Columbia fires Shoop after 0-7 Ivy season; new search to begin immediately

Bob Shoop was fired as head coach of Columbia football yesterday, just one day after his squad fell 52-21 to Brown, capping a 2-8 season that saw the Lions lose all seven of their Ivy League games.

Columbia Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Dr. M. Dianne Murphy announced Shoop’s termination, effectively immediately, yesterday morning.

“We are thankful for the effort and hard work that Coach Shoop has contributed to the Columbia University football program over the past three years,” said Murphy in a press release.

Over his three years at the helm of the Lions, Shoop posted a 7-23 record (4-17 in the Ivies). His best season by far was his first, in which he guided Columbia to a 4-6 mark (3-4 Ivy) and recorded wins over Harvard and Princeton.

Shoop could not capitalize on that momentum, however, winning just one Ivy game, an ugly 9-6 victory over Dartmouth, over the next two years. The Lions started off the 2005 season with two straight wins over two weak opponents, Fordham and Duquesne, before dropping their final eight contests of the year.

Columbia was outscored 293-63 in its seven Ivy League games, including five defeats by 30 or more points.

“The athletics program at Columbia is committed to the pursuit of academic and athletic excellence, and our record of performance in football this year has been unacceptable,” Murphy added. “The young men who play football for Columbia University, our alumni and students—and the entire university community—deserve a football program that is held to the standard of excellence consistent with the rest of the University.”

—THE CRIMSON STAFF