Ringing Our Bell

For those Columbia fans who want evidence that the Lions program is getting more respect these days, we have Phil Steele's Preseason All-Ivy list that puts a total of nine Lions collectively on its 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams.

For those Columbia fans who are constantly looking for evidence that the Lions program isn't getting enough respect, they can note that only four players made the 1st team.

For those Columbia fans who want to see where the media contributors will rank the Lions in the annual preseason poll... there may not be any satisfaction at all. That's because the poll, usually out by this time each August, appears to be on hold this year along with the annual coaches pre-training camp conference call with the media.

And that's a pity.


Caden Makes the Call


As we suspected for about two weeks, the "West Coast sharpshooter" that one CU coach tweeted was coming to Columbia turned out to be Junipero Serra QB Caden Bell.

Bell is 6-0, 185-pounds and seems to be developing his skills just at the right time.

The shakier news is that this coming season will be his first as a starter, albeit at the very high level of competition in California's Trinity Conference.

Those of us dying to see what Bell has to offer in this new role don't have long to wait. JSerra's true season opener is just a week from tonight against Corona del Mar, one of the top ranked teams in Orange County. But JSerra does have a scrimmage tonight against out-of-conference opponent Norco HS.

UPDATE: Here are a few of Bell's highlights from Friday night's scrimmage.

Sorry for my error earlier, but Bell will be the first JSerra of San Juan Capistrano grad to come to Columbia Football.

Current freshman DB Chris Park, and P/K Greg Guttas '13 attended the Junipero Serra HS in San Mateo, CA.

Bell chose Columbia over offers from San Jose State, Yale, Brown, and Holy Cross.

Bell’s JSerra already has a starting QB in the Ivies, or at least presumably, as Penn QB Nick Robinson is expected to start for the Quakers this fall.


That brings our reported list of commitments to 11:

1. Caden Bell QB 6-0 185 lbs. Junipero Serra HS San Juan Capistrano, CA

2. Bryan Bell-Anderson DB 5"10 170 lbs. Dr. Phillips HS Orlando, FL

3. Cameron Coleman LB 6"1 217 lbs. Rye Country Day School Rye, NY

4. Dominic Dodson DB 5"11 185 lbs. Central Catholic HS Pittsburgh, PA

5. Alex Felkins K 6"4 170 lbs. Holland Hall HS Tulsa, OK 

6. Ryan Hamilton DB/RB 5"11 195 lbs. Coffman HS Dublin, OH 

7. Will Hamilton OL 6"2 270 lbs. North Gwinnett HS Suwanee, GA 

8. Tavehon Mcgarry LB/RB 6-0 220 lbs. Bishop Dwenger HS Fort Wayne, IN

9. Mitch Moyer DE 6-4, 255 lbs. Archmere Academy Claymont, DE

10. Luke Painton TE 6-7 225 lbs. Berks Catholic HS, Reading, PA  

11. Scott Valentas DB 6-3, 198 lbs.  Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic HS Wichita, KS

Special Delivery

Will Allen is a threat to score on every return


Columbia's special teams had a stellar year in 2017 in just about every measurable way.

The Lions had the best punter in the league. The best kickoff returner. A dangerous punt returner. A still very-solid placekicker. And generally the best coverage teams around.

Almost all of those elements return for 2018, with the graduated 1st Team All Ivy Punter Parker Thome as a notable exception, (though Thome will keep punting this fall as a grad transfer at Vanderbilt).

Replacing Thome presumably will be sophomore Drew Schmid, who was probably the best rated punting recruit in the history of Columbia Football when he committed. Schmid certainly has the talent to continue Columbia's recent hot streak of top punters.

A man on the spot is junior Oren Milstein. Milstein was not as sharp in 2017 as he was in his 2016 freshman year, but he still delivered in the clutch when it counted the most. He hit key FG's like the game winner against Wagner, two pressure kicks in tough circumstances at Cornell, and was almost automatic on PATs. Army All-American kicker and 2019 commit Alex Felkins doesn't join the team until next year, so this is still Milstein's job 100%.

Sophomore Will Allen was one of the most effective kickoff returners in many years for CU. His 24.7 yards per return number led the Ivies, and he almost broke several returns for scores.

WR Josh Wainwright was always a threat at punt returner last season, and should get more chances to frighten opponents this fall.

But don't forget the other part of the Columbia special teams story: All the blocked kicks. The Lions got their paws on one punt, and a large number of PATs and FGs last season, including three blocks in the final game against Brown alone, (one of them a punt block recovered for a TD).

The bottom line is if Schmid lives up to expectations and Milstein gets back to freshman season form, this could easily be the best special teams unit in the Ivy League... again.

Local Hitter

Cam Coleman

6-1 217-pound LB Cam Coleman from nearby Rye Country Day School has committed to Columbia.

Coleman is clearly a hitter with real speed and another football player who competes as a wrestler on his high school team.

Coleman will be just the second RCDS grad to come to Columbia, after the very talented Stephen McKoy '04.

Coleman also had offers from Brown and Cornell.

