Sources: Coaching Decision Made

Multiple sources tell me the head coaching hiring decision has been made, though the official offer (no one likes to offer jobs or admission in the Ivies without a 100% guarantee it will be accepted) will take another few days to be made. 

We can expect some kind of announcement or more solid information on Friday.

Out of respect for the process, and as I await even more confirmation, I will hold off on publishing the name of the incoming HC. But I can say he has a number of positives on his resume AND he is reportedly bringing a top assistant with stellar offensive football credentials. 

Again, because of the way "search committees" and other official academic hiring processes work, you can expect to see some pushback on this news.

And perhaps most importantly, this will be the first new head coach coming to Columbia since 1957 who doesn't really have to do any significant rebuilding of the program. 

Although to be fair: After Norries Wilson was let go in 2011, Pete Mangurian had a decent well of talent in the program waiting for him but he clearly didn't think so and he tore it all down anyway. This new head coach will NOT need to, nor will he do that. 

MORE LATER.... 

Nunzio Now?

Jake's note: This and any other post I publish about potential head coaching candidates for Columbia are just provided here as food for thought. I have not been paid, fed, cajoled, or threatened into endorsing any candidate over any other, etc.  

Nunzio Campanile

Longtime Bergen Catholic coach Nunzio Campanile has often been mentioned as a possible head coaching candidate for Columbia Football.

In years past, the Columbia athletic department's intense dislike for any high school coaches (a sentiment that long kept former Don Bosco head coach Greg Toal from even coming close to getting the job at CU).

But it's been more than six years since Campanile left BC and he's been coaching to great reviews at Rutgers and now Syracuse ever since. In fact, he's been so respected at Syracuse that they named him interim head coach earlier this month.

The Orange appear to be close to getting a major "big fish" to take the permanent head coaching job, which means Columbia has another chance to consider Campanile and his still very strong recruiting ties to some of the very strong Ivy football feeder areas in the Northeast and his new experience in other areas of the nation thanks to his college experience. 

Will he get a chance this time during this search process? I'm not sure, but it would be a good idea to do so. 

Recruiting Update (UPDATED)

The tumultuous 2023 season and a rough news environment outside of football has left me behind he 8-ball on listing our committed recruits for next season. 

But here are some updates:

Sam Pearman

6-0, 180-pound kicker Sam Pearman from Los Gatos HS in Californing committed to the Lions after de-committing from Union in October. 

According to my LionFeeders database, Pearman will be the fourth Las Gatos grad to come to Columbia, but the first since Derek Smith and Scott Soucy (both class of 2005). 

Of course, if current Union head coach Jon Poppe gets the Columbia head coaching job, Pearman will end up playing for him anyway. 

6-3, 270-pound OL Benny Sasso from Wall Township HS announced his commitment to Columbia on November 5th. He also had an offer from Wagner. 

Sasso will be just the second Wall Township grad to come to Columbia Football. 

Next is 6-0 200-pound RB Brodey Berg from Anderson HS in Cincinnati. He also had offers from Brown, Dayton, Miami of Ohio, and others. 

Berg will be the first Anderson grad to come to Columbia Football.

But the big GET so fat may be 6-2 185-pound DB Jeremiah Douglas  announced his commitment to Columbia on Nov. 2nd. He is currently at IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season, but played three years at St. Paul's HS in Maryland. 

Douglas also had offers from Penn, Navy, Army, Air Force, UNH, Stony Brook, Bryant, Bucknell, Sacred Heart, and Towson, 

Douglas will be the third St. Paul's player to come to Columbia Football and the second from IMG Academy, (the first from IMG was Patrick Wade '25, who is now with the Columbia Baseball team). 

So the list of known commits grows to 10:

1) Brodey Berg RB 6"0 200 lbs. Anderson HS Cincinnati, OH

2) Rodrigo Diaz-Martorella DE/TE 6"4 255 lbs. Miami Palmetto HS Miami, FL 

3) Liam Donagher DB 6"2 200 lbs. Grafton Memorial HS/Choate (PG Year) Grafton, MA

4) Jeremiah Douglas DB 6"2 185 lbs. IMG Academy/St. Paul's HS Brooklandville, MD 

5) Miron Magee DB 5"10 160 lbs. Lake Highlands HS Dallas, TX

6) Emanuel Nazy OL 6"4 280 lbs. Hackensack HS/Don Bosco Prep Hackensack, NJ

7) Casey O'Sullivan TE/DE 6"3 245 lbs. Seton Hall Prep West Orange, NJ

8)Sam Pearman K 6"0 180 lbs. Los Gatos HS Los Gatos, CA

9) Benny Sasso OL 6"3 270 lbs. Wall Township HS, Wall, NJ

10) Caleb Solomon DB 6"1 180 lbs. Miramar HS Miramar, FL

Blasts from the Past

John Garrett

Two other names of coaches I'm hearing from Columbia Football alums these days are familiar indeed. 

Former Penn LB and Bushnell Cup/Ivy Player of the Year winner Tom Gilmore always seems to be in the mix whenever Columbia has a head coaching vacancy. Gilmore was an assistant under CU Head Coach Larry MacElreavy for two seasons before moving on to Dartmouth and head coaching stints at Holy Cross and Lehigh. 

I posted several thoughts about Gilmore in the past, and it's nice to see he's still interested in coming to Columbia, or at least consider it. 

Another name is really intriguing, former Columbia (and Princeton) WR John Garrett. Yes, he's one of the sons of former CU Head Coach Jim Garrett who was famously fired after one season at Columbia (and was essentially finished after he publicly blew up at the team after losing the 1985 season opener vs. Harvard). When the elder Garrett was fired, John was a player on the team and he was unceremoniously informed of the firing with the rest of the team. 

The younger Garrett is currently on the staff at Florida State, but had a mixed record as head coach at Lafayette before being fired by the Leopards after the 2016 season. 

If Garrett is offered and takes this job, AND does well here, it should poetically close the wounds for both the Garrett family and Columbia fans, (though Jim did pass away just a few years ago).

As of now, the job search does still seem wide open. I have no confirmation that the impression some potential applicants have about Ricky Santos being the frontrunner for the job is true. 

One thing I can confirm is that Columbia gets a little break from the calendar in this process. That's because due to the 2024 leap year, and just the usual calendar progression, the off season between the 2023 season and the 2024 season is as long as possible; 308 days. So Columbia gets essentially and extra eight days or so (Ivy football offseasons) are usually 300 or 301 days) to get the new coach hired and resume all the offseason work with as much clarity and leadership as possible.

Remember that Al Bagnoli did not come on board at Columbia until February of 2015, and I'm very confident we will have a new head coach in place well before that this time. 

Back to Bracketology?

Sean Bracket '13 has shown a commitment to the game of football that you rarely see from Ivy League grads.

After he graduated CU, he spent many years playing Arena (now indoor) Football. 

He spent one year as the head coach of the Waltham, MA High School in 2021, before taking his current position as QB coach for the Massachusetts Pirates. 

For a team like Columbia that's looking for a shot in the arm on offense, the Lions could do well to grab up Bracket as a coordinator or position coach in the new regime. While he is not a product of the Bagnoli regime, Brackett is still familiar with Columbia student life and the overall culture of the Ivy League. 

Brackett has remained close to his teammates and other people in the Columbia athletics world over the years and clearly has ambitions to return to the Ivies with the combination of his college and pro knowledge. 

Just a thought...