Football Announces 2019 Signing Class

NEW YORK—Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli officially announced its 2019 Columbia Football signing class on Monday morning. "Our coaching staff has done a tremendous job of putting this recruiting class together," said Bagnoli, who begins his fifth season at Columbia in August 2019. "We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with these young men and include them into the mix with the players we're bringing back to the team." Columbia's Football Class of 2023 consists of 15 All-State honorees, 11 student-athletes who guided their high school teams to either a state title or state finals appearance, 24 who led their teams to a state playoff appearance, 21 team captains, 24 multi-sport athletes, 26 players who earned all-conference and all-district honors and eight four-year high school football letterwinners. On offense, the Lions added one quarterback, four wide receivers, three tight ends and five offensive linemen. On defense, Columbia added five defensive linemen, one linebacker and eight defensive backs. The Lions also have two incoming placekickers/punters. In addition, the Class of 2023 is comprised of student-athletes from two nations and 18 different states including five players from Georgia, two players each from Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kansas. The Lions also signed one player each from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia. Columbia completed its 2018 season with a 6-4 overall and 3-4 Ivy League record despite injuries to over 25 key players. The Lions registered back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1961 and 1962. Columbia has amassed 14 victories over the last two seasons, its highest win total in consecutive years since the institution joined the Ivy League in 1956. In addition, its six overall victories rank among the top-five season win totals at Columbia since 1956. Columbia returns 16 starters (seven on offense and nine on defense) and a host of additional players who saw extensive action during the 2018 season. As a whole, the Lions return 61 total letterwinners. Nine Lions return who have earned All-Ivy League honors over the past three seasons, including Josh Wainwright, Oren Milstein, Parker Coogan, Will Allen, Daniel DeLorenzi, Michael Murphy, Ronald Smith, sophomore punter Drew Schmid and first-year kickoff/punt return specialist and wide receiver Mike Roussos.