Why does Cornell football have such little success?

[George64]

But in part my point is that Cornell has had outstanding coaches and still lost (cf. e.g., Seifert's record). I don't know what resources they were given, but presumably someone like Blackman would bargain for the resources he needed before he would agree to come to Ithaca.

So I think there must be more to explain our woeful record. Is there?

This discussion prompted me to reread the chapter "The Hiring and Firing of George Seifert" in Bob Kane's book Good Sports.  Interesting read on the forces at play at the time.  I thought then, and still do, that Seifert was fired largely because Blackman was canned at Illinois and became available.  He never achieved anything like the success he had in his 15 years at Dartmouth and was gone after six.  Seifert, of course, went on to bigger and better things.

[Ken711]

But in part my point is that Cornell has had outstanding coaches and still lost (cf. e.g., Seifert's record). I don't know what resources they were given, but presumably someone like Blackman would bargain for the resources he needed before he would agree to come to Ithaca.

So I think there must be more to explain our woeful record. Is there?

This discussion prompted me to reread the chapter "The Hiring and Firing of George Seifert" in Bob Kane's book Good Sports.  Interesting read on the forces at play at the time.  I thought then, and still do, that Seifert was fired largely because Blackman was canned at Illinois and became available.  He never achieved anything like the success he had in his 15 years at Dartmouth and was gone after six.  Seifert, of course, went on to bigger and better things.

Possibly, it was also a factor of a Cornell hiring a new athletic director who inherited Seifert as the existing football coach.