We just learned that standout Lion RB Dante Miller '22 has been signed by the N.Y. Giants.
This excellent article includes a lot of Dante's story, much of which the fans never knew during his time at Columbia. It also includes details on how the University of South Carolina messed up aspects of his post-Ivy eligibility. But Miller persevered and he's now in the NFL
QUICK NOTES ON SPRING BALL
I'll be attending the Spring Game on 4/20 & perhaps a practice or two as well, but I haven't gleaned too much info about how things are going during these sessions so far.
But here's what I do know:
Offensive Coordinator Seitu Smith's offense is more pass oriented than the previous system, energizing some of the players a bit more so far.
Transfer QB Cole Freeman is not participating in spring practice, (probably by rule). The bulk of the snaps at QB are being taken by rising sophomores Xander Menapace and Chase Goodwin, and rising junior AJ Simpkins.
I know that doesn't exactly tell us much about the QB depth chart, but that's what I got.
100 comments:
Great article on Dante Miller. We will all be rooting for him.
Jake, that's actually very valuable information you have provided about the possible QB depth chart. Three talented returning QB's + Northwestern Transfer Cole Freeman and standout freshman prospect Caleb Sanchez is a powerful sign that our new coaching staff plans on winning big from day 1.
What a wonderful story about Miller. I often wondered about his prospects when he played for SC and it is nice to see how things turned out for him after all those setbacks. Wishing him great success as a GIANT.
4.27 40 along with 28 reps at 225 is phenomenal.
Any news on returning guys with a Covid year left?
I heard several guys took the spring semester off to return in the fall.
Really nice article in today's NY Post about Dante Miller with quotes from Coach Bags.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2024/04/05/sports/giants-sign-speedster-running-back-dante-miller-after-ncaa-eligibility-debacle/amp/
Meanwhile, look at baseball—off to an 8-1 start. Incredible hitting display to date.
Remember that Sanchez is the real deal at QB
Any update on the quarterback competition? All three of the guys you mentioned appear to be outstanding athletes, but the one that stands out for me is sophomore Chase Goodwin because of his big school experience at Memorial HS in Houston, where he racked up some nice numbers. His recruiting film that is available on line shows him to be an excellent passer with a very quick release. Mobile runner too, with 4.8 speed.
Columbia Baseball and Softball Teams are both at the top of the Ivy League standings. From watching the softball team the last couple of weekends I would say that our hitting has been very impressive and we have some excellent pitchers as well. Columbia certainly looks like it will make the Ivy League Tournament again and will probably be favored to win it all.
Re baseball: Brett went to the bottom of the roster and brought in a few young pitchers who gave up 9 runs in the 9th. While we still won by 5 or 6 since we had 19 on the board it wasn’t fun to watch the bottom of the 9th.
Since QBs are usually the best athletes on the team perhaps one or two get moved to slot receiver or DB.
Columbia needs a recent NFL success story… pretty sure Dartmouth and Columbia are the only 2 Ivys without a solid NFL starter on a current roster. Hopefully Poppe can change this negative trend relative to our peers
It hasn't seemed to hurt Dartmouth.
Baseball setback—lost 2 of 3 to Yale despite tons of offense in all three games. Pitching in the two losses realized my fear that our pitching staff isn’t very deep.
Where is Pilling. Got to fire that bum of a coach. Cant believe he didnt put freshman pitcher in. Thats the way the great ones do it
Boretti, unlike Engles, has how many Ivy titles? Or even winning seasons? Boretti is the greatest baseball coach we’ve ever had. Engles is the worst coach in the history of the Ivy League.
What Engles supporters consider a win: not being picked to finish last in the conference.
Your “sarcastic” comment about Boretti was not terribly funny.
Would everyone just lay off Engles? The guy can’t win—so what?
Engles is fine. I have every confidence that he’ll have a .500 season in conference in his 34th year at the helm. Until then, we can continue to be the rest of the league’s punching bag. What’s wrong with that?
Ah but who was the comment really about? Jagoffs and asshats perhaps? The commenters here are some of the dimmest on the internet!
You're asking how many titles he's won and how many games he's won, while proclaiming him the greatest coach ever? You should know the answers to those questions, Shakespeare.
Not as dim as Engles supporters, though.
I believe the questions were rhetorical, Swift.
Time for football! Spring game on Saturday.
Jim Engles before he Jim's you!
Why has he not been run out of the Jim?
Baseball will be fine. Beat St. John on the road yesterday.
Will the Hamas idiots harm our commitments for football?
