Columbia's Struggle to Achieve Mediocrity Is a Familiar Pattern

When the subject of futile football legacies comes up, the Columbia Lions are always prominently mentioned.

There are countless losing streaks to point to, many of them extending for several seasons. There are equally as many "almost" seasons, when a handful of wins resulted in a few raised eyebrows and wishful thinking, even from the jaded New York media.

Columbia is, after all, not just a New York school, it is situated within New York City, so it carries all the supposed mystique, along with stereotypes. Columbia is also Ivy League, meaning it has extremely high academic standards and a hefty price tag.

Ivy sports have no scholarships, which means you need deep pockets or some form of other scholarship, loan, what have you.

Recruiting football players to come to a rough urban area and go to school in an overwhelmingly difficult academic environment with a high cost of living is a really tall order. Nothing comes easy in NYC. We haven't even talked about getting to practice, battling NYC traffic. That will take the wind out of your enthusiasm, sitting in New York traffic every day.

The bottom line is that it takes a certain type of student-athlete to want to play at Columbia. Pulling together a whole team of those types of guys is a rare occurrence for the Lions program.

Enter Norries Wilson, the very first African-American head coach of an Ivy League football program, appointed to lead the Columbia Lions just a few short years ago.

Wilson took over for Bob Shoop, who seemed to have the right approach to building a successful program. It was not to be, though, as Shoop was dismissed after another all-too-familiar single-win season.

Prior to Shoop, it was Ray Tellier who made the most headway of any Columbia head coach. Tellier lasted well over a decade in the role. In fact, it was not uncommon for Tellier's team to have a winning record or come ever so close, if you can imagine that. 

In 1996, defensive end Marcellus Wiley destroyed the undersized opposition and led the team to an 8-2 record. This is the very peak of the program's success, unless you were around to enjoy the afterglow of Columbia's 21-20 win over Army in 1947. Or how about the 1934 Rose Bowl over Stanford? The 1961 Ivy League championship can always be fondly looked back on, as well.

Lots of good players have passed through Morganside Heights, but you would have to go back to the days of Sid Luckman to come up with a memorable name. Who can forget Luckman's epic 1938 season? Oh, that's right, there's also Lou Kusserow who made that 1947 win over Army a reality with a bruising, two-touchdown performance.

But all good things must come to an end when it comes to Columbia football. Tellier had the misfortune of having a one-win season during a time of turbulence within the program, and he was dismissed.

Wilson risks being fired after this season; despite posting an impressive 5-5 record in 2007, the team is floundering.

Here's the problem any Columbia football coach faces:

Convincing good players who are academically eligible, who have the ability to pay for an Ivy League education, is very difficult for Columbia. The competition is fierce and it is fairly cutthroat, despite the Ivy reputation of gentlemanly conduct.

Columbia is considered a football joke in this modern era by the competition. The student-athlete must want to be part of the total environment to be successful. In order to compete, the Lions have taken a very broad approach to recruiting. They are all over the map currently, anywhere the other Ivies don't look is their recruiting base. 

Other Ivy programs have very deep recruiting pools. Other Ivy programs have nicer facilities, easier access to the practices, a tradition of winning some of the time, more robust leadership. Columbia has none of that, and it shows.

So what is the solution? 

I have always maintained Columbia needs to beat the bushes in as local a recruiting radius as possible. Go for players that know about Columbia as a school instead of even trying to sell the football program. Those are the guys who can handle the environment. Guys have to want to be part of the school first and the football program second, not just taking a chance because they live in Ohio and want to go to school in the big apple.

Columbia teams have just a smattering of talent because every coach that comes in has a disjointed recruiting strategy. I don't agree with bringing in players from wherever. What is the point for so many of these guys to come from far away lands when what you want is a cohesive unit?

I'm not necessarily against recruits from far away places, but what brings unity is familiarity, a common purpose. Guys that grew up in nearby states and areas each can relate to tends to be a rallying point for friendships. When you are really a team that can play with pride and purpose, then you have a selling point for the program.

Wilson has already been called to the carpet for criticizing the Penn program for discrediting Columbia on the recruiting trail. This got him into hot water with the Columbia AD. Though he was not fired for the transgression, it is a lingering tarnish to his reign as coach. It is also a telling sign Wilson is frustrated with the realities of trying to get the types of players who can help the program be successful.

I'd like to see Wilson continue on as head coach. Look at it this way, the one- and two-win seasons are going to happen, anyway, so at least let the head coach keep plugging away and maybe reach some watermarks of progress. Tellier had one killer season along the way, so we at least know it's possible.