Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Keep Your Eyes Peeled!!!

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ONLY 10 COACH SHOPPING DAYS BEFORE THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT'S SELF-STATED DECEMBER 15TH DEADLINE





If you see this man... alert us immediately!!!



With Bill Campbell in New York City for much of this week, it stands to reason that we might also see some of the finalists for the football head coaching job in town -- or even on campus -- to meet with or interview with Campbell and AD Dianne Murphy.

Campbell is here to be a part of the National Football Foundation's Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy awards tomorrow night.

Campbell's visit to the city leads me to believe that Columbia may actually name its new football head coach sometime later this week, as opposed to the December 15th deadline which falls next week.

So if you happen to be on campus this week, or hanging out in several lobbies of midtown hotels, and you happen to see someone familiar... let us know!



Greg Toal


Toal's Progress

We won't need any spies in the Bronx today because I have already learned that Don Bosco Head Coach Greg Toal will be there today for his second interview.

As every reader of this blog knows, the Toal question has been a major lightning road of controversy separating those who think he's a no-brainer choice for a college head coaching position and those who think he's a crazy choice.

If Toal goes to Fordham, we'll have to live with his success or failire up close for some time.

Of course, Toal isn't the only candidate at Fordham. My sources tell me two former Ram QB's, Mark Carney and Joe Moorhead, are also in the running for the job. Carney coaches under former Fordham Head Coach Dave Clawson at Bowling Green and Moorhead is an assistant at UConn.


More Coaching News

Old Dominion Head coach Bobby Wilder has agreed to a 10 year extension running through 2021. Long-time readers of this blog know I have a special affection for ODU football, which came back to life in 2009.

As a kid I used to tool around the ODU campus when my dad taught there from 1977-81. But my recent love for the school came because it was smart enough to bring back football to a sports-mad part of the country that doesn't have a major college program within easy driving distance.

In just three years, Old Dominion has become an FCS powerhouse and a definite money maker for the school when you add in all the sold out games to the renewed alumni interest.


Carl Pelini's base salary at FAU will be $450,000 per year.

38 Comments:

At Tue Dec 06, 01:24:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If he is healthy, and if we get the right HC and OC I expect next year's offensive winner to be Sean Brackett.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 01:25:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And if we get the right DC I expect next year's defensive winner to be Josh Martin.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 01:55:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unless Frasher comes back as a 5th year senior the DL will still have issues regardless of who the DC is. Size does matter and ours is just too small. Childress did well when he was in as DE. He was infective when they played him at NT. Unless Frasher returns that leaves us with only one real tackle.

I am also hoping the new coach has more of say when it comes to conditioning. In any major program there would be a change, but, because ours serves more than one sport it makes change harder. The lines need to be bigger and faster. The worse thing that can happen is we go back to the lighter means faster philosophy of the 2009-2010 season.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 03:57:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are reasons why this team had so many players injured last year. The team needs a new trainer. No new HC can hide that.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 04:43:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

the trainer doesnt cause the injuries a lack of being in shape is the primary cause for the injuries this team suffered. you cant make the kids work out over the summer.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 05:05:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Des said...

the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 05:33:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1:43If the kids want to play bad enough, they will continue their conditioning and strength training over the summer. This gives them a better chance to play as well not getting injured.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 06:51:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If he is healthy and we get a decent offensive coordinator and a good head coach the winner will be Nick Gerst

 
At Tue Dec 06, 08:05:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

... Holy Cross at Columbia for BB ... is this a omen or what .... let's go Gilmore ...

 
At Tue Dec 06, 09:16:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am optimistic that this year's Columbia Football Team found itself in the second half of the Brown game, and will do very well next season. My feeling is that our offensive and defensive lines will be as good as anyone in the Ivy League next year. No question, however, that we need some impact players on offense, particularly at wide receiver, running back and on the special teams. We also need a standout quarterback to back-up Brackett and take over for him when he graduates. On defense, we need impact players at linebacker and defensive back. If we get those 8-9 quality players, there will be no stopping Columbia next year.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 09:31:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The head trainer is merely a pencil pusher. Never see him. Coaches dictated work out regimen anyway. Way behind other schools. Worked the peripherals and not nearly enough core.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 02:39:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

now that we have the olymic weight coach chiming in on the conditioning and attributes of core we should be all set with no injuries.
the fact remains that kids who work out beyond whatever program they are given have a higher likelyhood of making it through the season without injuries.
yeah, i know, every kid that wants to play goes out and kills themselves every summer...give me a break.
if you have no depth injuries will kill a team. this has been a problem at columbia for years. changing the workout program may, and i say may, only change this on the periphery.
and when do you see the head strenght coach, a large difference from the head trainer which is a totally different person and skill set, at any major school.
dip into the clue bag and read rather than write.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 06:37:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Former Coach Wilson was given a standing ovation by the players when he appeared at the banquet and after his remarks. No matter the record, Coach Wilson showed character and class by attending, and the players showed class by their response. We should be proud of the manner in which both represented Columbia. I believe this shows the type of student athlete that Columbia attracts.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 08:51:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just to add to the Tue Dec 06, 03:37:00 AM PST comment.

