“I think that the best jobs are the one's where there is no place to go but up,” Murphy wrote.

That is certainly the case for the Lions.

As for why he left Penn, Bagnoli said, “At a certain point in time, you run out of challenges.” That should not happen for a long time in his new position.

Still, Murphy said he expects Bagnoli to turn the Light Blue ship around and become “very competitive” within three years.

We have certainly given Columbia some abuse of late, but in three years, maybe the Lions will have joined the league’s royalty. The basketball team, title-less since 1968, appears headed in that direction after upsetting Yale this weekend with a better roster expected next year. And now with Bagnoli headed to Kraft Field, the football team could get there too.

Welcome to the Age of Columbia Athletics, I guess.

—Staff writer Jacob D.H. Feldman can be reached at jacob.feldman@thecrimson.com.