at Union, and has he given an indication of what he is going to run at Columbia? I imagine the defensive schemes will stay the same with coach Stovall in place.
Wishbone
Anybody know the status of Arop Arop?
170 pounds
You mean he's too thin to play at all? Is that official? He looked pretty good when he was in there.
Our defense is going to be nasty!! Can’t wait to see them bring it. And the offense is going to be scoring points and will be one of the better offenses in the league.
I must say I'm jazzed about the Jon Poppe hire. Certainly the right guy at the right time. Kudos to Peter Pilling for an inspired hire. Thankfully we grabbed him before the Crimson did. Given his age and his enthusiasm for and ties to Columbia, this could be the beginning of a golden age for Lions football.
If Arop Arop can help the team, then Engles won’t play him. If he can’t, then Engles will play him. It’s really that simple. I’m looking forward to getting a new basketball coach next year. And can’t wait for football!
Can we trade Engles for Pitino? Meanwhile, Kyle Smith is coaching Washington State University to new heights and is a strong candidate for National Coach of the Year.
If Columbia Football is wishing "Happy Birthday" to a senior in the Transfer Portal is that an indication that the player has decided to remain a Lion?
No it is not
WSU took down Arizona last night. Meanwhile, Engles on his way to finishing 4-10 with a team that my fish could go 7-7 with. I’ve never seen a coach so fantastically skilled at losing. He’s gotta be gone after this season.
Fire Engles.
I really doubt your "fish" could go 7-7 with the current team unless you are suggesting metaphorically speaking that the Mafia is somehow involved in the Athletic Department's very strange decision to retain Coach Engles seemingly forever.
Engles has already won four Ivy League games this year which is equal to the total number of games won by him the last three years. Columbia probably will defeat Penn and end up with a 5-9 record that should earn him a contract extension and a big fat pay raise.
You’re right—the team would be 8-6 with my fish at the helm.
We won’t win another game. Engles sucks.
Last night we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, shortly after we basically destroyed Brown on its home court. So Martin had a plan which he employed last night, but after taking a late lead guess what happened to us? Fabish is run out of town after one 3-7 season (not revisiting that decision, and am thrilled with Poppe), but Pilling has let us suffer through8 seasons of awful basketball.
Very disappointing. 3-19 from three, 9-15 from the line. Good luck to WBB today in sold out Levien.
Congrats to the lady Lions ona tremendous win against an excellent Princeton team, 67-65, which came down to the last shot.
Lady Lions! Abbey Hsu was awesome! Engles still sucks.
What a contrast between WBB and MBB—for MBB we are always competitive but just cannot close out games.
MBB cannot close out games because there is no coaching leadership or skills evident on the sidelines. It is common knowledge that Coach Engles lacks the requisite skills to be successful as an Ivy League Basketball Coach. He is neither a good game coach nor motivator in a sport where such coaching skills are absolutely critical to team success. That is painfully evident on the record and will never change unless somehow Columbia MBB is able to recruit and retain much better players than its opponents.
One of the great mysteries is why Engles, who actually seems like a decent guy, manages to keep his job. I suppose that after the end of this season Pilling will point to the fact that we were better this year than last. That’s both true and irrelevant. I’ll be that Meg G would have coached the men’s team to a better record than Jim.
Anyone aware of a situation where a successful women’s coach was handed the reins of the men’s program at same school?
Anyone aware of a situation where a successful women’s coach was handed the reins of the men’s program at same school?
Huh? LOL
Well everybody here seems to think men’s coach is terrible and women’s coach is a true coaching talent. Keeping her long term will be a challenge. I dont know if there is parity between the 2 positions but if not might be a creative way to solve a problem
Perhaps too threatening for some. But the Columbia faithful who circulate here have put forth far sillier ideas
Salary parity that is
Have we closed recruiting for the incoming class? And what is the status of the seniors who entered the Transfer Portal? Finally, do we have anything further on what type of offense we will be using. One recent poster mentioned "wishbone."
Coach’s letter from a week or two ago says recruiting is basically complete save for a couple of potential high end guys—that was before the QB from California committed.
I believe the number mentioned was 13 returning for 5 th year. Parker biggest departure on defense. Also Autry. I think Busby and Mills plan to graduate from among the offensive starters
Why would Meg take a worse job and wreck what she's built?
Money
The coaching challenge
Making history
Money
Pretty much what every hyper-competitive person would want in an opportunity.
You folks are very constrained in your thinking
The money isn't that much different after her raise. She'd also make a lot more parlaying her success into a bigger job. She'll have plenty of challenge keeping her team at the top of the league without Hsu.