That brings our reported list of commitments to ten:

1. Bryan Bell-Anderson DB 5"10 170 lbs. Dr. Phillips HS Orlando, FL

2. Cameron Coleman LB 6"1 217 lbs. Rye Country Day School Rye, NY

3. Dominic Dodson DB 5"11 185 lbs. Central Catholic HS Pittsburgh, PA

4. Alex Felkins K 6"4 170 lbs. Holland Hall HS Tulsa, OK 

5. Ryan Hamilton DB/RB 5"11 195 lbs. Coffman HS Dublin, OH 

6. Will Hamilton OL 6"2 270 lbs. North Gwinnett HS Suwanee, GA 

7. Tavehon Mcgarry LB/RB 6-0 220 lbs. Bishop Dwenger HS Fort Wayne, IN

8. Mitch Moyer DE 6-4, 255 lbs. Archmere Academy Claymont, DE

9. Luke Painton TE 6-7 225 lbs. Berks Catholic HS, Reading, PA  

10. Scott Valentas DB 6-3, 198 lbs.  Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic HS Wichita, KS

Prime Secondary

Coach Bagnoli and Landon Baty


Columbia's pass defense in 2017 was truly the best in the Ivy League.

While Cornell came out slightly better on the stat sheet, the fact is the Big Red had the worst run defense in the league and teams rarely needed to test their secondary. Cornell gave up 130 fewer yards in the air than the Lions, but that was on 54 fewer pass attempts.

Columbia had the most interceptions as a team with 13, allowed opponents just a 51% completion percentage, and just 6.3 yards per attempt.

The good news is that three of Columbia's four 2017 starters are back for 2018.

The bad news is one of them is not Cameron Roane.

Roane was truly the best shutdown corner in modern Columbia history, and now the question is just how good will the rest of the unit be without him.

Also gone is Denzel Hill, who made an impact at CB when he was healthy in his final season.

Getting back to the good news, 2nd Team All Ivy and team captain Landon Baty is back for a 5th year at safety. His breakout season last year included a lot of stellar stats, but his enthusiasm on the field and in the locker room is worth almost as much.

Fellow safety and senior Ryan Gilbert also had a breakout year in 2017, and was named as the team's most improved player.

Also back is junior CB Ben McKeighan, who performed extremely well last year in his first season as a starter considering he was targeted constantly by teams looking to avoid throwing anywhere near Roane.

So that brings us to one of the hottest questions facing the Lions right now: Who will replace Roane as the other starter at CB?

Will Allen might make the move to CB, but he seems more suited to the safety position at 5-9.

Junior Justin Hill is another candidate, but he has seen limited duty at the position. Sophomore Blake Wooden is also a likely contender.

But don't be surprised if one of the highly talented freshmen corners gets the nod. Derric Lee, who made my list of the top 10 incoming freshmen at #7, could be the one.

There are a lot more known quantities at safety. Sophomore Ben Mathiasmeier is just too talented to stay off the field and senior Jacob Young keeps making an impact wherever he's asked by the coaching staff.

But the pressure will be on this group with the loss of Roane and the departure of secondary Coach Jonathan Poppe to Harvard. New DB Coach Andrae Murphy will have to show he can herd this talent and keep the Lions atop the league in pass defense.

Indiana LB

TJ McGarry


I promise to get back to my unit-by-unit assessment of the 2018 Lions going into training camp, but I keep getting interrupted by the pre-high school football season commitments.

The "Sideline Swami" of Northeastern Indiana is reporting the latest CU commit is 6-0 220-pound LB/RB Tavehon "TJ" McGarry from Bishop Dwenger HS in Fort Wayne.

When I first saw McGarry's tape two months ago, I thought he had a great motor and bead on the ball. He's likely not getting offers from Notre Dame and Northwestern simply because he's a bit short for the LB position.

McGarry will be the first Bishop Dwenger grad to come to Columbia Football.

But Fort Wayne brought us two of the best players of the Norries Wilson era: OL Mike Brune '09 from Concordia Luthern HS and K/P Jon Rocholl '09 from R. Nelson Snider HS.

That brings our list of reportedly committed players for 2019 to nine:


1. Bryan Bell-Anderson DB 5"10 170 lbs. Dr. Phillips HS Orlando, FL

2. Dominic Dodson DB 5"11 185 lbs. Central Catholic HS Pittsburgh, PA

3. Alex Felkins K 6"4 170 lbs. Holland Hall HS Tulsa, OK 

4. Ryan Hamilton DB/RB 5"11 195 lbs. Coffman HS Dublin, OH 

5. Will Hamilton OL 6"2 270 lbs. North Gwinnett HS Suwanee, GA 

6. Tavehon Mcgarry LB/RB 6-0 220 lbs. Bishop Dwenger HS Fort Wayne, IN

7. Mitch Moyer DE 6-4, 255 lbs. Archmere Academy Claymont, DE

8. Luke Painton TE 6-7 225 lbs. Berks Catholic HS, Reading, PA  

9. Scott Valentas DB 6-3, 198 lbs.  Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic HS Wichita, KS