Goings is Coming!

Goings in the pocket


Yes, I had fun with that headline!

Friendship Collegiate HS QB Percee Goings has accepted an offer from Columbia.

It appears Goings will be the first Friendship player to come to play football for the Lions.

You can see some Percee's career here.

Just last month, Goings helped lead the South team to a win in the All-Star Chesapeake Bowl.

So our PROBABLE incoming list of the class of 2015 and other newcomers is up to 12:



1) Colton Bishop DB 5-10 180 lbs. Chaparral HS Scottsdale, AZ

2) Tom Callahan OT 6-6 280 lbs. Lyons Township HS LaGrange Park, IL

3) Wells Childress* DE 6-4 263 lbs. Kinkaid HS Houston, TX

4) Sean Coffinger LB 6-4 215 lbs. Desert Vista HS Phoenix, AZ

5) Ryan Flannery WR 6-3 185 lbs. North Attleborough HS North Attleborough, MA

6) Percee Goings QB 6-1 180 lbs. Friendship Collegiate HS Washington, DC

7) Joe Kopp OL 6-4 260 lbs. Arundel HS Gambrills, MD

8) Hunter Little DL 6-4 225 lbs. The Webb School Knoxville, TN

9) Ijeoma Odigwe DL 6-2 220 lbs. Chandler HS Chandler, AZ

10) Ray Pesanello LB 6-2 215 lbs. Mahwah HS, Mahwah, NJ

11) Kal Prince QB 6-4 198 lbs. Owenboro HS Owensboro, KY

12) Vinny Pugliese LB 6-1 210 lbs. Walsh Jesuit HS Cuyahoga Falls, OH


*=Transfer from Texas A&M

Chasing Down Reports...

News on possible new members of the football class of 2015 are coming in fast and furious, but they're also very hard to confirm right now.

They include reports of a promising conference all star player from football-rich Cardinal Gibbons HS in Florida, (where QB Chris Rapka '14 comes from) and a speedy RB/DB from the great Chicago Catholic high school league.

There's an element of responsibility I want to maintain here and besides that, who wouldn't want to be right about this stuff?

I have also heard from two sources now that a scholarship player from Notre Dame will be transferring to an Ivy team this fall, but it won't be Columbia. Sorry.

As soon as I have reliable and specific information on some of the new names I'm hearing, I will post them here.

ANOTHER one from Arizona

Coltan Bishop, #23, helps on a tackle


5-10 180 lb. Free Safety Coltan Bishop has become the third Arizona high school player to commit to Columbia’s class of 2015.

It appears Bishop will be the first Chaparral HS grad to join the Lions.

Bishop was a standout player on Chaparral’s 5A-II Conference state championship team in the fall. He made a big impact in the championship game with a sack and an interception on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter.

Bishop’s highlight reel is here.

Another Lion from Lyons

Tom Callahan


6-6, 280 lb. offensive lineman Tom Callahan is coming to Columbia.


Tom is currently a senior at Lyons Township HS in Illinois where he was a captain for the 2010 season, and yes… that’s the same school where we found two-time 1st Team All Ivy and rising senior OL Jeff Adams. (Greg Watson ’93, also came from LTHS).

He is coming to Columbia and already working on being more than ready for the fall:

“Nothing is going to be handed to me,” he said. “You can’t red-shirt at Ivy League schools so I’m going to be working as hard as I can for the rest of the offseason.”


You can see Tom’s highlight video here.


So our PROBABLE incoming list of the class of 2015 is up to 10:

1) Tom Callahan OT 6-6 280 lbs. Lyons Township HS LaGrange Park, IL

2) Wells Childress* DE 6-4 263 lbs. Kinkaid HS Houston, TX

3) Sean Coffinger LB 6-4 215 lbs. Desert Vista HS Phoenix, AZ

4) Ryan Flannery WR 6-3 185 lbs. North Attleborough HS North Attleborough, MA

5) Joe Kopp OL 6-4 260 lbs. Arundel HS Gambrills, MD

6) Hunter Little DL 6-4 225 lbs. The Webb School Knoxville, TN

7) Ijeoma Odigwe DL 6-2 220 lbs. Chandler HS Chandler, AZ

8) Ray Pesanello LB 6-2 215 lbs. Mahwah HS, Mahwah, NJ

9) Kal Prince QB 6-4 198 lbs. Owenboro HS Owensboro, KY

10) Vinny Pugliese LB 6-1 210 lbs. Walsh Jesuit HS Cuyahoga Falls, OH


Army Athletic Director Update
Sal Interdonato reports that the whole search process for a new AD at West Point may get a "do over."