Columbia has bigger issues than football. The place is imploding. Seems like a hostile environment for college.
Who is favored in tomorrow’s spring game?
White -3.5 as per Draft Kings
Always use a Jim Hat
We can not stand for this. Where is Pilling? If blue can not win against the white cupcakes he had better replace Poppe pronto
Columbia needs to suspend all of the Hamas lunatics and fire the professors like Massad who are trying to blow up the place. Tough medicine but needed to save the university.
Expel, not merely suspend. Zero tolerance. The school is being ruined. My daughter goes there. There are many students who are transferring out. Most of the forces of destruction are outside of CC.
Agree with the last two posters. Columbia needs to not only get rid of the Hamas lunatics and the sick professors like Massad, but close down its School of Social Work which is best known for hiring ex-cons who killed black cops in cold blood. It's fortunate for Columbia sports teams that Baker Field is not on campus.
But i hear there are several good cover corners among the hamas lunatics. I hear tryouts on main campus are on tuesday
Good idea to close social work. Consider closing international affairs too. I would also temporarily restrict Barnard students access to the main campus unless they have documentation that they are going to class.
Columbia need to teach values. Free speech is guarenteed by the constitution, but Columbia is a private institution where values should trump free speech. They need to show what thier values are. They need to unambiguously recognize that pro-palestinian is synonymous with eradicating Jews and have no tolerance for this.
But what about the linebacker play? Of course you asserting what one group means when being pro-something does not in fact make you correct. For instance if you are pro-bubble screen i can not assume your feelings are synonymous with …. Oh come on This is not the place for your politics
Unless and until Columbia expels the lunatic fringe of students who want to wreck the place and fires Massad, Franke, and others who would blows up the place this will continue. The athletes are the last refuge of sanity on campus.
So there is someone on this Board who is naive enough to think its "politics" to be concerned about how unfettered radical Islamic ideologists are seeking to destroy every aspect of Christian life in America including the sports we love such as football. There's nothing funny about what is going on at Columbia and elsewhere where people who identify themselves openly as Hamas terrorists are hell-bent on destroying Western Values in the name of Islam.
Give back the land that Israel stole under Plan Dalet in 1948, and the problem will be solved.
why just go back to 1948? may as well go back to 1944 and finish the job
idiot!!! appeasing them by giving back land of Israel where Jews lived for >1,500 years, and renaming the country Palestine as the Romans did will not solve anything.
Jews were 9% of the pop. at the time of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and just 1/3 of the population in 1948. By analogy, you would presumably grant majority control to minority groups of = strength in the U.S.
Jews lived there, but they were always a minority. When you give up the land and house where you live to the native Americans from whom it was taken 200 years ago, then we can have a conversation about the legitimacy of reasserting rights to the land that are 2000 years old.
Seems to me that President Biden ought to say something strong about what is going on in America. Despite all the mayhem in the colleges and the streets of the big cities, I believe that the overwhelming number of Americans want nothing to do with radical Islam. Why isn't he instructing the Justice Department to enforce the laws?
The "mayhem in the streets and cities" presumably refers tents on college lawns and demonstrations on the streets. And yet you seem more concerned about these actions which have brought next to no violence than the genocide that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza.
Genocide? Get real—the genocide was what happened on October 7th.
1200 is more than 33000 only if the lives of Palestinians don't count.
Guess I will head over to bbc worldnews to get an idea of how the Lions looked on offense yesterday
It is not that I dont care about your politics, I just am not interested here.
Are you saying that any nation that defends itself against another nation's aggression is committing "genocide" once the number of persons its kills exceeds the number of person killed in the original attack. Is it your position therefore, that the United States committed genocide in World War Two when it defended itself against Japan, Germany and Italy? And is it your opinion that Ukraine is committing genocide in defending itself against Russia's invasion? Columbia Football fans are certainly fortunate to have someone as bright as you helping us to understand what's going on in the world.
the spring game was refreshingly entertaining. the offense had a nice pass/run balance and had some success moving the ball. some nice crisp throws, crossing patterns, and even some hurry up offensive drives. i know it’s just spring but it looked much better than all of last season.
Defense was pretty stout as well despite some injuries. when the 5th years are back in the fall, this unit will be will be the best in the ivy and fcs. came away very impressed with what poppe has accomplished so far.
and boy does poppe have energy. he was running all over the field throughout the scrimmage. lots to look forward to with this team!
Just like Russia in the Ukraine, Israel is an occupying power. It is not just the number of people killed that define a genocide. It is, rather, the sustained purposeful effort to wipe out the Palestinian people.