I'm happy to read on the J-Blog last week that we have about 13 seniors returning with the intention of "making history" in Coach Poppe's veryv first year as our Commander-in-Chief. Any names would be appreciated as I plan to get really into Columbia Football this year given the enjoyment I have had watching our wonderful women basketball team this season. Let's start by asking for a simple "Yes" or "No" about two of our very best players--Anthony R and Joey G? Thank you.
What is the J blog?
Jake’s blog
Both are back for their 5th year
Looking for a bounce-back year for Canty. He he’s healthy he’s a difference maker.
Great news for sure that AR and JG are both returning for a fifth year. Thank you my man for the info. AR is an outstanding linebacker and the MVP of the team. JG is a terrific all-around running back who does everything well. The pieces are starting to fall into place nicely for the Lion offense. As the prior poster stated, wide receiver Bryson Canty is a difference maker if hE is healthy. Two years ago Canty was the only sophomore in the entire Ivy League who was selected as a First Team All-Ivy. It will be interesting to see what Coach Smith is planning in regards to the passing game. I assume he won't have Jenkins and Libman back, but Canty is tremendous and so is Stagg I have also heard that for the first time in awhile we have a couple of very athletic pass catchers at tight end.
We also had an excellent first year WR who was coming on last year. I assume he is back. We still need a power back.
You are probably thinking of the WR Titus Evans who impressed last season despite all the rain.
Ideally, our third running back behind Joey Giorgi and Malcolm Terry should be either a power back, or a fleet breakaway runner. Our incoming class does not appear to include any running backs so the coaching staff will need to search the existing roster for the third running back.
We have had some big LBs serve as third down short yardage backs in years past. And one big DE.
Now you guys are just taunting me to make some wiseass remark about baby gronk. But I am not gonna do it, wouldnt be prudent
Let Townsend run the rock. I believe he was a running back in HS
The Sanchez Era is here! Go Lions!
Enough with the nonsense please. Serious question - whatever happened with John Martin? Lineman who had offers from Alabama, Notre Dame and Texas AM.
My understanding is that after coming to Columbia Martin trimmed down from his high school weight of 345 to 295 and was part of two deep at the end of last season. However, this is my view from the outside and would appreciate confirmation from an insider to the football program.
Several of our Ivy League opponents have already updated their rosters
to include biographical information on each returning player through the year 2023. Our Athletic Department has not done that yet. I wonder why?
Martin was on the two deep and played regularly all season. He was mostly used on obvious running downs.
Understaffed
Martin arrived as a first year at 375!!! Remarkable for him to remake himself; 295 is probably an optimal weight for him as a run stopper.
I just read John Martin's biographical profile on the Columbia Athletic Website. Martin is an impressive scholar-athlete from the Great State of Louisiana --Merit Scholar and top 50 football player in Louisiana where Football is King--and as the preceding anon just said, it is truly remarkable that he had the resolve to remake himself into a 295 pound defensive lineman after arriving on Morningside Heights at 375. In summary, I think we all would like to learn more about this interesting young man.
When you're that fat , you could skip a couple of cheeseburgers a week and get down to 295. I'm sure he's a good kid, but don't make him the face of Jenny Craig.
Think it is bad form to make disparaging remarks about individual players.
Agree. Jake should remove that dickhead's comment.
May I suggest that the person who made that anonymous post apologize immediately online to Mr. Martin for the insensitive nature of his remarks. I hope that such poster will refrain from making similar critical remarks of a personal nature in the future
I didn't find the comment is offensive. Do you want to make sure the blog is a safe space for weight challenged people?
I agree with the comments that Martin should not be dissed for transforming his body. And I hope that he makes all Ivy this year as an interior DL.
Calling someone “fat” is pretty unambiguously offensive.
Agreed. That person should be removed. Tell them to put their name out there. Not called for and I wish I knew their name.
If you call someone "fat" it may perhaps be hurtful, but saying someone was fat and lost 80 lbs is a big compliment. All the poster was trying to say was that its not too difficult to go from 375 to 295, which is true (I speak from personal experience). Its a football relevant comment. He could have been more artful in his wording, but he wasn't expecting a bunch of overweight old lineman to jump on him. Also, its unhealthy to be 375lbs and not worthwhile, even in the cause of winning football games. Lighten up fellas.
Jake, and Jake alone, certainly has the right to do whatever is necessary to enforce his Blog's rules. In the last few months, the Blog clearly has been infiltrated by one or more anonymous persons whose comments are quite different in substance and style from readers of this blog have been accustomed to throughout its long existence. Jake has been an incredible positive advocate for the Columbia Football Family and obviously has put thousands of hours of hard work into building the Blog into one of the most outstanding media outlets of its kind in the nation. For Jake it's clearly been a labor of love for Columbia Football. All of us who have benefitted from the existence of the Blog surely will support him in whatever action he takes to make certain that persons using his blog keep their comments respectful.