Whether that means that our Dianne Murphy is definitely out of the running with the other presumed finalists is not clear.

Plugging the Holes

55 million Americans watched the New York Jets-Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game Sunday night.

What they saw was evidence of one of the most boring, but important rules of football:

If you want to win, you have to be able to run the ball and stop the other guys from running the ball.

It’s pretty simple, but the Steelers built that 24-0 early lead because they ran all over a Jet defense while killing New York’s ground game time after time.

Things changed in the second half when the Jets stopped the bleeding on their run stopping efforts and moved the ball generally better on the ground themselves.

After 2009, when the Lions allowed about 170 rushing yards per game, it was obvious Columbia needed to improve its run stopping efforts in 2010.

They accomplished that, somewhat, but the damage was still more than 150 yards per game and it was still the obvious weak spot for the “D.”

As we still wait for news on who will be the Lions defensive coordinator for 2011, it’s more than obvious that his first job will be figuring out how to stuff the running game.



Coaching Moves

Speaking of defensive coordinators…

Former Columbia Head Coach Bob Shoop is moving back to FBS football with a new job as defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt. Shoop has spent the last few years as the DC at William and Mary.

Media Darlings

First off, strong congratulations go to the Columbia men’s basketball team for yet another nail-biting win Saturday evening to go 2-0 in the Ivies this season and 11-5 overall.

Winning the tight games that go down to the wire are usually the best measure of a good team, and new Coach Kyle Smith is getting real results.

A huge test comes just four nights from now at Harvard when the Lions will take on the preseason Ivy favorite Crimson.

The New York Times featured great Lion WR John Siegel this weekend in a preview piece for the NFC championship game.


I tried to interview Siegel, who was Sid Luckman’s favorite target both at Columbia and in Chicago, a few years ago but he was very hard of hearing and it just didn’t work over the phone. The Times reporter obviously got to meet him face-to-face, and for that I am jealous.

But Siegel was able to tell me that he’s a bit miffed that he hasn’t been elected to the Columbia sports hall of fame. Perhaps that is something that will change in the years to come.


ESPN Los Angeles is now running a daily show co-hosted by two Columbians.

They ar broadcaster and Columbia alum Max Kellerman, and football god-turned-broadcaster Marcellus Wiley! “Max and Marcellus” airs weekdays from 10am to 2pm Pacific Time.


Incoming freshman Sean Coffinger has been named to the Phoenix-area’s 5A-I Fiesta All-Region 1st team.

New Buckeye 'Backer

Vinny Pugliese


6-2 210 pound linebacker Vinny Pugliese from Walsh High School is coming to Columbia.

You can see his his highlight video here.

Walsh HS is a Jesuit school just outside of Akron. Pugliese will be the second Walsh alum to play football at Columbia after Tom Crosbie, Columbia class of 1988.


So let’s look at our PROBABLE incoming list of the class of 2015:


1) Wells Childress* DE 6-4 263 lbs. Kinkaid HS Houston, TX

2) Sean Coffinger LB 6-4 215 lbs. Desert Vista HS Phoenix, AZ

3) Ryan Flannery WR 6-3 185 lbs. North Attleborough HS North Attleborough, MA

4) Joe Kopp OL 6-4 260 lbs. Arundel HS Gambrills, MD

5) Hunter Little DL 6-4 225 lbs. The Webb School Knoxville, TN

6) Ijeoma Odigwe DL 6-2 220 lbs. Chandler HS Chandler, AZ

7) Ray Pesanello LB 6-2 215 lbs. Mahwah HS, Mahwah, NJ

8) Kal Prince QB 6-4 198 lbs. Owenboro HS Owensboro, KY

9) Vinny Pugliese LB 6-1 210 lbs. Walsh Jesuit HS Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Kind of a Big Deal

Wells Childress


6”4, 263-pound Texas A&M defensive lineman Wells Childress, (son of NFL great Ray Childress ), is transferring to Columbia.

