The Philadelphia Daily News has a story HERE. From that story:
Sources said Bagnoli, who met with (Columbia AD) Pilling late last week for several hours, would receive a salary that would put him at "a very high level" if not "the top" in the league. One person said he is already putting together a staff and added that, at this point, would be "surprised" if it didn't happen.A half-dozen thoughts on arguably the most successful Ivy League coach ever going to the least successful Ivy League team ever. (No arguably in the second half of statement.)
1. Unless another coach or two around the league got a mega bump in salary, take "the top" over "at a very high level" if you are in a pool to guess where the Columbia offer fits in the Ivy salary ranking.
2. No matter how much money Columbia offers, Bagnoli will only take the position if ironclad guarantees are in place that will give him a very good chance to win. His hiring would signal a sea change at Columbia. The Lions wouldn't win right away, but it wouldn't take long.
3. If Bagnoli is offered and takes the job, don't be surprised if Columbia pulls in a couple of late transfers. He had the Midas touch with regard to transfer QBs at Penn for a few years.
4. You've got to believe if onetime Stanford quarterback Brett Nottingham has any eligibility left –and is still in school – he's paying attention to the news of a potential coach with Bagnoli's track record.
5. There are no guarantees that a legend returning to another school will have the same kind of success he had at his first stop. Bob Blackman was 104-37-3 at Dartmouth but then went 23-33-1 at Cornell between 1977 and 1982. Of course, Blackman spent six years between the Ivy stops at Illinois and a lot had changed in the interim. Bagnoli would be going straight from Penn to Columbia.
6. If Bags does end up in NYC, a lot of Columbia fans are going to be feeling a little sheepish about things they posted on message boards in the past. He wasn't exactly a beloved figure in the Big Apple while he was at Penn.
And a bonus thought, although not one that will be appreciated in Lion land . . .
7. For much fun as it would be to see it happen – and I hope it does – the bet here is that it won't. Lucy always pulls that football back every time Charlie Brown thinks he's going to kick it.
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At long last there's something going up instead of coming down at Memorial Field, where progress continues despite the run of bone chilling cold days. Directly under the entry arch there is what looks like a portal that might be for access to the field. Or it might not ;-). There's also some kind of wall going up to the left of the portal in the bottom photo.The field, by the way, was clear yesterday. If they got the snow down in the valley that we got up here last night the crews will be back out clearing it again today.