Didnt notice any of this handwringing over many unfair, uninformed and downright nasty comments about coaching last Fall.
Was Martin the highest rated recruit Columbia has ever had? Did not realize he had offers from Bama and ND
Probably
Any particular quotes you can adduce, or should we just take your word for it?
Shut up
As to “downright nasty comments about coaching”, players and students should be off limits when it comes to any derogatory comments. The coaches get paid. It is their job. When people in jobs do not deliver, they generally lose their employment. I can respect any student who carves out the time commitment for any sport, particularly at an academically demanding school, regardless of their success.
As to the criticism of the person who was the prior Head Coach, they brought that upon themselves. Waking up on third base, and thinking you hit a triple, or if you prefer, “the rooster thinking they make the sun rise” is not a recipe to get people to like you. Failing miserably in winnable games, repeatedly, does not help either.
To his defense, the circumstances, totally unexpectedly, , however real, under which he was “anointed” Head Coach, did not help many of us like him any more. The truth be known, the negative vibes had been emerging for at least the prior two years , owing to his predictable and unimaginative play calling.
There is a reason the windshield is so expansive and the rear view mirror is so small. We really should advance by looking forward.
Enough idolizing of the past head coach . Either way, bashing of any player, either directly or via some cryptic phraseology, needs to be off limits
Too many words here.
You forgot about the Engles exception.
Totally agree. Players should be off limits. Only those who have played before in the Ivies have no idea the commitment that these young men put in athletically and academically
I totally agree with the prior poster's comments. Jake needs to take whatever steps he wishes to rid the Blog of persons who bash any Columbia Football player either directly or indirectly.
Right on. Don’t bash the players. And what’s funny is that when asked for specific examples of “downright nasty comments” about Fabish, the anonymous poster could not provide any specific examples. Any allegations put forward without evidence can be dismissed just as easily.
Oh, the old “Engles exception.” Pilling has given Engles free reign, with zero accountability. The result? Yet another crappy season and a likely 4-10 finish in the conference. Zero .500 or better records overall (assuming we lose our last three games this year). Zero such records in conference. Zero bids to the Ivy postseason tournament. Fewer wins in conference over the last four years than what the top three teams already all have JUST THIS SEASON. Engles is beyond awful—I’d say he’s the worst basketball coach in the history of the Ivy League. What a stain on Pilling’s tenure.
Jake needs to ban the old columbia jagoffs too. Make for a much better experience
How about uninformed comments - the many who insisted fab didnt know what he was doing by playing Bell. How many practices did these low football IQ folks attend to come to their conclusion? Oh and pointing out silly comments here is not the same as giving prior staff a complete pass. You nitwits just cant take folks pointing out you do not know what you are talking about.
Now go back to fixating on who the next great player will be based on height/weight
Maybe Jake should hire a retired KGB agent to monitor this blog and remove anyone that offends. Here are the rules: mercilessly rip coaches, but don't even insinuate that a particular player may be out of shape.
If you think earlier comments on this blog amount to a “merciless ripping” of the coaches, how fragile are you? 3-7 with the team we had didn’t cut it—it’s as simple as that and cannot be sugarcoated. Fabish was awful, and yes, removing the interim tag after a season like that would have been the same as giving the coach carte blanche. If you want to answer or silence the critics, just win, baby. Fabish couldn’t do it, so now we have someone who can. Go Poppe!
Just win, baby!
Poppe 10-0 or 9-1. Anything less is total failure.
Fabish biffed it. Get over it.
Ivy Champs! It's Our Time!
Another dispiriting MBB loss; another crummy season about to go in the books. I have to believe that Engles just cannot put a winning team on the court. Pilling will say that we were better this year than last. I suppose that’s true insofar as we aaren’t getting blown out. But so what?
I agree. Sanchez > Mahomes
Coach Engles record as Columbia's Head Men's Basketball Coach is as follows:
Year Ivy League Games Overall
2017-18. 5-9 8-19
2018-19. 5-9 10-18
2019-20. 1-13. 6-24
2021-22. 1-13. 4-22
2022-23. 2-12 7-22
2023-24. 4-8 13-12
TOTALS: 18-64 *48-117 Note:2 Games remain
* Includes "wins" over non-Division I opponents
** Based on information on Columbia Athletic Department Website except website does not list totals
You forgot his first season, 2016-17, when the team was 11-16 overall and 5-9 in the IL. Not very different from the current campaign, and more evidence that Engles is not a winner.
