Sense of Urgency?

Grant Mullins

Before I write a bit about the football team, I just have to express my appreciation for the effort the basketball team put in to win the CIT championship last night at Levien Gymnasium.

It was a great game and I was especially glad to see who really made the difference in the contest for the Lions. In the end it was Grant Mullins, the senior who missed most of his chances to attain greatness at Columbia because of a severe concussion his sophomore year. Mullins hit some very important three point shots and completed a traditional three-point-play that was positively stunning. It just happened to be that play that put the Lions ahead for good. Now, Mullins is being recruited by the University of Michigan for his final year of NCAA eligibility, (he can't play in the Ivies next year). I hope he finds a good fit with the Wolverines or a similar program.

Of course, the other big hoops news is that Head Coach Kyle Smith is leaving to take over the top job at USF in the Bay Area. Smith did a very good job, but I think there are better coaches out there. And with a committed administration and proven talent remaining among the undergrads, I think Columbia is in a unique position to attract a better coach than they were just a couple of months ago.


Why No D-Line Panic?

The essential gist I'm getting from the Columbia football coaching staff these days is not to sweat the serious graduation losses from the Lion D-line. But it's hard to do that when you lose guys like Chad Washington, Niko Padilla, Toba Akinleye, and Hunter Little all at once.

One guess I'm making about why the coaches aren't really panicking is because the linebacking crew is 100% returning and they may be planning some formations and stunts that accentuate their talents and will help make up for some holes up front. I also have faith in the continuing improvement of juniors Lord Hyeamang and Dominic Perkovic. 

But am I being impudent if I openly wish for a transfer defensive end or two to show up in the stands at the spring game? It was at the spring game last year when transfer QB Skyler Mornhinweg first appeared and truly confirmed the rumors of his arrival were true.

The spring game is just 17 days away, so we shall see.

The Biggest Leap

Spring practice is when the coaches and players get to see just how much they need to improve on the field. Sometimes, massive amounts of improvement are possible, other times – not so much.

I’ve been watching Columbia football day by day for 30 years now, and no team improved more over the course of one offseason more than the 1994 Lions.

The ’93 Lions went 2-8, and were a marked disappointment after the 1992 team went 3-7 and won its final two games of the year. The ’93 team was outscored almost 2-1 and lost its games by an average of more than two TD’s per contest.

Just one year later, and Columbia was 5-4-1, scored almost 100 points more than the previous season and allowed one less touchdown per game.

Two players emerging from more minor roles in 1993, made the biggest difference in ’94: QB Mike Cavanaugh and DE Marcellus Wiley.   

Cavanaugh wasn’t actually the main starting QB, Jamie Schwalbe was and he had an excellent season. So did TE Brian Bassett, who remains one of Columbia’s all-time greats. But Cavanaugh and Wiley shook things up by playing the game very differently from everyone else in the league at the time. Cavanaugh was an extremely fast runner who could still hurt you with the pass and opposing defenses didn’t have an answer for them. Wiley dominated the defensive line, but also helped out at the fullback position in goal line situations. In the 22 years since, most of the Ivy schools have had a Cavanaugh clone or two while Wiley remains one of a kind.

But it wasn’t only about the way Cavanaugh and Wiley played, it was also about the new-look package the coaches inserted that offseason that made use of their talents.

Last year's Lions team was definitely a major improvement over the 2014 version of the team. But there's a lot of room for improvement for a squad that could have won 5-6 games, but ending up settling for two wins. 

Head Coach Al Bagnoli and his staff are currently installing a new look offense for 2016 that I predict will start to highlight the skills of some of our previously unsung players. We’ve seen some great evidence of the strength and weightlifting program, but don’t be surprised if another athletic skill makes an even bigger impact this fall. (That’s all I’m going to give say about that). Just how much that will affect the W-L record is obviously a mystery. But it’s a sure bet that one or two players already on the roster will step up in their new roles and that’s what makes watching this process the most fun. 

"If it ain't Bendin', You're Just Pretending!"

Hard core weightlifter believe that if the weight bar isn't literally bending at the ends under the pressure of the massive weight you're trying to lift, then it don't mean much.

This video released just a day before spring practice started is filled with a lot of shots of weight bars bending and more. And the extensive length of the video with shot after shot of different players succeeding in the weight room is certainly encouraging for a program that's had at least four coaches in a row publicly decry the general strength level of the team.

Bagnoli Video, Annotated Version

Head Coach Al Bagnoli's quick interview assessing the first day of spring practice is certainly worth watching.

But you know how we fans are; we like to look at the covering video of the team practicing to pick up clues about who's playing and where.

It's not like we get any big revelations, but it's fun to single out some players by name:

-In the first bit of practice video we see rising sophomore QB Ryan Suitt completing a pass to rising junior Parker Thome, who is clearly making that move from kicker to WR. At 6-4, he might be a nice option at that position.

-In the second clip, we see O-linemen Kendall Pace, Tyler Schonewolf, and Bewley Wales doing blocking drills. Schonewolf is a rising sophomore who, based on other sources, seems to be getting a good look at center in the temporary absence of Charlie Flores.

-Next, we see RB Turner DeMuth and an unidentified player now wearing #2 doing a tackling drill.

-After that, we see QB Anders Hill handing off to RB Chris Schroer with defender Connor Heeb and that mystery #2 in view. After that we see Hill on a keeper.

-In the course of the next couple of clips we see a mystery #7.

-The last clip shows a kneeling mystery #18 who I assume is a WR based on the fact he is with a number of the other receivers.

It's not much, but with six months to go until kickoff, we grasp at these straws with regularity.

Spring Fundamentals

We had snow yesterday in the New York area, but it had all melted by mid-afternoon. So spring practice will begin today with very normal temperatures in the high 40’s and we could hit the high 60’s tomorrow.

Weather aside, I know we’ve spent some time discussing spring practice by focusing on the names of the possible players who we hope will step up in the off season.

But maybe this spring shouldn’t be so much about identifying future stars and it should be more about shoring up the fundamentals and techniques team-wide. Some of that argument is a given, especially since I have learned Columbia will be using a difference offense this coming season and the team needs to start getting used to running it. But when you think about how fundamental breakdowns robbed the Lions of wins in their last two games of 2015, you know that Head Coach Al Bagnoli and his staff will be working just as hard on the mental parts of the team’s game as much as the physical improvement and progression.

Getting back to that new offense, there’s a disadvantage to implementing the new package this spring while starting QB Skyler Mornhinweg is injured. But I assume he’ll be in attendance and picking up on as much as he can. This will obviously be a great opportunity for rising junior #2 QB Anders Hill to get more experience.

One last point is that we’re five months away from summer training camp, and five months is like an eternity to college-aged players. We probably attach too much importance to spring practice when you consider the fact that a lot of what happens there will be modified greatly or even trashed by August. But in Columbia’s case, it feels like every chance for the players to interact and learn from Coach Bagnoli is precious. So, let the practices begin!