This is mostly thanks to a well-meaning professor at A&M who saw some academic promise in Childress, (you see, I don't hate ALL professors!), and a few of the CU players who hosted him last weekend. He also liked Coach John Gutekunst, (and this leads me to believe that Coach Gutey will be the D-Coordinator soon)

Wells actually walked on at A&M, but he was a preferred walk on and the CU people think he will be a serious impact player.

He should have three years of eligibility left after being redshirted in 2009.

Childress attended Kinkaid high school where he starred as an OL and DL for the football team. I have no documented Kinkaid grads coming to play football at Columbia on my Lionfeeders site. So Childress could be the first.



Wells' dad Ray... big guy




Schedule Clarity?

All this back and forth about Columbia’s future schedules lately could have been solved if I had just bothered to look through the voluminous Ivy League Sports Football Media Guide.

It turns out there was a “future schedules” page on that site all along!

Is it official? Is it authoritative?

Who knows?

But here’s what the media guide says about the next two years of Columbia football:


2011
S17 at Fordham
S24 Albany
O1 at Princeton
O8 Sacred Heart
O15 Penn
O22 at Dartmouth
O29 Yale
N5 Harvard
N12 at Cornell
N19 Brown

2012
S15 Marist
S22 Fordham
S29 Princeton
O6 at Lehigh
O13 at Penn
O20 Dartmouth
O27 at Yale
N3 at Harvard
N10 Cornell
N17 at Brown

A Little News

Just a Little news... get it??

It's a slow news day again, with no updates from West Point or Philadelphia.

But here's a good little piece about incoming defensive end Hunter Little!

Lessons from the Masters

What lessons can Columbia football learn from the remaining four teams in the NFL playoffs?

I know, I know, it’s apples and oranges mostly. Even though there are some Columbia players who may be NFL caliber, there’s no comparing an Ivy League team to a pro squad.

But learning is something a good Columbia student or alum should always try to be doing. So here goes:


From the NY Jets, I think the Lions can learn the great value of a big back coming out of the backfield and acting as a safety valve for the QB when the receivers are covered downfield. LaDanian Tomlinson is no longer the kind of player who can really get 100+ yards per game or even 20 carries per game. But he’s been somewhat dangerous as a receiver. Currently, the Lions are dealing with some serious turnover in the running back corps, and Nick Gerst is very quick but not big. Rising soph Marcorus Garrett is also super fast, but on the small side. Perhaps Gerst and Garrett could share the backfield with a bigger fullback adept at catching those kinds of dump off passes? Nathan Lenz filled that role a few times for Columbia last season, but he is graduating.

From the Pittsburgh Steelers, Columbia could learn how to thrive on 3rd down. The Steelers get themselves in a lot of tough 3rd down situations because they don’t really have a strong running game. These are not the Steelers of the Jerome Bettis era! But Pittsburgh does pretty well, even when everyone in the stadium knows they’re going to pass the ball. That’s the kind of confidence you’d like to have in Ivy League play.


Obviously the Chicago Bears are pretty solid on defense and Columbia’s coaches would die for the kinds of intimidating weapons Chicago has in Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher. But there is something that I think the Lions could really use, and that’s menacing kick and punt returner like Devin Hester. When Mike Stephens went down returning a punt in week one, Nico Gutierrez filled in quite well to make sure the Lions didn’t fumble punts. But Columbia lost the chance for having an explosive return threat. They’ll need that in 2011.

