Columbia football consultant: drop Fordham

[ramMan]

From Capital New York (2/18/15):


Last year, Columbia University president Lee Bolinger engaged a consultant to review the performance of the school's famously bad football team.

This morning, Bollinger and the consultant - former Boston University head coach Rick Taylor - announced the results of the review.

Taylor said he "had complete and total access" over the course of the exercise.

What he saw convinced him, among other things, to suggest discontinuing the Liberty Cup, a 9/11 memorial match between Columbia and Fordham that typically opens Columbia's season, and which Columbia has not won since 2009.

"I recommended dropping the Fordham game," he said. "Columbia can play Fordham. I'm not ducking Fordham. But they should not play Fordham when Fordham has three games and scholarships under their belt. ... I'd take Fordham on anytime in the middle of the season when I got games under my belt."

"I would hope that sometime in the next decade, Fordham comes back on the schedule. Because that will prove that we were alright, and Columbia has succeeded," he said.

The Cup will take place in 2015, but not in 2016.

[BisonFan02]

http://3lr72f3dhlbp3scfdb49y0cz.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/assets/consultants.png

[Model Citizen]

I fully expect Taylor to recommend hiring himself as head coach.

[bonarae]

If the plan succeeds, will Columbia become the first Ivy to schedule NAIA opponents? Or even the dreaded CoF? xchinscratchx

[Go...gate]

Columbia will be lining up Choate, Hotchkiss, Phillips Andover, Peddie, Kingswood-Oxford, Lawrenceville and The Hun School as non-conference opponents.

[DFW HOYA]

If the plan succeeds, will Columbia become the first Ivy to schedule NAIA opponents? Or even the dreaded CoF? xchinscratchx

Columbia only needs to schedule one non-conf. opponent per year, having signed longer term deals with Georgetown and Marist. Maybe it picks up Davidson for another early game, but even as a bad Ivy team Columbia is more than competitive with Marist and would win more than it lost.

If scholarships at other PL schools continue to drain the talent pool Georgetown can realistically compete with other schools for, it figures to be a good move for Columbia.

[Fordham]

http://3lr72f3dhlbp3scfdb49y0cz.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/assets/consultants.png

xlolxxbowx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I have always enjoyed the Liberty Cup games I've attended, and it's sad that Columbia now sucks so bad that they're ducking Fordham.

Somehow I doubt the players were asked what they thought.

[Green26]

I have always enjoyed the Liberty Cup games I've attended, and it's sad that Columbia now sucks so bad that they're ducking Fordham.

Somehow I doubt the players were asked what they thought.

I think Rick Taylor coached at Lehigh for a few years. He was the linebacker coach at Dartmouth when I was there. We called him "Rag" Taylor. I visited him when he was the AD at Northwestern. Good guy.

[ngineer]

I think Rick Taylor coached at Lehigh for a few years. He was the linebacker coach at Dartmouth when I was there. We called him "Rag" Taylor. I visited him when he was the AD at Northwestern. Good guy.

Will have to check that out. The name does not ring any bells.

[Go Green]

"I recommended dropping the Fordham game," he said. "Columbia can play Fordham. I'm not ducking Fordham. But they should not play Fordham when Fordham has three games and scholarships under their belt. ... I'd take Fordham on anytime in the middle of the season when I got games under my belt."



Taylor made basically the same recommendation to Dartmouth--that our OOC schedule (Colgate, Holy Cross, UNH) was too difficult and that we should try to find more manageable opponents. Hello NEC, Georgetown and Butler!

Say what you want. But it worked. Dartmouth started winning OOC games and, in turn, also won more conference games.

Now that we're back on our feet... I wouldn't mind giving Colgate some payback.

:)

[UAalum72]

Wikipedia says Rick Taylor was assistant at Lehigh 1968-70, after Hofstra and before Dartmouth assistant and BU head coach.

[Go...gate]

Taylor made basically the same recommendation to Dartmouth--that our OOC schedule (Colgate, Holy Cross, UNH) was too difficult and that we should try to find more manageable opponents. Hello NEC, Georgetown and Butler!

Say what you want. But it worked. Dartmouth started winning OOC games and, in turn, also won more conference games.

