State of Cornell Athletics

[Ken711]

Let's see over the last 20 or so years: Pendergast, Knowles, Austin, Archer with only 1 winning season between them and 31 years when they last won a championship.  I think a lot more than a "savior coach" is needed.    I would like to see Cornell do a deep dive study on why they have such limited success in football.

The exact reasoning that led Columbia to do the same in-depth study of their football program.

[ugarte]

There will be more than pressure for an equity hire, it'll be a mandate

wow. crying in advance. impressive.

[billhoward]

Let's see over the last 20 or so years: Pendergast, Knowles, Austin, Archer with only 1 winning season between them and 31 years when they last won a championship.  I think a lot more than a "savior coach" is needed.    I would like to see Cornell do a deep dive study on why they have such limited success in football.

The exact reasoning that led Columbia to do the same in-depth study of their football program.

Columbia is the Ivy school where you'd most like to say: hopeless situation
Cornell is the Ivy school where you'd be most likely to say: given the size of the student body, the breadth of the academic offerings, the fact that football facilities are actually part of the main campus, they're underachievers.

[Ken711]

Let's see over the last 20 or so years: Pendergast, Knowles, Austin, Archer with only 1 winning season between them and 31 years when they last won a championship.  I think a lot more than a "savior coach" is needed.    I would like to see Cornell do a deep dive study on why they have such limited success in football.

The exact reasoning that led Columbia to do the same in-depth study of their football program.

Columbia is the Ivy school where you'd most like to say: hopeless situation
Cornell is the Ivy school where you'd be most likely to say: given the size of the student body, the breadth of the academic offerings, the fact that football facilities are actually part of the main campus, they're underachievers.

Hopeless underachievers and perpetual losers under this coaching staff.

[upprdeck]

rank the schools by how hard it is to get kids they want to recruit into the school to play a sport.

[marty]

rank the schools by how hard it is to get kids they want to recruit into the school to play a sport.

I think I'll pass.

On second thought I'll punt lest I fumble and everyone piles on.

[Swampy]

rank the schools by how hard it is to get kids they want to recruit into the school to play a sport.

A lot of this depends on the coach & the administration. If athletes had to meet the same standards as a school's overall selectivity, HYP would be perpetual doormats. Moreover, you would have low variability among sports with any given school.

But Cornell has perpetual excellence in men's hockey and lacrosse. And in recent years, women's hockey. Men's soccer is also quite respectable. The abysmal states of football and basketball has to do with coaches, alumni networks, recruiting (closely related to alumni networks), tradition, and how much the administration (esp. the AD) cares.

[Ken711]

rank the schools by how hard it is to get kids they want to recruit into the school to play a sport.

A lot of this depends on the coach & the administration. If athletes had to meet the same standards as a school's overall selectivity, HYP would be perpetual doormats. Moreover, you would have low variability among sports with any given school.

But Cornell has perpetual excellence in men's hockey and lacrosse. And in recent years, women's hockey. Men's soccer is also quite respectable. The abysmal states of football and basketball has to do with coaches, alumni networks, recruiting (closely related to alumni networks), tradition, and how much the administration (esp. the AD) cares.

Spot on Swampy!

[billhoward]

...But Cornell has perpetual excellence in men's hockey and lacrosse. And in recent years, women's hockey. Men's soccer is also quite respectable. The abysmal states of football and basketball has to do with coaches, alumni networks, recruiting (closely related to alumni networks), tradition, and how much the administration (esp. the AD) cares.

The mark of a good athletic program would be the overall winning percentage of all sports, and hopefully a relatively equivalent W-L ratio for men's and women's sports. That and the number of sports played, including ones that may not be NCAA sports: polo, sailing, maybe ultimate at the club level. The mark of a great program would be league championships and NCAA tournaments.
Actually, I'd say a good school would also have a robust intramural and club program, as well as good fit-rec centers in convenient locations. The fact that we could play pickup hockey at Lynah Rink or Cass Park (gad, that was cold) late at night made me love Cornell all the more.

[nshapiro]

...But Cornell has perpetual excellence in men's hockey and lacrosse. And in recent years, women's hockey. Men's soccer is also quite respectable. The abysmal states of football and basketball has to do with coaches, alumni networks, recruiting (closely related to alumni networks), tradition, and how much the administration (esp. the AD) cares.

The mark of a good athletic program would be the overall winning percentage of all sports, and hopefully a relatively equivalent W-L ratio for men's and women's sports. That and the number of sports played, including ones that may not be NCAA sports: polo, sailing, maybe ultimate at the club level. The mark of a great program would be league championships and NCAA tournaments.
Actually, I'd say a good school would also have a robust intramural and club program, as well as good fit-rec centers in convenient locations. The fact that we could play pickup hockey at Lynah Rink or Cass Park (gad, that was cold) late at night made me love Cornell all the more.

If fitness/rec centers are part of athletics than my general anger at Cornell for nickel and diming me to have an extra charge for my son to use these facilities was misplaced (although plenty of other instances of Cornell nickel/diming)

[upprdeck]

rank the schools by how hard it is to get kids they want to recruit into the school to play a sport.

A lot of this depends on the coach & the administration. If athletes had to meet the same standards as a school's overall selectivity, HYP would be perpetual doormats. Moreover, you would have low variability among sports with any given school.

But Cornell has perpetual excellence in men's hockey and lacrosse. And in recent years, women's hockey. Men's soccer is also quite respectable. The abysmal states of football and basketball has to do with coaches, alumni networks, recruiting (closely related to alumni networks), tradition, and how much the administration (esp. the AD) cares.

Imagine if the coaches could get the kids they actually had high up on most of their recruiting lists..

[ugarte]

cornell recruits best in the sports where a lot of the athletes are white people from small towns in cold climates because ithaca is a gloomy wasteland nine months out of the year and it's in the sticks all twelve

[Ken711]

cornell recruits best in the sports where a lot of the athletes are white people from small towns in cold climates because ithaca is a gloomy wasteland nine months out of the year and it's in the sticks all twelve

Kind of like Dartmouth in Hanover. :-D

[Weder]

I'm curious whether Cornell's test-optional policy (in place through the Fall 2024 admissions cycle) will significantly change the recruited athlete profile. For the Cornell Class of 2025, 60% of enrolling students submitted an SAT or ACT score.

https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/ClassProfile%202025%20Profile%20FINAL.pdf

[George64]

I'm curious whether Cornell's test-optional policy (in place through the Fall 2024 admissions cycle) will significantly change the recruited athlete profile. For the Cornell Class of 2025, 60% of enrolling students submitted an SAT or ACT score.

https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/ClassProfile%202025%20Profile%20FINAL.pdf

I just scanned the Cornell Class of 2025 admission and enrollment statistics https://admissions.cornell.edu/.  Really very impressive!

But, Housing and Dinning?

"Any Person . . .  Any Study," except, perhaps, spelling!