Movin' on Up

Artist's rendering of 4650 Broadway 

There's a front page article in today's Daily News about how Wien Stadium's neighborhood of Inwood is going upscale. Since the story is behind an impossible paywall for many of you, here is a page with some recent links about Inwood's rise as a more desirable - and more expensive - area. 

Fans who have been attending CU games over the last few years have noticed this transformation already, especially when it comes to the explosion of good options to eat in the neighborhood. 

And before you start to grouse about how all these new hi-rise buildings will snarl traffic and reduce the already limited parking in the area, remember that these buildings will likely all come with parking garages with some spaces available for non-residents.

I think it's fair to say that Inwood's ascendance into a hotter/hipper neighborhood will help the Lion program. The area around the stadium should be a place where the alumni and students want to be for more than just game time or just on game days. 

No Love for Libman

Phil Steele's preseason All Ivy team came out this week, with 1sr Team honors for WR Bryson Canty, 2nd Team honors for J.J. Jenkins, but no mention of clutch WR Marcus Libman.

Libman really deserves more recognition, because he really is a clutch player and a go-to guy when the Lions need 1st downs and scores. His performance against Brown last season was one of the best games for a receiver in Lions history. On top of that, he's an emotional team leader. Woe to the Columbia opponents who ignore #3.

On the other hand, if you remember his romantic antics during that Brown game last year perhaps there IS love for Libman in football... just another kind. 

Some other interesting tidbits from the Steele list:

Despite never playing a down yet as an OL, Luke Painton made the 2nd Team as there's apparent confidence in his switch from TE to LT. 

Junior DE Justin Townsend rightfully made the 1st Team, but it was also nice to see junior DT Patrick Passalacqua get a slot on the 3rd Team. 

Also on defense, senior DB Seth Parker (2nd Team), and junior DB Aaron Brebnor (3rd Team) made the list. 

Perhaps the best news for a Columbia team that needs a relatively inexperienced O-line to step up this season: senior OL Andrew Pruske made the 3rd Team to go along with Painton's 2nd Team nod.

Some New Names

Thanks to the reader who commented on a previous post and gave us the heads up on some new names added to the CU roster. 

They are:

WR Aiden Shinfeld, a 5"8, 170-pound transfer from University of Redlands in California with junior year status. 

5"11, 210-pound RB Devon Thompson, presumably a walk on from the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA. 

6-0, 185-pound WR Christian Hubbard who is also a junior and who appears to be moving over to football from the CU track team. 

6-0, 210-pound RB Cory Kline who comes to Columbia after serving four years in the U.S. Air Force. 

6-2, 220-pound WR Antonio White a transfer from Army. 

6-1, 195-pound WR Marcus Lenz a transfer from Hobart College. He is joining Columbia's 3-2 BA/BS double degree program with the School of Engineering. 

Considering the incredible talent and depth CU already has at WR position, these four new editions will seemingly have a tough battle to break into the mix. As for the running back, who knows?

But welcome to the Lions guys! 

QB R&D (RECRUITING & Development)

 

Is James Perry the one and only true QB coaching guru left in the Ivies? No... but it's still lonely at the top

Whether it's the Ivy League or the NFL, finding and then properly developing QB talent seems to be the most important challenge in the game. 

A couple of weeks ago while listening to the dominant sports radio station in the NYC area, the hosts of the show (one of whom is former Giants star Tiki Barber) spoke about how the NY Jets "blew it" with QB Zach Wilson by not doing the right things to develop him at his position. If it weren't impossible to get though on those call-in shows, I would have asked Tiki the following two questions:

Is there an accepted best process for developing QB's in the NFL and the Jets just didn't follow it? Or are there just a handful of good "QB coaching gurus" in the league and the Jets just don't have one of them?

The answer really can't be "yes" to both of those questions. 

My strong feeling is that in both the NFL and the Ivies, the issue is there aren't many coaches who have cracked the QB development code and that makes them a real commodity, 

One guy in the Ivies who seems to have done that is Brown Head Coach, former Brown QB, and former Princeton OC James Perry. The system he implemented at Princeton is still being used and he's had continuing success with it at Bryant (where he was head coach for two seasons) and now at Brown. It just doesn't seem to matter who is playing the position, they seem to play better when they are under Perry's guidance. 

Another guru is/was Kevin Cahill at Yale before he left to take over as the head coach at Lehigh for 2023. Yale's fortunes at QB turned for the better when Cahill took over the QB room and also eventually became the offensive coordinator. Cahill was the guy who molded the raw talent of Kurt Rawlings and got the ball rolling with current Yale QB star Nolan Grooms. 

After that, I'd say Dartmouth's OC/QB coach has shown a good track record, and I don't mean to take too much away from Princeton's current QB coach Mark Rosenbaum, but he took over that position after Perry left and had instituted his superior system for the Tigers. 

That brings us to Columbia's new QB coach Skyler Mornhinweg '17, who has good experience and talent to work with in QB's Caden Bell and Joe Green, but his most important job may be to mold sophomore A.J. Simpkins into starting material in time for next year. 

Overall, it just seems like a precious few Ivy teams have had more than just one All Ivy caliber QB over the last 10 years or so. Considering the fact that one of those teams is NOT named "Harvard" (with all the recruiting advantages Harvard enjoys), I think it's clear coaching is the deciding factor in this and not just recruiting. 

Ranking Our Opponents

Earlier this week, the media poll for the Patriot League was released with the very unsurprising news that Holy Cross is the strong favorite to repeat as champs.

The "good" news for Columbia, (and it's a stretch to call it that), is that week one opponent Lafayette was picked 4th instead of 3rd as some expected. Week two and home opener opponent Georgetown was picked dead last; also not a surprise. 

Columbia's third and final out of conference opponent is Marist, with the Red Foxes set to travel to Wien Stadium in week four. But Marist's Pioneer League conference media poll has not yet been released. Last year, it was issued on August 1. There are some rumors that Marist may have really upgraded its roster for this coming year, but nothing is confirmed yet and probably won't be until we see that Pioneer League poll and press release next week or so. 

But any way one looks at it, Columbia's 2023 schedule seems like a tough one. Having to start on the road against Lafayette will not be easy for starters, and the two likely heavy favorites in the Ivies, Yale and Princeton, are both road games as well for the Lions.