At Columbia, an overall record of 59-133 (.307), and 23-73 (.239) in the IL. Basically, the guys wins less than 1 game out of every 4 in conference and about 3 out of every 10 overall. Being this crappy is a special skill.
In his first season Engles inherited Mike Smith, a Kyle Smith recruit, and Luke Petresak. He also had a decent couple of reserves from the Smith era. He has been an unmitigated disaster as a recruiter. Seems like a nice enough guy with 0 charisma.
Engles is awful. Worst basketball coach in the history of the Ivy League.
Columbia Men Basketball lost to Penn tonight by 12 points 84-72 at the Palestra to fall to 4-9 in the Ivy League with one game remaining. Columbia will probably finish the season in sole possession of sixth place ahead of Penn, in seventh, with Dartmouth last.
So Engles will probably only get a 5 year extension; had he slipped into 4th place he would have gotten 10 years!!! What a travesty. Is this on famed basketball guru Jon Schiller? Or on the ghost of Gerry Sherwin? Or both? Do we need a Mangurian type disaster to rid ourselves of this train wreck? Or will Pilling ride Meg’s coattails to avoid dealing with Engles? Doesn’t he see what WBB has done for morale? And what a decent MBB team could do?
I would say that AD Pilling has about two weeks to save the men's basketball program from falling apart before the inevitable transfers and decommits start taking place when the season ends. Why Pilling refuses to terminate one of the worst performing college coaches in the country is a mystery.
If Pilling doesn’t make a change after the Cornell game, he and Engles should both be sacked. No excuses.
Hopefully this coach (Engles) soon gets removed by the AD.
Bench press- leading the Lions in strength testing is Malcolm Terry II. As posted today this RB benched 430!!!! Incredible number for a RB
All signs point to Malcolm Terry having a huge role in the Lions new offensive scheme. There are no running backs in the incoming class and only four running backs including Terry listed on the 2024 Roster. Terry is also our only running back with significant varsity experience. Someone on this Board posted a week or two ago that Joey Giorgi will be returning next season, but Giorgi's name is not on the roster. If, Giorgi is returning, we will be set at running back with Giorgi and Terry as our top two backs. There also should be a good competition for the always important last rb position on the 3-deep. The Columbia rbs should benefit from having Coaches Smith and Tinsley on board as they each appear to have worked successfully with the rbs at their prior schools, Smith (Yale) Tinsley (Georgetown)
So what's happening with Columbia Men's Basketball. Has Pilling lined anyone up to replace Engles after the season finale Friday? Hopefully, he will duplicate what he did so successfully with our football program, i.e. quicking bringing in a terrific coach, namely Jon Poppe. There is no justification whatsoever for retaining Coach Engles
I am not sure coach Poppe will have the time to handle coaching duties for basket ball in addition to the football team
He's going to be too busy going 10-0, baby. Ivy League Champs!
This is very good analysis. Top notch.
Joey G is coming back for his final season.
The team is lock and load for next season. Just need the QB situation to be straightened out.
What is Cole Freeman's current status? Has he already transferred from Northwestern to Columbia, and if so, will we be seeing him this spring?
That's great news about Joey Giorgi. Having two senior running backs of the caliber of Giorgi and Malcolm Terry is a great way to start things going this spring.
If I remember correctly, wide receiver Evan Stagg looked terrific turning the corner in our final game of the season. He's a threat to go the distance whenever he gets the ball.
Sorry------"Edan Stagg!"
A desk chair would win more games than Engles.
Although not reported publicly, Poppe benched 450.
Tomorrow look for a huge upset in MBB as Cornell is looking past us. Last time we played them on the road without DLR and came close to the upset. Our seniors will want to go out on a high note. Engles has a great incoming class and some excellent young players, so there is no way that Engles gets canned.
Engles MUST go!!!! No chance we win tonight. Team will quit on Engles as every team of his ultimately does.
Sorry, meant no chance of an upset tomorrow afternoon.
Um, last time we played Cornell we lost by 12, and they hung 91 on us. You don’t get extra credit for keeping it close for most of the game. When they put up a hundred on us on Saturday, should we talk about how “we were in the game for a while”? Pilling must show some backbone and fire Engles, and I’m confident he will. 4-10 in Ivy play with this team is horrific. Sorry, I’m not swayed by the potential for a winning Ivy campaign in year 67 of Engles’ tenure. He’s awful, and if we keep him, it’ll be more of the same. This team should have gone 7-7 in conference this year. The fact that we were 4-9 (soon to be 4-10) speaks to how poorly coached we were, as we choked against Harvard (twice) and against Brown at home. Nor was losing by 12 to Penn a good look. Rest of the league is hoping and praying Engles doesn’t get fired because they want their built-in wins.
