Kansas City Hitter

 

6-0, 200-pound LB/RB Lucas Bullock from Blue Valley North HS in the Kansas City area has committed to the Lions. 

Bullock also had offers from Dartmouth, Cornell, and Colgate.

Bullock will be the third Blue Valley North grad to come to Columbia, joining current Lions Cameron Burt '23, and Reid Spachman '24.

That brings our list of unconfirmed commits for 2022 to 1​5:

1. Lucas Bullock LB/RB 6"0 200 lbs. Blue Valley North HS Overland, KS 

2. Mark Chapman OL 6"3 270 lbs.​​ Choate Rosemary Hall (PG), Guildford HS Guildford, CT

​​3. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

4. Matt Gallehdari LB/WR 6"3 215 lbs. Kent School/Hun School 

​​5. Ethan Hebb DB 6"2 190 lbs. Cardinal Gibbons/Williston Northampton School Raleigh, NC

​6​. Noah Jordan OL 6"5 307 lbs. St. Mary's Ryken HS Leonardtown, MD

​7​. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

​8​. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

​9. Jayden Marshall DB 6"0 190 lbs. Lee County HS/WIlliston-Northampton School Sanford, NC

​10. Kameryn Metcalf DB 5"10 180 lbs. D.R. Phillips HS Orlando, FL 

​11​. AJ Simpkins QB 6"3 212 lbs. The Christ School Arden, NC

​12​. Jack Smiechowski LB 6"1 195 lbs. St. Joseph HS Montvale, NJ

13. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

14. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA   

15. Owen Thomas DL 6"3 240 lbs. Westfield HS Chantilly, VA

Slipped through the Cracks

I've known about the commitment from 6-3, 215-pound LB/WR Matt Gallehdari since late September and somehow forgot to post about this impressive player ever since. Sorry Matt! 

Matt comes to Columbia Football from the Hun School in the shadows of Princeton University and he also is now doing a PG year at the Kent School in Connecticut.

Gallehdari will be only the second Hun School grad to come to Columbia football. Two Kent school grads have preceded Gallehdari to CU. 

That brings our list of unconfirmed commits for 2022 to 1​4:

1. Mark Chapman OL 6"3 270 lbs.​​ Choate Rosemary Hall (PG), Guildford HS Guildford, CT

​​2. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

3. Matt Gallehdari LB/WR 6"3 215 lbs. Kent School/Hun School 

​​4. Ethan Hebb DB 6"2 190 lbs. Cardinal Gibbons/Williston Northampton School Raleigh, NC

​5​. Noah Jordan OL 6"5 307 lbs. St. Mary's Ryken HS Leonardtown, MD

​6​. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

​7​. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

​8​. Jayden Marshall DB 6"0 190 lbs. Lee County HS/WIlliston-Northampton School Sanford, NC

​9​. Kameryn Metcalf DB 5"10 180 lbs. D.R. Phillips HS Orlando, FL 

​10​. AJ Simpkins QB 6"3 212 lbs. The Christ School Arden, NC

​11​. Jack Smiechowski LB 6"1 195 lbs. St. Joseph HS Montvale, NJ

12. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

13. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA   

14. Owen Thomas DL 6"3 240 lbs. Westfield HS Chantilly, VA

Another Lost Texas Lion

Former Columbia DL Colin Breckenridge '19 passed away last night. He came to Columbia from W.B. Ray HS in Corpus Christi, Texas.

He was working in the Denver area for Merit Medical Systems.

Our condolences go out to his family, teammates, and other friends.

Chantilly Grace

Owen Thomas

6-3, 240-pound DE Owen Thomas from Westfield HS in Chantilly, Virginia has committed to the Lions. 

Thomas has great speed and size and had offers from Brown, Valparaiso, and at least a preferred walk-on option at Virginia Tech. 

Thomas will be the first Westfield HS grad to come to Columbia Football. 

That brings our list of unconfirmed commits for 2022 to 1​3:

1. Mark Chapman OL 6"3 270 lbs.​​ Choate Rosemary Hall (PG), Guildford HS Guildford, CT

​​2. Ewan Clarke OT/DT 6"6 280 lbs. St. Stephen's/St. Agnes School Alexandria, VA

​​3. Ethan Hebb DB 6"2 190 lbs. Cardinal Gibbons/Williston Northampton School Raleigh, NC

​4​. Noah Jordan OL 6"5 307 lbs. St. Mary's Ryken HS Leonardtown, MD

​5​. James Lill OL/DL 6"5 287 lbs. Schroeder Webster HS/Avon Old Farms Webster, NY

​6​. Shawn Lin DL 6"4 250 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

​7​. Jayden Marshall DB 6"0 190 lbs. Lee County HS/WIlliston-Northampton School Sanford, NC

​8​. Kameryn Metcalf DB 5"10 180 lbs. D.R. Phillips HS Orlando, FL 

​9​. AJ Simpkins QB 6"3 212 lbs. The Christ School Arden, NC

​10​. Jack Smiechowski LB 6"1 195 lbs. St. Joseph HS Montvale, NJ

11​​. Patrick Sodl LB 5"11 210 lbs. Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA

12. Edan Stagg WR 6"1 175 lbs. University Lab School Baton Rouge, LA   

13. Owen Thomas DL 6"3 240 lbs. Westfield HS Chantilly, VA

 

5 Year Plans

It's helpful to look at the cumulative records of teams over five-year periods, so let's look at where Columbia ends up over the past five years and how that compares to the previous five years:

2016-2021 

School         Overall  W-L            Ivy W-L

Princeton          40-10                      26-9

Dartmouth        39-11                      24-11     

Yale                  31-19                      22-13    

Harvard            30-20                      19-16 

Penn                 27-23                      17-18

Columbia        27-23                      16-19 

Cornell             16-34                      11-24

Brown              11-39                       5-30            

2011-2015

School         Overall  W-L            Ivy W-L

Harvard            45-5                        31-4

Dartmouth        34-16                      25-10 

Brown              30-20                      17-18

Yale                  26-24                      16-19 

Penn                 24-26                      21-14 

Princeton          24-26                      17-18    

Cornell             14-36                       9-26

Columbia         6-44                         4-31   

A couple of things that jump out at you looking at these two 5-year composites:

1) Columbia enjoyed a 350% increase in overall wins and a 300% increase in Ivy wins from 2016-2021 compared to the previous five seasons.

2) While the ranking of the teams based on their overall records and Ivy records were identical from 2016-2021, the difference between overall and Ivy records for many teams from 2011-2015 was much more skewed. This may be the result of the overall weakening of non-Ivy opponents for all programs. 

3) Harvard dominated the 2011-2015 period in a way that's probably unmatched in Ivy history. The last five years have been much more competitive overall.

4) Brown's drop from the top three to a distant last in the Ivies has been stunning. The "little program that could" under Phil Estes has amassed just one more Ivy win from 2016-2021 than Columbia produced from 2011-2016, 

5) The most consistent program over the last 10 seasons, and that's not a good thing in this case, is Cornell. Almost as consistent during this period, in a good way, is Dartmouth.