Finally, I think the best lesson for the Lions comes from the Green Bay Packers, specifically Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is a very mobile QB, like Columbia’s Sean Brackett. But Rodgers doesn’t really look to run the ball from scrimmage, he primarily uses his skills to avoid pass rushers and get more time to pass the ball. He did that to perfection Saturday night when he not only coped with the Falcon rush, he THRIVED on it! Play after play, Rodgers eluded unblocked blitzers and torched Atlanta by finding the uncovered receivers downfield. It was one of the most amazing performances by a passer that I’ve ever seen in a playoff game. Brackett is a great down the field runner, but his potential as a scrambler and passer hasn’t really been tapped yet. It’s a skill he almost certainly has and will be able to destroy Ivy opponents with if he learns to use it.

New Lion

Mahwah HS, Home of the Thunderbirds


First off, congratulations to the men’s and women’s basketball teams for their doubleheader wins over Cornell Saturday.

Second, still no news from West Point about the vacant athletic director.


But we do know that Ray Pesanello, a 6-2 215 lbs. linebacker from Mahwah HS in Mahwah, NJ is coming to Columbia.

Pesanello was a co-captain for the Thunderbirds this past season and also was a star on the offensive line.

Pesanello would be the first Mahwah T-bird to join the Lions since Chuck Vagell, Columbia class of 1970.


We now have seven probable members of our football class of 2015:


1) Sean Coffinger LB 6-4 215 lbs. Desert Vista HS Phoenix, AZ

2) Ryan Flannery WR 6-3 185 lbs. North Attleborough HS North Attleborough, MA

3) Joe Kopp OL 6-4 260 lbs. Arundel HS Gambrills, MD

4) Hunter Little DL 6-4 225 lbs. The Webb School Knoxville, TN

5) Ijeoma Odigwe DL 6-2 220 lbs. Chandler HS Chandler, AZ

6) Ray Pesanello LB 6-2 215 lbs. Mahwah HS, Mahwah, NJ

7) Kal Prince QB 6-4 198 lbs. Owenboro HS Owensboro, KY

Incoming!

Ijeoma "EJ" Odigwe


It’s been too long since we’ve had any news on the class of 2015 recruiting front, but we got a bit today.

Rivals.com is reporting that Ijeoma Odigwe from Arizona’s Chandler High School has committed to Columbia.

I don’t see any Chandler alums on my LionFeeder list of schools, so this could be a groundbreaking deal for the Lions.

Chandler is a very strong football school to say the least.

Odigwe’s highlight reel is here.

So our list of reported incoming freshmen is now up to six:


1) Sean Coffinger LB 6-4 215 lbs. Desert Vista HS Phoenix, AZ

2) Ryan Flannery WR 6-3 185 lbs. North Attleborough HS North Attleborough, MA

3) Joe Kopp OL 6-4 260 lbs. Arundel HS Gambrills, MD

4) Hunter Little DL 6-4 225 lbs. The Webb School Knoxville, TN

5) Ijeoma Odigwe DL 6-2 220 lbs. Chandler HS Chandler, AZ

6) Kal Prince QB 6-4 198 lbs. Owenboro HS Owensboro, KY


-Desmond Conner, who writes the UConn football blog for the Hartford Courant, reports that Head Coach Norries Wilson interviewed for the vacant spot in Storrs eventually given to Paul Pasqualoni this week.


-Bloomberg is reporting that applications for Columbia's class of 2015 soared by 32% this past year. Suffice it to say that the boys who choose to play football for he Lions will join an EXTREMELY exclusive club any way you slice it.

Last Second Switch!

Paul Pasqualoni

UCONN did a head fake earlier today and announced that Mark Whipple WASN'T its choice for head coach after all.

The job is going to former Syracuse head man Paul Pasqualoni.

Meanwhile, what has to be the most intriguing offseason in Ivy coaching history continues!

Yale’s Tom Williams got the big interview at his alma mater Stanford, but David Shaw is getting the job.


And anyone who thought Norries Wilson was going to reunite with his old mentor Randy Edsall as the OC at Maryland was wrong. The job has apparently gone to Gary Crowton.

Snowy and Slow

As we wait for news on the Army athletic director search and some movements on our own football coaching staff, I am... well, just waiting.

Even for a January, this is a very slow news week so far.

Luckily, the big Ivy League basketball home opener double header is this Saturday at Levien Gym as the men's and women's teams take on Cornell. Please make plans to be there.

