Football has been a part of the Ivy league for more than 100 years, but you wouldn’t have known the game was played at these institutions until Harvard graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick stole the show in Houston and led the St. Louis Rams to a come-from-behind victory against the Texans.
That historic league made history again this week when Norries Wilson became the first black head football coach in Ivy League history. He takes over a pitiful Columbia program that hasn’t had a winning season since 1996.
While the challenge is immense, Connecticut had never excelled at football until Wilson took over as offensive coordinator.
“I want to say that we’re going to be successful in football here at Columbia,” Wilson said.
“A lot of people don’t believe that. A lot of my friends call me and say, ‘Coach, what are you doing?’ And I say, ‘Well, we’re going to go win some games.’ We’re going to teach them how to win and leave them with a great experience as far as playing football.”
Columbia hasn’t won a league title since sharing the crown in 1961.
Wilson replaces Bob Shoop, who was fired on Nov. 20, a day after a 52-21 loss to Brown. Shoop was 7-23 in three seasons.
Wilson had spent the last seven seasons as an assistant at UConn and the past four seasons as offensive coordinator for head coach Randy Edsall.
In 2004, Wilson’s offense led the Big East in scoring and rushing. The Huskies slipped from second to last in total offense this season with injuries forcing them to use three different quarterbacks.
Time will tell if Columbia returns to prominence in the Ivy League, but Wilson has made it clear he is dedicated to fielding a winner.