The Lion Roars

Columbia AD Dianne Murphy notes that her search committee spoke with 17 candidates on the way to choosing Peter Mangurian as the school's next football coach. Watch the video and you will see why they could have stopped at one if they interviewed Mangurian first. He comes to New York City with a reputation as a well-liked and successful task-master at Cornell (he was 1-6, 5-2, 5-2 in the Ivy League) and it would appear he's determined to bring the same approach to Columbia.

A quote from Mangurian: "Fellas, if you are faint of heart, this isn't the place to be. ... When we think we've done enough we are going to find a way to do more."

And: "It's a lifestyle fellas. It's not a hobby. This isn't rec ball anymore."

Here's more:

They are in front of us. We need to go faster than the competition in order to catch up. So to say that we have the same things that these guys do and we have the same things that those guys do, that’s not enough. We’ve got to do better than they do or we will stay in the same position we are in right now and none of us like that. So we are going to have to outwork them. We are behind. And we are going to be fighting every day to gain an inch and another inch and another inch. And all we can hope, but we can never assume, is they’re not working as hard as we are. And we will catch them. But it is going to take a commitment.

Another quote: "We will not be defined by our past."

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Speaking of coaches, Buddy Teevens is quoted in a story out of Pittsburgh about speculation that Harvard coach Tim Murphy would be a nice fit at Penn State.