Until then, I have just a couple of pieces of "news":


-Now that Mark Whipple has been chosen as UConn’s new head coach, there are reports that the head coaches of at least two Columbia opponents could join him in Storrs.

Football Scoop says Whipple is calling Brown’s Phil Estes and Fordham HC Tom Masella.

I would have to think that the only way Estes or Masella would take that job would be with some kind of guarantee that one of them would eventually replace Whipple in the top job.

And even in that case, I don’t think Estes would go. Masella… maybe.


-Harvard has had some of the best defensive lines in recent Ivy League history. Now the school is looking for a defensive line coach according to an ad placed on footballscoop.com

Squeezing Mr. Whipple

Psst... I'm going to Storrs


I’m in the throws of Snowmageddon ’11 right now, but I wanted to pass on this interesting piece of breaking news:

Former Brown Head Coach Mark Whipple has won the top job at UConn.

I expect some Ivy and former Ivy coaches to be on his new Huskie staff.

Delay of Sketch...

Mr. Whipple


My sources tell me the pre-filmed SNL sketch featuring the Columbia football players was not edited in time for the show, (darn union breaks!!!), but it will probably air next week.

My apologies to everyone who stayed up late, but I was on a high from watching those two great NFL playoff games on Saturday anyway and I stayed up no problem.

I bet many of you were in the same emotional boat.


Whipple to UConn?

Former Brown head coach, and the man many believe truly turned the Bear program around, Mark Whipple is indeed interviewing for the top spot with UConn. I really expect UConn to make its final decision within the next ten days.


Help Wanted at Harvard

Harvard is looking for a new wide receivers coach

Here’s the ad: Harvard University: FCS school which competes in the Ivy League is seeking a restricted earnings wide receivers coach. This is a nine month contract and if interested please send a cover letter, resume, and a list of references to Head Coach, Tim Murphy at tmurphy@fas.harvard.edu.

Tellier on Kelly

Ray Tellier

I was wondering when and if someone in the major sports news media would examine Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly's coaching beginnings at Columbia.

Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has done just that with a great interview with former Lion Head Coach Ray Tellier, the man who gave Kelly his first college coaching job way back in 1990.

That was so long ago, that even I was still a Columbia undergrad student at the time!

Live from New York, It's... THE LIONS!!!!

About 11 current and graduating Columbia football players will appear in a filmed skit for tomorrow night's edition of "Saturday Night Live."

Perhaps it will be a satire of the NCAA's ridiculous suspension policies for BCS teams...

... or maybe that's already too much of a bad joke.

Anyway, you know the time for SNL, 11:30 Eastern, 10:30 Central, but the start time may be delayed if NBC's broadcast of the AFC Wildcard Playoff between the Jets and the Colts goes long.



West Point



Army Invasion?

The Hudson Valley paper, The Times Herald-Record, is reporting that Columbia Athletic Director Dianne Murphy is one of two finalists for the AD job at Army.

Obviously, that would be a big deal.

The report says we probably shouldn't expect a decision until Tuesday.

No Big News... Yet

Coach Keeler really needs a better photographer


When Delaware plays Eastern Washington for the FCS championship Friday night, it may be Delaware Head Coach K.C. Keeler's last game for the Blue Hens.

Keeler is reportedly the top candidate to replace Randy Edsall at UConn, which leads me to believe the new Huskie staff will be FCS-heavy.


-Speaking of coaching changes, several reports say that the Miami Dolphins will offer Jim Harbaugh $8 million per year to take the head coaching job there!

It was just a couple years ago that Harbaugh was coaching at FCS San Diego and looking to play as many Ivy opponents as possible.


-Big Green Alert's Bruce Wood reports that talented Dartmouth WR Tanner Scott has been denied 5th year status.

Return Engagements?

University Field, home of the Great Danes


A new article about incoming WR Ryan Flannery says his height is 6”4. I had seen him at 6”3 in most other stories.

Every inch helps.

I’d like to link you all to that article in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, but that site just won’t load for me… and it almost never does. Someone at that paper needs to pay their ISP bill.