Now that we're back on our feet... I wouldn't mind giving Colgate some payback.

:)

You have to schedule us first.

[MR. CHICKEN]

Taylor made basically the same recommendation to Dartmouth--that our OOC schedule (Colgate, Holy Cross, UNH) was too difficult and that we should try to find more manageable opponents. Hello NEC, Georgetown and Butler!

Say what you want. But it worked. Dartmouth started winning OOC games and, in turn, also won more conference games.

Now that we're back on our feet... I wouldn't mind giving Colgate some payback.

:)

20604....UH.....WERN'T YA'S....TOLD...NOT TA SKED...COLGATE...xconfusedx.......GO 'HEAD...RESTART DUH ROAD...TA BELEAGUERMENT....xsmhx....BRAWK!

[Model Citizen]

Say what you want. But it worked. Dartmouth started winning OOC games and, in turn, also won more conference games.

Winning helps recruiting, doesn't it? Even if you have to Bill Snyder the schedule...

[bonarae]

Winning helps recruiting, doesn't it? Even if you have to Bill Snyder the schedule...

Bill Snyder? What's his connection with this? xconfusedx

[Model Citizen]

Sorry for the obscure reference. One of the well known methods Coach Snyder used to turn the Kansas State program around was a drastically weakened schedule. His first winning season was built on playing two I-AAs and Northern Illinois. Voila - you have a winner. And everyone wants to play for a winner.

K-State's rise was mostly due to coaching and recruiting. Manufacturing 3-4 wins a year made the job easier.

[DFW HOYA]

Sorry for the obscure reference. One of the well known methods Coach Snyder used to turn the Kansas State program around was a drastically weakened schedule. His first winning season was built on playing two I-AAs and Northern Illinois. Voila - you have a winner. And everyone wants to play for a winner.


Desperate times call for desperate measures. Prior to Bill Snyder arriving, K-State was playing as a 47 scholarship program in an era of 95 per school. Its record over its prior 30 games was 0-29-1. Undergraduate enrollment had fallen by 20 percent from 1980 to 1986, and there was talk about dropping out of the Big 8 entirely and joining the Missouri Valley Conference. Put another way, K-State was about to become Wichita State were it not for Bill Snyder.

K-State lost by 17 to Northern Illinois. Its first win came against North Texas, then a member of the Southland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZVj5Rubah0#t=352

[Sader87]

Taylor was a very good coach....he was very successful at BU in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

[ngineer]

Wikipedia says Rick Taylor was assistant at Lehigh 1968-70, after Hofstra and before Dartmouth assistant and BU head coach.

Explains why I could not recall the name..just before my time. Thanks.

[JimLU]

Explains why I could not recall the name..just before my time. Thanks.
Our son went to Northwestern in the fall of 1992 as the Gary Barnett era began, and of course we all went crazy as they suddenly became relevant, and then incredibly got to the Rose Bowl after years of being God awful. When Barnett bailed for Colorado after months of promising to stay, the Northwestern AD, some guy named Rick Taylor sarcastically proclaimed "The king is dead, long live the king" as he announced Randy Walker as the new head coach. At that point I vaguely remembered having a phys ed instructor freshman year at Lehigh (1968-1969) named Rick Taylor. Of course I thought, that couldn't be "that" Rick Taylor.....not some lowly, obscure gym coach.... the AD at Northwestern! After all this time I find out, it was the same guy!

[Green26]

Our son went to Northwestern in the fall of 1992 as the Gary Barnett era began, and of course we all went crazy as they suddenly became relevant, and then incredibly got to the Rose Bowl after years of being God awful. When Barnett bailed for Colorado after months of promising to stay, the Northwestern AD, some guy named Rick Taylor sarcastically proclaimed "The king is dead, long live the king" as he announced Randy Walker as the new head coach. At that point I vaguely remembered having a phys ed instructor freshman year at Lehigh (1968-1969) named Rick Taylor. Of course I thought, that couldn't be "that" Rick Taylor.....not some lowly, obscure gym coach.... the AD at Northwestern! After all this time I find out, it was the same guy!

The guy that hired Taylor at Dartmouth, Jake Crouthamel, later become the AD at Syracuse for about 27 years.