Whether or not Columbia upsets Cornell the fact is that Coach Jim Engles is one of the worst performing coaching in the country and should have been terminated by Pilling for cause years ago. Engles is a proven loser whose record at Columbia has been so very bad that it is beyond comprehension that he is still Columbia's head coach. Engles is an absolutely awful game coach who is completely overmatched when going up against other Division I Coach, particularly in the Ivy League. As far as recruiting goes, all but one of his classes has been a disaster. Yes, it does seem that the incoming class may be very good. However, during Engles tenure so many promising players have left the team for so many reasons, that it is hard to believe that it is not going to happen again if Engles is still around. Pilling just needs to hire immediately a good young coach like he did in football.
Amen!
OMG, a poster actually thinks we should retain one of the worst coaches in Ivy League History simply because someone on his coaching staff who knows how to recruit landed commitments from a few promising high school players. However, from past experience we all know that whoever plays for Engles eventually transfers to Michigan, St. Joseph's, Xavier, Howard or another school, or simply quits the program for one reason or another. Does anyone seriously believe that Engles is capable of suddenly figuring out how to keep everyone happy on a team that loses perpetually? The incoming class does appear to have two highly rated point guards. That's wonderful. But how is Engles going to get them to mesh with our two very good returning point guards who will both be juniors next year? A good new coach should be able to do that, but it will be a real challenge for Engles?
100% agree. And there is no doubt in my mind that Engles is the worst basketball coach in the history of the Ivy League.
Is there an explanation for why Engles has been retained? Is it the rumor of a Gerry Sherwin bequest which requires the retention of Engles? Is it because Jon Schiller is actually running the program and likes the job Engles is doing? Is it because we are locked into a long term deal?
"For cause"? Explain.
3 transfers total
No
Malcolm Terry II, the strongest LIon, posted the best squat on them team at 610 pounds. That’s on top of his team best 435 pound bench and his team best vertical jump. He should be a beast this season. Great numbers also posted by LB Jack S.
How do his numbers compare to last year?
610 for squat is insane
Insane in the membrane, insane in the brain.
Could Martin play OL? Could be another Baby Gronk?
Too late for that switch. Oline is very difficult to pick up that quickly (even though that is where he played in hs). Going oline to dline is much more doable
Martin isn’t switching positions that’s just ridiculous.
No more “Baby Gronk” references please. And Martin should stay as an interior DL.
Congratulations to the Columbia Women's Basketball Team o their clinching their second straight Ivy League Title with their convincing win over Cornell today. Good Luck to them in the Ivy League Tournament that starts next weekend.
Strange that the seedings for the Women's Basketball Tournament are based upon an analytical tool known as the "NET" that is clearly biased by definition in favor of one school, Princeton. Last year the NET was used unfairly by the NCAA to keep Columbia out of the NCAA Tournament. Now, it is being also used to give Princeton the first seed in the Ivy League Tournament. That means Princeton plays fourth seeded Penn while Columbia has to deal with a much stronger third seed Harvard Team. The NET is based on strength of schedule and other factors that have nothing to do with how the Ivy League schools did against one another. Columbia should defeated Princeton in its second game against Princeton. That alone should entitle to the first seed in the Tournament. I hope our AD, Pilling, complains vocally about this.
You're an idiot
Was hoping since he’s gone, baby gronk bs would stop. So very tiresome.
Congrats to WBB team. These young women are just outstanding. You can sense the team attitude, athleticism and leadership. Much credit goes to Coach G. She’s the motivation and the glue. She built the squad from the ground up to a nationally respected program. Could well be the best HC in women’s BB ever!
Only a very small and insignificant person resorts to personal insults
The rules have been in place for years. The .Net rankings are well-known and similar to Ken Pom. The idea that an AD would now complain is idiotic.
Why would you call someone an "idiot" on a Columbia Sports Board who agrees with Columbia Coach Griffith's contention last year that the NCAA Committee made a mistake last year in using the "NET" to keep Columbia out of the NCAA Tournament. One year later, everyone seems to agree with her that a Columbia Team that took Kansas to the Finals of the NIT Tournament should have received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Likewise, just because "The.Net rankings are well-known and similar to Ken Pom." doesn't mean that they should be used in determining seedings for this year's Ivy League Tournament. Please understand that we are talking about the determination of seedings for a post-season basketball tournament. Obviously, the same issue exists in every conference in America that has a post-season tournament. Surely, you recognize that post-season tournament seedings are determined in numerous different ways related almost always to how the teams involved fared specifically against one another, or other teams within their particular league during the season, rather than by a general mathematical formula. Finally, do you really believe that any AD present or past actually reviewed and analysed the intracacies of the NET?
