The Calls for Gilmore Get Louder

Roar Lions Roar is brought to you by IvySport.





You can check out IvySport's Columbia products here.





Roar Lions Roar is now also brought to you by Stealadiamond.com

***DON'T FORGET!!! Enter the coupon code “ROARLIONS” for a 10% discount off anything on the site!****




Tom Gilmore




Bob Kent '92, a great Columbia player, honored US Air Force veteran, and a good friend is speaking out strongly in favor of getting current Holy Cross Head Coach Tom Gilmore to take the helm here in Morningside Heights.

And he's not alone.

In the last 72 hours, I have received a great number of emails and calls from former Lion football players who have pledged to work as hard as possible to see that Gilmore comes back to Columbia by next month.

Just to be clear, this is just Bob's public endorsement, and of course the decision still remains in the hands of Athletic Director Dianne Murphy and Ray Tellier.

But I think all the readers here should hear what so many valuable football alums are saying:



Bob Kent



"I am writing from Afghanistan to urge you to strongly consider Tom Gilmore for CU Football Head Coach.

I was fortunate that Tom Gilmore was my position coach for two years, (1988-89), when he was Columbia's DL coach. I tried to emulate Coach Gilmore's commitment to excellence, and was a much better player (and eventually person) due to his exemplar.
Tom is a player's coach who leads by example and knows how to win.



Columbia Football has been stymied for decades by the expectation of mediocrity. Coach Gilmore is the man who can change our path. He has the history, charisma, intensity, and football acumen necessary to recruit athletes and win championships in the Ivy League. CU football has practiced bleeding long enough. Please give the players a coach they deserve and hire Tom Gilmore.


Who dares wins."



Respectfully,



Bob Kent, CU '92


Gilmore's official biography tells you a lot about the man, but I want to emphasize some important facts that get lost in the shuffle and shouldn't:


-Gilmore was a fantastic student while at Penn. He almost had all A's all four years. And this was from a kid who did not even think he was going to go to college before a coach finally convinced him to take the SAT.


-During his years at Columbia, he was a legend. Rarely have I seen the kind of bond Gilmore forged with everyone who played under him as an assistant coach. I know he was popular while at Penn and Dartmouth, but I can't believe his troops there are as loyal to him as his Columbia players from 1987-89.


-Holy Cross has completely turned around under Gilmore. The Crusaders don't win the Patriot League every year, but they are always competitive when they were not for years. Holy Cross also is very strong against the Ivy League. Gilmore's teams have dominated Dartmouth, and he even has three wins over Harvard. That includes a win over Harvard this year when no Ivy team really came all that close to beating the Crimson.

Again, this is not an endorsement from ME; I'm just restating some facts.

But they are impressive facts.