Who got reps at QB and RB; Was Canty on the field and if so how did he look?
I wasn't there but Bryson Canty is in the photo summary and the two QB's mentioned on line were "12" and "15" namely AJ Simpkins and Chase Goodwin. Anyway, we are all eagerly waiting for Jake's summary. Then, of course, there seems to be the very good news about the 13 players who did not participate in the Spring Game, but will be ready in the Fall. With the high energy, enthusiasm and skill of the new coaching staff, I feel very positive about the 2024 Football Season and beyond.
If you’re not at Columbia to get educated, get out and make way for someone who would relish the opportunity. The reality is there is no God-given right to protest and disrupt operations at a private university no matter who you are. Is everyone happy that our kids are remote learning today like the Covid years? These numbskull students are being used by professional agitator organizations and by participating in this activity will be virtually unemployable after they leave. Time to shut it all down.
If anyone is aware of another forum for the non sports interaction please forward, I know this isn’t the place for this but the only one I know of at this point.
BTW was at the Spring game, great to see the ball going downfield, we look like a legit D1 team again!
Canty was on field looked very athletic as expected. May have dropped one or two. Both qbs were hitting receivers in stride, makes a huge difference. May be a function of the pass concepts, not sure.
Regarding student protests: while taking no position of what/how various groups are protesting, and agreeing that forcing remote learning is gone too far; there is a long proud history of student protest at most IL campuses. For better or worse it is part of the package one signs up for when enrolling
If you are unhappy with the current state of the campus (protests), the place to register your displeasure is via emails to the President and the Board of Trustees demanding aggressive action. Tell everyone you know with an interest in Columbia to send those emails.
Would very much disagree Columbias student are threatening open violence on a religious group. It is un american and an embarrassment. A bunch of trust fund babies that would not make it in Gaza 2 seconds. I am sick and tired of alumni stating that this is normal and a part of higher education. It is abnormal dysfunctional anti social anti freedom.
False numbers
Have been reading first hand accounts. The vast majority of protesters are behaving fine (despite what one may think of their surprisingly dimwitted statements of support). Agree that administration should not tolerate direct threats to anyone
At least protesters are not taking over the student union with long guns as happened at cornell in late 60’s
Wait till the lunatic fringe breaks up commencement. Anybody have email addresses for Shafik and the board of trustees? They should expel students who are second offenders and fire professors who exalt violence and foster antisemitism
Officeofthepresident@columbia.edu, I sent a lengthy email yesterday of course with no response. You think they are behaving fine? There have been numerous incidences of hate and incendiary action documented on campus and they are coordinating with the outside the gate protests which are calling for Intifada and elimination of Israel, saw it firsthand so don’t claim it’s not true. Also the outside is making all day and night racket with drums and chanting, you don think that affects the kids who live in the dorms on that side of campus? Most importantly they don’t have the right to occupy a section of campus to the exclusion of others for that long, then lawn should be available to all and right now has been co-opted They DO NOT have a right to do that and are breaking Columbia policy. What about our kids who are graduating or supposed to be working commencement for $? Might not even happen now, and we are hybrid until the end of the year. She better resolve this in the next few days or will be gone.
Ok so no football talk. Got it
What a bunch of wimps. Young people will do and say stupid things. Admin has no authority over “outside the gates” protesters. Specific actions should be dealt with strongly. Overstaying your welcome on the lawn, probably not
Being horrified by atrocities in Israel and Gaza is 100% justified. Being horrified by anti-Semitic rhetoric the same. If actual students are showing support for Palestinians and protesting military and political policies of Israeli govt, shake your head, laugh at some of the naïveté, but it is not anti-Semitic
Running back depth may be an issue this year
Don’t you mean give him a lifetime appointment regardless of results, from here to eternity? Oh wait, that’s for men’s basketball, my bad.
Is Giorgi coming back?
Yes
I hope this will be my last "anonymous" post meaning that the time has come for Jake to do whatever he wishes to rid this website of all of the nasty rhetoric, much of which has nothing to with Columbia Football or other Columbia sports. Jake should require anyone posting on this website to use his or her own name and affiliation with Columbia, if any. Please let Jake know whether or not you agree with my suggestion.
Could not agree more. When I first started following, it was centered on athletics in general and football, specifically. Comments were pretty much informative but not always accurate. Still, interesting to see others opinions about football and other sports - men’s and women’s.