For our WBB team to beat Princeton Hsu will have to bring her A game; she was pretty much neutralized today by Cornell. On the MBB side, what can we say that hasn’t been said before? I am virtually certain that Pilling has no intention of replacing Engles.
Put it in the books: another losing season for Engles. This guy is the absolute worst, and no other Ivy would tolerate his incompetence. Except maybe Dartmouth, though certainly not for as long we have.
We have had 6 winning seasons since 1980.
The league uses the .Net rankings. That's it.
Princeton is ranked higher both by AP and Coaches poll.
Saban recruited Martin to play OL.
It is quite ridiculous that Princeton was ranked higher than Columbia in both polls the week FOLLOWING losing to Columbia!! Make this make sense!
The retention of coaches like Engles is a big part of the reason why.
Come-on!!!! Really?! They took the number three team in the country to the wire and beat a top twenty team. Columbia does not have a comparable resume this year. Winning the last head-to-head contest by a razor thin margin is not enough to make up for their entire non conference season.
Unrelated, what happened to all the girls that dropped off the basketball team this year. 20% of the team dropped off but not a word from sports information or Coach G.
Coaches like Engles? Most of those guys who struggled at Columbia found success elsewhere. Penders, Szoke, Jones and obviously Smith all did well elsewhere.
Meh. Penders coached at Columbia before the 80's (74-78). Wally Halas wasn't successful elsewhere; Armond Hill never had another head coaching job after Columbia and basically rode Doc Rivers' coattails; Jones has been up and down at BU and has never been a consistent winner like his brother. The one guy who has clearly been successful elsewhere is Smith.
To the poster who prefers Princeton's women's team to Columbia's, your statement that 20% of the team dropped of the roster without Coach Griffith commenting, is of course incorrect. She said on line TV last week that the two players who recently left the the team did so for personal reasons. Neither player had seen much playing time during their Columbia careers. Anyway, what is the point of your unjustified criticism of Coach Griffith, the most successful coach in Columbia Women's Basketball History? If you don't like her, why not try posting your hostile comments on a different Ivy League sports blog where you might find a women's basketball coach you like better.
You really believe that?
Penders, Szoke, Jones and Smith all somewhat successful but certainly more successful after they left Columbia. Smith was great but still 37-47 in league. You can't really say that those guys are bad coaches. It's certainly an interesting trend.
Yes, one should never be critical of a coach on this most serious forum.
Yes. Are you implying Saban did not offer him? Chose Columbia over offers from Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Alabama, Boston College, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State
I was wrong, folks. I said Cornell would hang a hundred on us, but they put up only 98.
Sounds like fake news.
I like coach G (love her!) and much prefer our team over P, but P deserves to be the #1 seed based on the comparative body of work this year.
I must have missed Coach G's comments on the 2 Spanish players leaving the team. What does personal reasons mean? I suppose it's personal, but seems fishy. We do miss Noa Comesana. She was skilled and did get significant playing time. Maybe she was upset that Suzie was getting more of her playing time. We also lost one of our most prized freshman recruits from Pickering, OH. No explanation provided as far as I see (just curious). Not sure if she left Columbia or just the team.
I agree. I know this is college and not the NBA, but if you want us to be fans and tout the community that you've created, then treat us like fans and provide a little bit of an explanation when three players leave the team.
Maybe we don’t want to know. And maybe it’s none of our business.
I too would like to know. I follow the team. Pay for ESPN+ every month. Listen to all Megan's press conferences. When players leave the team, it would be nice to get an explanation.
Maybe so, but if a player leaves the team for "personal reasons," it would be a breach of faith if a coach disclosed the player's personal reason. Since you watch all of the women basketball team's games and watch all of Coach Griffith's conferences you realize, of course, that a more serious informational gap exists between the Columbia Men's and Women's Basketball Team. Everything about the Men's Program is sugar coated which is not the case with the Women's Program. The announcer and game analysts never stop praising Coach Engles and his staff even calling it the "best in the Ivy League." The announcer and game analysts cannot contain their excitement when the team actually score a basket after a time out, without ever trying to explain why Columbia invariably falls apart in the final minutes of nearly every close game. Finally, if you compare the two athletic websites for men's and women's basketball, it is for some reason difficult to find an information summary on Coach Engles' record at Columbia whereas the info on Coach Griffith's record is readily available. I wonder why.
Your comment about the announcers is simply a lie. Either that or you're completely deranged.