The whole room stood including the parents. This happened again at the end of the night. The players, especially the seniors, lined up and shook Wilson's hand after which also shows the class those kids have.

After her opening remarks Dianne Murphy disappeared. That was very disappointing and not something that happens at most schools. It makes one wonder if the school needs a change in that position also.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 09:48:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dianne must go. She is bull headed, arrogant and a control freak. she showed her true colors when she made Norries apologize at Penn during his rookie season, after the Penn assistants trashed our kids (we almost won that game anyway). Can we hear more about what Norries had to say at the banquet? Dianne taking a powder was inexcusable.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:29:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

talk about classless, how can the women leave the event period. this is an evening to thank the players,and the coaches, for the hard work they have put in.
the people should all be fired. they suck an always have. this makes Al Paul look like the best AD ever.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:36:00 PM GMT+7, Blogger Jake said...

Well, if she left to help close the deal on a GREAT new coach candidate, I give her a pass.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:48:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

jake, that would be classless to, at least let the guy, who seemingly commanded the respect of the players and parents to get out the door first. there is no deal getting done at that time of night with campbell at a bar.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:49:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

When is Campbell not at a bar? February 30th?

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:52:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My concern is that she will scare off any great new candidate for HC. Dianne must go. Read Oliver Cromwell's speech discharging the Long Parliament and substitute Dianne's name for Parliament.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 10:53:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

what was awarded at the banquet?

 
At Tue Dec 06, 11:08:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who were the award winners of the 2011 Columbia football season and if you know can someone please put the award and name of the recipient on the blog somewhere? Thanks.

 
At Tue Dec 06, 11:30:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The whole story is here: http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=205343036

I know we don't beleive there are other websites, but there are :).

 
At Wed Dec 07, 12:31:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Tue Dec 06, 07:29:00 AM PST, the name Al Paul nearly made me throw up in my mouth. But, I agree that this Murphy should be out. hanging your hat on league golf titles and x-country is a stretch. She came from a school with a top ski program and ice hockey program- why would the "brain trust" at CU think that type of athletic program would translate to success here?

 
At Wed Dec 07, 01:15:00 AM GMT+7, Blogger Anon said...

I was unaware that CU had a top notch national caliber athletics program prior to Dr. Murphy's arrival. Were we're the previous AD's hanging their hats?

 
At Wed Dec 07, 01:22:00 AM GMT+7, Blogger Anon said...

Before you jump all over me...that was a typo. Should read "where were the previous AD's..."

 
At Wed Dec 07, 01:46:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Diane haters are going to have to wait awhile before Columbia asks her to leave. Columbia fall sports (football, men's and women's cross-country, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, and volleyball) checked in with a 59% winning percentage against other Ivies. Exclude football and the conference winning percentage was 70%. That does not include fall golf; both teams performed well. Diane may not be a lot of fun to talk with at a tailgate party but we are getting better results in more sports than under previous AD's and that's all I care about. By the way, she is responsible for 29 varsity sports. If she leaves a team banquet early on a week night that's her prerogative. Every CEO has to manage his or her time. Those on this blog who are always pleading for results need to judge on results, and this was a good fall for Columbia.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 02:28:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Bill Flick '87 said...

I don't know how some of you can jump to conclusions about Dianne's appearance at the dinner and call it classless,etc. I don't know the story behind it but neither do you.

She deserves the benefit of the doubt on this one and if, as someone suggested, she was possibly trying to close the deal on a new hire, all the power to her. The show must go on and I think even Norries would agree with that.

Also, that bar comment re: Campbell was low, especially anonymously. There is nobody who wants us to succeed more than he does and nobody has worked harder or done more for us. He is not the problem!

 
At Wed Dec 07, 02:34:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill:

I don't endorse the drinking shot either, but Campbell simply cannot pick coaches.

Not even for himself. His assistants were all terrible.

He needs to step away from the coach-picking process, period.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 03:24:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Bill Flick '87 said...

I just don't think our repetitive losing is because Bill Campbell can't pick a winning coach.

