Football Needs a Shake-up

It’s hard to believe, but our current football coach was the offensive coordinator at the school which was, until last week, ranked 13th in the nation.

Indeed, before Saturday’s 27-3 shocker at Cincinnati, head coach Norries Wilson’s former UConn Huskies had been undefeated in the Big East, with an 8-1 record overall. UConn has accrued notable victories this season, including a win over then tenth-ranked South Florida. Wilson was an integral part of the program when he was there, having a big hand in the development of current NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky.

His present tenure at Columbia could not be more different. The Lions are currently slogging through a 1-8 season, with no wins in Ivy play. They were hopeful after a close 42-32 result at Princeton, but that hope has since disappeared. Columbia’s best chance at a league victory against Cornell ended with a 20-point loss. Only Wilson himself could know the thoughts and emotions that go through his mind when comparing his current and former teams.

But while the present situation of Columbia football can be described by looking at Norries Wilson himself, the process by which the team arrived there must be explained by examining his environment. Why was Wilson able to develop a NFL-calibre quarterback at Connecticut, while directing a Columbia offense that struggles despite having an All-Ivy receiver? Why was Connecticut able to transition from I-AA to I-A with minimal growing pains, while Columbia flounders in a conference it has been in since the beginning?

It would be impossible for Wilson to answer these questions alone, and when the department takes stock of the season after the fact, it is my hope that they will also look elsewhere for answers. More time is not the solution. A program only deserves the term “developing” if it can attract recruits, and recruits come to the teams that show promise. If that promise can’t be fulfilled on the playing field, it must come with creative solutions from above. Without help, the coaching staff can only hope to convince their players to join them in an endless cycle of losing.

Those in charge don’t have to look far for a template for improvement. A budding success story on a smaller scale already exists in the form of the men’s basketball team. Although the football team has more players and will require more resources to turn itself around, the basketball team’s efforts in dealing with tight gym time and a troubled history should be studied. Despite its growing pains, Joe Jones’ team finally looks ready to compete, something football is still aspiring to do.

Columbia football has been very bad for very long, and fixing the team will not be an easy task. Whether the solution lies in improving the experience of the staff, the depth of the scouting, the size of the budget, the quality of the facilities, or a combination of the above, it is up to the department to find the answers. If it does not do so quickly, it will be back to square one all over again.