Okay, I have to weigh in. I also watch everything on ESPN+ and look forward to the press conferences and postgame interviews for WBB. Also check out the WBB social media. There is simply no comparison -- there is excitement, joy, and much information shared. The publicity and media for WBB is outstanding, and Coach Griffith is great and substantive -- she calls it like it is. "We gave a little pep talk at halftime of the Cornell game." :-) Unlike the MBB program, where we get empty updates, infrequent and non-informative postgame press conferences. I'm fine with the announcers for ESPN+, but they do usually put a positive spin even as we spiraled downward in the final six games. But they're not homers like those clowns from Penn --- did you watch the Columbia-Penn men's game at the Palestra? Those two babbled on as we all tried to get immersed in the game, which I admit was a waste of time. And I'll give a pass to the announcer (former coach) from Dartmouth. He actually roots for the Big Green and cheers the plays. And for those who keep mentioning Jon Schiller, check out the Ivy Poets website where there is a short Q&A with Jon. Interestingly, the Q&A includes reference to WBB program but absolutely no exchange regarding the current CU MBB program. So it is true, the media including our ESPN+ announcers is complicit in avoiding the tough questions about eight years of squalor. No one wants to talk about it. Anyway, see you at the sold out Levien for WBB and all the best to the team.
Is that you, Lucky Jim?
Engles makes mediocrity look like perfection.
So anyone who prefers our former sports announcers, Jerry Recco and Sal Licata, to Lance Medow, is "deranged?" Except for overusing cliches throughout his broadcasts, Lance does a respectable job, but he's certainly not in the class of Sal Licata and Jerry Recco.
Would it also be "deranged" to suggest that it might be time for Engles to retire as Columbia's Men's Basketball Coach in order to become Columbia's new announcer?
Please lay off. Engles is a good dude. How many of you have met him?
Agree, and the team improved dramatically this year. Be patient. Let this crop of players play out and I think we'll make the ILT in upcoming years. The divide between us and Cornell / Princeton / Yale is not that great. This is not the disaster of the Armond Hill years or the lean years of Columbia football where we were not competitive. Our MBB team made great strides this year and we are close to being in the top half of the league. I know we expect more after 8 years, but we are here now and our trajectory for the upcoming season and beyond is good. Firing him now would set us far back.
No it wouldn’t. A half-decent coach would go 7-7 next year. Engles will not. The rest of the league will get better, but under Engles we won’t keep pace. There’s a reason his high water mark of 5-9 in conference was during his first three seasons. In his first season seasons he hasn’t even ever gotten to .500. To say that he’ll be a winner in the years ahead, with nothing to suggest that this will actually happen, is delusional at best. News flash: if he hasn’t gotten it done in seven seasons, it ain’t happening.
Very well-stated. Engles record at Columbia is the result of his own incompetence. He has had ample opportunity to prove that he can win. The "good dude" argument is insulting and pathetic. You don't retain an incompetent coach because he is a "good dude."
Not that it’s the least bit relevant, but I’ve met him. He should definitely still be fired. With a record like his, I don’t care if he’s Mother Theresa.
On MBB, here are the facts on our roster: our PG cannot shoot; our best player is a good but streaky player; we have a subpar front court; we have some nice off guards but no game changer. So this rooster could stay in most games but lacked the. Depth and strength to close out games. You are what your record says you are. No Lo, no Mullins, no Rosie, no Luke on our roster, and most of all no Mike Smith. And would Kyle have done better with this roster? He probably would have been able to squeeze out a 7-7 IL record. But Pilling will just not pull the trigger. Fabish got one year; Engles will get lifetime tenure.
I think we can win the IL within the next 2-3 years if we stick with Coach Engles. If we start over, its another rebuild going nowhere. Lets learn from the last few times a coach left. We forced Jones out, and we struggled with Smith in the beginning. Smith leaves, and its 7 trying years with Engles. The build takes time. Be patient and we will win.
Excellent post about our MBB that I agree with entirely. It's interesting that our Athletic Director is willing to gamble his career by betting on a proven loser like Engles. An Athletic Director's job is to supervise all aspects of an athletic program. Pilling has done fine with football and women's basketball, but the men's basketball coach has to be terminated now that the season is over. That's what Athletic Directors do.
From Ivy Hoops.com this morning:
"Two days after Cornell women's basketball ended its season in a blowout loss to Columbia, Cornell Athletic Directo Nicki Moore announced that Dayna Smith would no longer be the Program's head coach."
Amen!
What a joke. There is zero chance we win the IL in the next 2-3 years with Engles at the helm. Guy has never had a winning record at CU, and you’re talking about winning the Ivies (in the next 2-3 years, no less)??? Engles will never win the IL.