Since midseason last year, comments have largely devolved to vitriol and politics. Not Jake’s doing. He provides a great forum and am always interested to hear his perspective. I need anonymity in my comments on the blog, but am happy to register my identity to the blog administrator. If I get out of line, I would expect to be blocked from commenting. Since I’ve only posted 2 comments over the last year, don’t expect that to be an issue.
Look forward to Jake’s perspective on the spring game. It may be that he has been distracted by current events on campus or, perhaps with a new coaching staff, he doesn’t have quite the access he has had over the last several years.
Looking forward to Jake’s review of the Spring game. As far as the comments on campus turmoil, they are marginally relevant here insofar as they could have an impact on recruiting. Hopefully that is not the case.
Columbia's future recruiting is going to take a big hit from these protests.
Just read that the Columbia Baseball Team defeated Seton Hall 31-0 i an abbreviated 7 inning away game. No matter what is going on in the world, you can always count on Brett Boretti and his Lions to bring a smile to your face.
THE END
I doubt Jake will continue to support Columbia Football or anything associated with the former university, nor should he.
It’s heartbreaking—only chance to save Columbia is to fire 20% of the faculty, bring in a hard nosed new president, ask for the resignations of all woke board members, and expel 20% of the student body. The most important step thereafter is to clean house in the admissions department and bring in people who can admit a sane class. I fault Boillinger for his years of coddling airhead and woke faculty.
For heavens sake, how did the Board think it was a good idea to bring in a little mouse academic administrator from a specialized UK university with little comparability to an Ivy League school, except its Lefty political orientation, to lead Columbia?
I know. And certainly the passing schemes she brought in leave a lot to be desired. Thank god the faculty agrees with my defensive philosophy, always pressure opposing QB. If not, i would have to cease all support for Columbia.
Why cant everyone agree with me? When i cite a few bad apples examples I want everyone to agree with me and take the action I want taken!
Oh amd dont let multicultural Seders among protesting students get
In the way of your narritive
I graduated CC in the early 1990s and attend a few home basketball games each year and in recent years have not felt comfortable sitting on the students side. The typical Columbia student these days is scum (but they check some identity box). I agree with the above poster re: massive overall.
Agree that Bollinger screwed up Columbia by approving faculty hirings of radical left wing lunatics such as the notorious Kathy Boudin who served 23 years for the cowardly killing in cold blood of two police officers, Edward O'Grady, a white man, and Waverly "Chipper" Brown, a black man, in the Brinks Armored Card Robbery in Nyack, New York.
It runs much deeper than Bollinger. It's the toxic culture of valuing the most irrelevant part of one's self - the characteristics we were born with and are unmutable - over character. Columbia incessantly trumpets blacks for being black, gays for being gay. It's insatiable and overrides everything else.
The more 'vulnerable' your identity group is the more you deserve regardless of whether you have good character. Columbia needs to go back to the values that had in the 1950s. That's the only way out of this. Fire Anybody in leadership that doesn't hold these values and get rid of all these toxic students.
Yes the 1950’s, especially single wing football and single group in control. Btw read all of Dr King’s “content of their character” speech. It does not say what Rupert’s minions say it does
Progressives can and do take things too far. Going back to the bad old days is not a great solution
The fault lies in Bollinger for his idiotic hiring and expansion to a woke university and his pathetic admissions department which populated the university with left wing nut jobs. But my greatest contempt foes to the gutless America hating minority of faculty who put up impressionable 19 and 20 year old kids to throw rather future down the toilet while they can hide behind tenure and the AAUP to avoid consequences for their malicious behavior —start firing Massad, Franke and rather other wingnuts and eat them sue.
Pardon all the typos,.but you wil get my point
Looks like Brown is caving in to the lefties—agreeing to discuss divestment. Disgraceful—President should be fired.
Wake Up Time: t's no secret that Radical Islamists hate Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Asians, Blacks, Latinos, American Indians, Athiests, Agnostics, Non-Radical Muslims and so forth. See 9/11 attacks for evidence. Today it's the Jews/Israel. Tomorrow it will be the......
I don't think Brown has caved to anyone. Agreeing to discuss is just that, agreeing to discuss. Let the group be heard and then make a decision based on all of the inputs. Brown's answer will likely be 'no' but peaceful discourse is never a bad thing.
The CU protesters gave CU the greatest gift of all in this whole mess. Turning their "peaceful" protest into a full blown effort to overtake a building and vandalize campus allowed CU to turn the NYPD loose on them without looking like a bully against a bunch of students. CU can now drop the hammer in the cause of campus security and student safety. Graduation can now proceed and our football players can work graduation and dorm checkout to help pay for their summer workout living expenses.
