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Denauld Brown
Many of you already knew that Denauld Brown is no longer with the Columbia coaching staff. We wish him well.
Brown had a tough act to follow, replacing the very popular Aaron Kelton as defensive coordinator.
A top priority for Brown’s replacement will have to be improving the Lions’ numbers against the run, but replacing some very effective veterans in the secondary and improving the pass rush are also up there.
We’ll keep an eye on the process to replace Brown but the last two times the DC job came free, the replacement came from within the existing coaching staff. So we may already be quite familiar with our next defensive coordinator.
Good Timing?
Talk about serendipity…
Just as Columbia’s defensive coordinator position becomes vacant, the entire college football world is learning just how far being an assistant coach for this Lions program can take you.
How far is that?
Try the BCS championship game and the odyssey of former Columbia assistant Chip Kelly. Kelly is now the head coach of the Oregon Ducks who take on Auburn for the whole thing on January 10th.
Kelly was only with the Lions for two years, 1990 and 1991 coaching secondary and special teams, but it was his first coaching job. From Columbia, he moved on to his alma mater of New Hampshire and the rest is history.
NFL News
Columbia has a connection to a number of other interesting football story lines, mostly in the NFL:
-Has anyone noticed how former Fordham QB John Skelton is playing pretty well for the Arizona Cardinals right now? That’s the same Skelton the Lions were picking off and beating less than 16 months ago in Rose Hill.
-Michael Singletary is out as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Back in 2002, Singletary made it known he was interested in being the head coach of the Columbia Lions. That would have been interesting… no?
Levin us Alone?
I know a lot of Yale alums and Ivy football fans who are praying Richard Levin is tapped by President Obama to be the new head of the White House economic advising team. In an odd twist, if he is picked, Levin would be replacing former Harvard President Larry Summers. So we'd be going from Harvard to Yale. That's change we can all believe in?
Levin has long been identified as the leading power among the Ivy presidents fighting against postseason play for football and in favor of fewer grid recruits.
In short, Levin is a major roadblock, who could possibly be replaced at Yale with someone more favorable to common sense upgrades for the sport.
Keep your eyes open on this one.
posted by Jake @ 8:56:00 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I would join you in wishing Obama would tap Levin, Jake, but much as I love the Lions and Ivy football, I love my country more. If forced to choose, I'd have to spare my nation another disaster and keep Levin at Yale.
Wilson is doing what he needs to do to save his own bacon and serve the talent he has on this team with better coaching. If he had stayed with his OC/DC combo and had another poor season, he would have been fired next season.
As it is, I still think his job is in jeopardy if he does not win at least six games next year.
Chen '82
Jake, to what extent is salary an issue in recruiting good young assistants for Columbia? One well placed football alum has told me that we just don't pay enough to get good young assistants. In any event, our defense seemed to become unravelled once we played Penn. Bags only threw the ball five times; he figured that we weren't strong enough to stop the run. So was it a case of just not having the horses up front, or do we not have an adequate weight training program, or were we just not well coached on the defensive side of the ball, except for the secondary? Our defense reminded me of what we have been seeing from the Giants for the last 68 minutes of their season.
Six wins is unrealistic. We lose seven starters on defense and return mainly undersized DLs who got pushed around in 2010. We won four in 2010 with the best tackler in the league and a very weak non-league schedule in our favor. We're looking at a losing record in 2011.
We have the best offensive player in the league coming back. We also have a dominating left tackle and a dynamic running back. If Owen Fraser can return we will have a run stopper on the DL. I have more confidence that players will emerge and that we'll have a good season.
In addition to the team strengths cited by the last poster, I would also add the kicking game, the offensive line and the defensive end position.
Yes, the kicking game was a great example of excellent recruiting and coaching. The previous year was a living nightmare, on which every PAT was an adventure. Then Luke Eddy comes in and is unstoppable in PATs. Great work, coaching staff!
Something doesnt smell right here. Brown gets promoted to D coordinator and after 1 year he is gone. No way are we getting the whole story. A good guy with a great football background that the kids enjoyed playing for.
?????????
You will know how good the offensive line is if an electric back like Nick Gerst gets any holes to run through against the top Ivy programs. The O coordinator needs to learn how to untilize a back like Gerst in the running and passing game. The talent is there now we just have to know to use it. Its been a long time since we have seen a back of this caliber at Columbia.
GO LIONS
I'm with the first poster. As an Ivy football fan, I'd love to get Levin out of Yale. But as an American (and an investor), we've got to keep him in New Haven.
One poster hit the nail on the head'! The strength and weight program at Columbia is woefully inadequate. Our guys are to small and lose too much weight during the season. Their diets aren't even monitored and a kid could lose 35 lbs without a coach even taking notice. These little guys have given their best efforts, but a 50 lb differential per man up front is too much to overcome.
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