Columbia Names Jon Poppe Head Football Coach
NEW YORK, New York – Columbia Athletics announced that Jon Poppe has been named Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football. Poppe, who served on Columbia’s staff under Al Bagnoli from 2015-17 and spent the 2023 season as head coach at Union College, becomes the 22nd coach in program history.
CSA is grateful to have assisted Campbell Family Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Peter Pilling with this search.
“We are so excited to welcome Jon and his family back to Columbia,” Pilling said. “Through the interview process, we were impressed with his vision for the program. That, coupled with his previous experience here and in the Ivy League, makes Jon the right person to continue the progress that we’ve made over the past nine years. Jon did a remarkable job at Union College this past season, has a winning pedigree and will be a great leader for our student-athletes.”
In his first year at the helm of Union, Poppe guided the Garnet Chargers to a 10-2 mark and the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. He coached 15 student-athletes to All-Liberty League honors and helped Union post 32.6 points per game on offense while holding opponents to 11.4 to rank No. 8 in the nation.
“I’d like to thank President Shafik and Peter Pilling for giving me the opportunity to return to Columbia as the Patricia & Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football,” Poppe said. “My family and I are thrilled to be Lions once again. We look forward to building upon the success of Coach Bagnoli and his staff and we are eager to begin working towards bringing an Ivy Championship to Morningside Heights.”
Poppe brings over a decade of coaching experience in the Ivy League. In addition to his time at Columbia, he had two stints with Harvard (2011-14, 2017-22) as secondary and special teams coach, where his units were consistently among the best in the country at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series (FCS) level.
In 2022, his units ranked third in the FCS in blocked punts and fourth in blocked kicks during the 2022 season. He was recognized by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston as the FBS/FCS Assistant Coach of the Year in 2021 after helping the Crimson defensive unit lead the nation in rushing defense and rank third in interceptions. In 2019, Harvard led the FCS in blocked kicks (9) and blocked punts (7) while ranking in the top 20 nationally in punt return defense and net punting.
The Harvard secondary also enjoyed great success under Poppe’s leadership. The defensive unit ranked among the top five in the country in rushing defense in each of his last two campaigns, while the Crimson ranked eighth in the FCS in interceptions during the 2021 season.
During his time at Columbia, Poppe led the secondary and served as recruiting coordinator, where he helped bring in a pair of nationally ranked recruiting classes. In 2017, the Lions went 8-2 and finished second in the Ancient Eight, the best season for the program since 1996. Columbia’s defense led the league with 13 interceptions and was second in points allowed (17.5 per game). Poppe’s secondary unit led the Ivy League in pass defense in 2016 and 2017 and coached seven defensive backs to All-Ivy League honors in his three years at Columbia.
Before his first stop in Cambridge, he spent one season as the assistant secondary coach at Holy Cross in 2010. He began his collegiate coaching career at the Division III level, serving as a graduate assistant coach for two years at Springfield College (2008-09) after one year as an intern assistant coach at King’s (Pa.) College (2007).
Poppe is a 2007 graduate of Williams College, spending three seasons as a starter in the secondary. As a senior, he was named an All-East Region honoree from Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and a first-team All-NESCAC pick in helping the Ephs to an undefeated 8-0 season.
For the full release from Columbia Athletics, click HERE.
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