Glad to hear coach Poppe and the athletic department are feeding the athletes up at Baker. It's unfair for the kids who don't reside within the gates to not have full access to the dining facilities. Unfair for the families paying for a meal plan, too.
Selfishly, I'm glad that graduation can now proceed and our football players can work graduation and dorm checkout to help pay for their summer workout living expenses. That would have impacted my family a great deal to not have that opportunity.
You do know that many (most?) of the protesters are against indiscriminant killing of civilians in gaza. Do they say stupid things, yes indeed. By painting with the broad brush of radical islam you do not help moving towards understanding
I absolutely get not trying to understand Hamas, and also calling out hateful rhetoric on campuses. Maybe temps would cool a bit if more people would admit Bibi’s tactics are also driven by extreme hate ideology
"Bibi’s tactics are also driven by extreme hate ideology"
You're a fucking idiot if u think this is the case.
Israel is trying to survive and is bending over backwards to a fault not to have collateral damage.
Because of Columbia's location, many (if not most?) of the anti-Israel protestors are not Columbia students but outside agitators.
Another important point is that because CU has so many peripheral professional schools and affiliates (e.g. Social work, Teachers College, Barnard, International Affairs, Journalism, etc) CC students are perhaps getting a worse rap than they deserve b/c the riot is being driven by students from these schools.
Nevertheless, I agree the only way for Columbia to return to being a great University is to unequivocally embrace the right side of this issue (Israel) and expel the keffiyeh-wearing baby terrorists in the student body and faculty.
Columbia needs to show it can stand for something other than superficial diversity.
Ah my friend, not all would agree with you.
It all depends on how one defines the issue. It is a right wing framing that the protests are pro-hamas rather than anti-killing civilians.
So pro-israel means you are for killing babies. See, not helpful. Think about that next time you want to criticize “pro-Hamas protestors”
One second please: Hamas intentionally killed, burned, and beheaded babies on 10/7. I've seen some of the videos. Israel 🇮🇱 carried out a just war for survival (Southern Israel was uninhabitable after 10/7) and has had unavoidable collateral damage. Babies get killed in every war in history.
A couple facts. On October 7th, more than 1,200 Israelis were murdered by the Hamas terrorists. A shocking and terrible day. Since then, over 13,000 Palestinian children have been killed by the IDF. There were not Hamas children, but children new to the world, innocent of hate. Any sane person would agree that Antisemitism is an awful scourge that needs to be abolished. That said, the second figure above explains way so many are pissed off at Israel, particularly its government and army.
Not sure 13,000 is correct. More likely an antisemitic exaggeration. But I just saw online that 9000 children were killed or maimed in Iraq after the American invasion. Are u pissed off at USA or its army? 30,000 children were killed by Allied forces in bombing of Hamberg in 1943. 50,000 children were killed in bombing of Dresden in 1945. Many more children were killed by Truman bombing Japan. Are you angry at America and its army? You just not csnnot see the difference between good and evil
Difference between good and evil? So, killing children is somehow okay in the name of revenge? That's warped, dude.
There are 2 goals of Israel's war in Gaza:
1) Retrieve the hostages
2) Make Southern Isreal habitable by eliminating the capacity for Hamas to fire rockets or attack again.
Revenge is not a factor. If it was, Israel could flatten Gaza in 24 hours. Collateral damage happens in war and is unavoidable.
The one or possibly two or more sick persons who seek to pollute this basically decent college football sports board by foolishly blaming the nation of Israel for responding militarily to Hamas sneak attack on October 7 overlook the undeniable fact that Radical Islamic Terrorists already attacked and killed on September 11, 2001 several thousand Americans of every religious faith including Islam. After the attack occurred, Islamic Terrorists in Arab countries celebrated in the streets the cowardly mass murder of innocent persons of all faiths. As a proud American citizen whose mother worked on the eighty fifth floor of the World Trade Center, I find all that person or persons outrageous comments about Hamas horrific's October 7th attack to be despicable. As far as I'm concerned there is no difference between the Nine Eleven and October Seven terrorists and that Radical Islam attacked the United States of America on Nine Eleven and that Radical Islam attacked an ally of the United States on October 7 and kidnapped Americans in addition to Israelis. That being the case, Hamas attack on Israel and the kidnapping of Americans should be considered to be an attack on the United States as well. Therefore, anyone who supports Hamas is committing an act of treason and should be arrested and charged with the crime of treason.
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