Wrong, wrong, and wrong. After a bunch of his players quit/get injured/leave, Engles will be back to 2-4 wins per IL campaign. We avoid all this if we fire him and get a half-decent replacement. As someone else said, let’s not wait until year 67 of Engles’ tenure to see winning record.
Funny, Earl just went 11-3 in conference in his seventh year, and his team won 22 games. But right, let’s just take your word for it that Engles will win eventually. No. More. Engles.
That’s what accountability looks like, folks. Earth to Pilling!
Sounds like longtime apologist for Engles — our very own Dr. V. And if it is Dr. V, Brian Earl has been steadily improving over the last few years. And perhaps most significantly he has recruited heavily right in our own back yard, Brooklyn and the NYC suburbs, thus adding insult to injury.
In his seven seasons at Cornell, Earl has four .500 or better finishes in the conference and four top-four finishes. Engles has none of either. Earl’s 11-3 mark this year is something Engles and his deranged apologists can only dream about.
They kept her for >20 years!!
I don't think there is a coach in the country that could've done better than Engles considering what we were up against. Columbia in on the cusp of being a middle of the pack IL MBB team. Stay the course!
The reality is that we were very fortunate to win four games this year inasmuch as our front court players were awful. None of our players over 6'6" knew what they were doing. Our only decent front court player was Josh Oduno and he is graduating in May. The two freshman front court players that Engles recruited did nothing. One of the two, Richard Nweke, suffered a season ending injury before the first game of the season. The second recruit Arop Arop barely played apparently because of his physical stats--6"10" 185. How in G's name, could Engles have recruited a 6'10" player who weighs 185 pounds to play in the paint against everyone else's 225 lb players. Criminal? No. Dumb? Yes. I hope Pilling has the good sense to finally replace Engles this week. Otherwise, we all need to write letters to our University President to make sure she understands the situation with Engles and that there is bound to be questions asked why he is still Columbia's Men''s Basketball Coach. Right now, if the President were asked that question she would either have to answer that question or refer it to Pilling. Then what
The last few weeks were not good. I think if engles went 6 and 8 and 15 and 12 overall he stays for sure.The Harvard and Brown games were key. This really is a tough decision because the program has only had two winning seasons in the league in the past 30 years and Engles seems to have the program moving in the right direction. Also, you look at Steve Donahue when he was at Cornell it took him seven years to be a winner and Cornell then had great success. Colgate coach same story took till year seven to win and they have been a consistent winner in recent years. Just seems like now is not the time to make a change. Other times when we made a change we had hit rock bottom with Wally Halas and Armand Hill.
Except that Armond Hill had at least one season when the team went 6-8. Don’t get me wrong, he was awful. But not Engles awful, except for his final season. Here’s to hoping we just saw Engles’ final season. There’s nothing to debate. Not a hard decision—pull the plug. I’d rather it happen now than next year, when we go 3-11.
Except if you were informed about Columbia basketball, you would know that between the returnees and the best group of recruits we have had in 20 yrs, there is no way we are going 3-11 next year...
The people who want to fire him now are idiots. We are on the cusp of our best season in the past decade. Let it play out.
If we fire him we risk losing the recruits, losing returnees, and implementing a new system with uncertain uptake. We played fine this past year. It was a big step forward. We competed well and are now ready for the next step. I expect us to be in the ILT within the next 2 years. Engles is not going anywhere. Get on board or pick another team to root for.
You sure about that? Injuries, attrition, and poor coaching can do wonders.
We went 10-4 in 2015-16 under Smith. So are we to assuming you’re saying we’re on the cusp of at least a 10-4 season? That’s some good crack!
If you think « we played fine this year, » what team were you watching?
Lay off Arop, man. That kid is a super skilled versatile kid who needs some time in the weight room. He's going to be solid for us in time. He could be like Tosan from Princeton. He's not a post player, he's a wing.
Wanting to fire a coach who has had seven losing seasons and has won only about one out of every four games in conference does not make one an idiot. That epithet should be reserved for those who want to reward such a coach for his incompetence by retaining him. To all the Engles sycophants, what is your prediction for next year? How many wins in conference? I see no reason to believe the team will finish with a winning record in conference. If we go 5-9 or 6-8, will that be acceptable because, while it’s still losing, it’s not quite as bad as what we’ve been seeing? Or are you folks making the bold claim that we’ll be over .500 in conference even though that’s never happened under Engles? Just curious where all the optimism is coming from for a team that graduates several key players, has no real frontcourt, has a coach who can’t win close games, and that ended the season on a five-game slide that included a double-digit loss to the second-worst team?
Why would Shafik or Pilling read your letter? You're a nobody.
This is a joke, right?
Sounds like an Engles appointment. Thanks, Gerry!
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