Return to Sender?

If Columbia does indeed play Albany and Sacred Heart at home this fall, I wonder if the Lions will ever make the trip to play those two teams on the road and make it a truly running series.

One of the reasons why I’m skeptical of any Columbia return engagements is the size of both Albany’s and Sacred Heart’s home stadiums.

Albany’s University Field is just a 10,000 seat facility

Sacred Heart’s Campus Field has just 3,500 seats.

To say that both schools are less than proud of their home fields would not be a stretch. It’s VERY HARD to find info about the stadiums even on their football websites.

Most Ivy teams have frowned on playing non-league opponents in such small venues in the past.

But Brown did play Albany at Albany this fall, so there is some tradition being made now.

Dartmouth played Sacred Heart in Hanover this season, and will actually make that trip to their tiny field in Fairfield, Connecticut this coming fall. It will be very interesting to see if the seats are filled for that game on Sept. 24th.

Temple Time?

Steve Addazio


The usually very reliable Football Scoop website is reporting that new Temple Head Coach Steve Addazio is talking to our Vinny Marino about the offensive coordinator job at the Philadelphia school.

I'm not sure if Addazio and Marino have worked together before, but I would not be surprised if their paths crossed over the years at the many schools where they've coached.

Addazio left his OC job at Florida earlier this week to go to Temple.

Two years ago he interviewed for, and some say was offered, the head coaching job at Yale but he stayed with the Gators.

Football scoop is also reporting that Randy Edsall will “retain defensive coordinator Don Brown and wide receivers coach Lee Hull” at Maryland. Conspicuously absent is any talk about the offensive coordinator position, which is still open at Maryland because this season’s OC, James Franklin has left to become the new head coach at Vanderbilt.



New Faces?


Sources at both Albany and Sacred Heart tell me they both look like they will be playing Columbia at Wien Stadium this fall.

The Lions have never faced either school in football.

Both Albany and SHU have clearly been looking to play more Ivies lately, and this would continue the tradition.

By all accounts, Fordham will remain on our schedule as our season opener for the forseeable future.

But I don’t expect to get an official 2011 schedule until later in the winter.

Edsall Moves On

Randy Edsall


Head Coach Norries Wilson’s most important mentor is making a big move.

Randy Edsall is leaving UConn to take the helm at Maryland.

The question is whether this move will have any residual effect at Columbia.

Based on this piece in the Hartford Courant, Coach Wilson is at least worth a mention by the local media. And I know there are a lot of Huskie fans who miss Wilson and the impact he had on their offense.

Either way, I would be very surprised if some coach from some Ivy staff doesn’t end up at Maryland, UConn, or somewhere else because of this move. With Yale being right around the corner from UConn, someone from the Eli staff could easily make the jump too.

Also, Edsall may be interested in bringing his favorite troops to Maryland with him.

Logic dictates that Columbia fans must be prepared for at least the remote possibility that some of our coaches could be poached as a result of this decision at Maryland.

Edsall was at UConn for 12 years, and I thought he was doing a super job in his first few seasons as the Huskies made that tough jump from I-AA to I-A college football. But after that initial impressive achievement, UConn seemed to hit a wall. The new head coach will have to deal with criticisms that the program just has too many inherent disadvantages to really go “big time” in the BCS.

Sound familiar?

I hate the “inherent disadvantages” argument whenever it is used for UConn, Columbia, or the Detroit Lions.

The fact is, the right players, coaches and front office/athletic department have a way of hurdling what are supposed to be insurmountable obstacles… and in a hurry too.

Cases in point: the 1995 Northwestern Wildcats, 2004 Boston Red Sox, 2008 Arizona Cardinals, 1994 New York Rangers.

All of those teams shot to the top of their leagues within 1-3 years of new management and coaching.

The right guy could easily come along at UConn and take them to a serious BCS bowl. I truly believe that.


Skelton Watch

Fordham grad John Skelton finished up the season going 14 of 25 for just 92 yads, one TD and one INT in a 38-7 Arizona Cardinal loss to San Francisco. We'll see if he gets a chance to play next year.