It is way more than that.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 04:03:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill, Campbell and the Hot Dog Committee are the common link. that's a fact.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 05:06:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

no, but certainly part of the problem. other factors would be poor AD's, misallocation of assets, read lousy facilities, lets not get started on the ever present advisory committee. inability, historically, to select good talent and/or utilize that talent correctly or well.
i think the point of the "bar" comment was that the AD should not have left early as nothing would be getting done given Campbell was likely at the banquet and most people at the banquet find themselves at the bar. all of that being said, several people leave early as they just want to get home, etc.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 05:48:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Bill Flick '87 said...

I still believe biggest problem is lack of sufficient commitment (perceived or real) from the administration.

Did Northwestern just suddenly learn how to hire a winning coach or did they change the way they supported the football program?

Did Penn suddenly learn how to hire good coaches in the late 70's or did they change the way they committed to football?

I suppose it is a little of both.

We haven't been losing for 60 years because Bill Campbell doesn't know how to pick a coach. Our topp two choices last time have had pretty successful runs at their respective schools. Was Campbell not involved?

Not the first time I was accused of being thick headed, but I don't understand your justification for the bar comment. Are you saying nothing on the new coach front would have gotten done anyway because Billy was at the bar?

I think we all realize Billy is a little more skilled/comfortable schmoozing with people at venues like a football banquet. And perhaps Dianne, who presumably would be the one making the offer, had some further homework to do if this were really the week to hopefully extend an offer.

I don't know the answer to this but it seems a little silly for some to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. There are myriad possible logical reasons she would have left early.

And although there are times where I can see that an anonymous post could be the appropriate method, it is totally lame to make a comment like that about another person anonymously

 
At Wed Dec 07, 06:09:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i dont now about the bar comment, but on your mentioning that the last two coaches had good runs, where? norries was an assistant, so he cannot take credit for all the winning UCONN did, albeit he did a very nice job with the offense, and shoop was a disaster and had anybody done their homework and spoken to people from Yale they would have known that they should have steered clear.
i would also agree with some of the earlier comments that the coaches havent done a good job in recognizing talent or using it correctly.
we havent been losing for 60 years, we have been losing for over 80 years, which is really mind boggling when you think of how many wars there have been, how the world order has shifted, how we now have color televisions and have moved from the Model T to more advanced methods of transportation

 
At Wed Dec 07, 07:03:00 AM GMT+7, Anonymous Bill Flick '87 said...

I was unclear, sorry. I was talking about the guys we didn't get. Our top two choices last time were reported to be Priore and that guy up at Holy Cross. Both of them have had quite a bit of success at their respective schools.

The question is if they would have had the same success here or not. Similarly, maybe Norries would have had success at a different program? maybe if we somehow win that Penn game two years ago things are extremely different and we aren't even talking about a new coach right now.

Also, trust me on this, there are kids at Harvard who secretly (or maybe not so secretly) question Murphy's use of players. Same with Bagnoli, Saban, Miles, Chip Kelly, etc. It just falls on deaf ears when the team is winning.

I agree with your last point. In fact I think it helps prove my theory that maybe it wasn't the wrong coach all these times.

As a school we have made way too many smart decisions in everything else to think that we simply have a weak spot in identifying football coaches. I still say our failures in the past have as much or more to do with lack of institutional support than in hiring a good coach.

It seems like perhaps our admin finally supports football and sports, I sure hope that is the case and that this next coach can catch lightning in a bottle quickly!

 
At Wed Dec 07, 12:05:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i understand what you are saying. let me clarify on the recognition of players/use of players...there have been a lot of players in the past that should never have been considered to play and seemingly some today as well. a coach needs to be able to recognize talent and we have had a whole lot of coaches that just havent had that ability. there are always going to be gripes on teams, but not having the ability to find the right kids from the get go is a severe disadvantage. just because a guy is an all-american high school player from new mexico doesnt mean he is any good at the college level.
i think the problem is 3 pronged:
1. lack of admin support
2. poor coaching
3. inferior talent across the whole roster. (we always have the handful of kids that can compete, but the drop off from there is staggering).

 
At Wed Dec 07, 12:53:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess I'm not sufficiently cynical. Murphy's decision to yield the room to Wilson for one final night with the team seems to me like an act of class. Anything else would have made for an awkward evening for them and others.

I'll be happy when this process is over. The amount of sniping at everyone associated with CU football on this thread alone is depressing.

 
At Wed Dec 07, 07:35:00 PM GMT+7, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree,Coach Wilson was sent off by the team and the parents in a respectful way. I know he probably felt greatful with that.As far as DM leaving,she has alot going on now also, give her a break,with all of us "crazy CU football fans" breathing down her neck, she knows making the right decision on a new coach hire,better be her biggest priority.

 

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