NEW YORK—Columbia University's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli officially announced a variety of coaching staff additions on Tuesday morning.
 
Assistant Coach Justin Stovall has been promoted from Linebackers Coach/Special Teams Coordinator to Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Line Coach Andrew Kukesh moves to Defensive Backs Coach/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator, and Columbia adds three new assistant coaches including Paul Rice (Linebackers Coach/Special Teams Coordinator), Christopher West (Defensive Line Coach), and former Lions quarterback Sky Mornhinweg '16CC (Quarterbacks Coach). In addition, former Lions linebacker Justin Woodley '22CC is the Lions' new Defensive Assistant and Aaron Curry has been hired as an Assistant Player Personnel/Social Media Assistant.
 
After a successful seven-year run as Columbia's Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, Stovall moves into the Lions' Defensive Coordinator position. Under Stovall, Columbia has built a dominant and reliable special teams unit in all facets and a strong, dependable, and athletic linebacker corps. Stovall's units helped Columbia amass 24 victories over the last four seasons, the winningest four-year period at Columbia since 1948. On special teams, Stovall's units have established 44 new team and individual school records, led the league 15 times in various special teams categories including blocked kicks, kickoff return average, punt return average, net punting average, kickoff coverage, on-side kicks, and PAT kicking, and also ranked among top-20 national leaders in 21 different categories. His linebacker crews have consistently been one of the most talented, deepest and strongest units in the program.
 
Rice arrives at Columbia as Linebackers Coach/Special Teams Coordinator after serving as the Defensive Analyst with the Atlanta Falcons (2021). Prior to his role with the Falcons, Rice served as the Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach at Fordham University (2018-20) and coached five years at his alma mater Yale (2013-18), serving as Outside Linebackers Coach for the entire tenure and Special Teams Coordinator from 2017-18. Rice began his coaching career as an Offensive Graduate Assistant Coach at Georgia Tech in 2012. He also played one season for the L'Hospitalet Pioners (Barcelona, Spain) in the spring of 2011. Rice earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Yale, was a team captain, four-year starter, and First Team All-Ivy League linebacker/cornerback for the Bulldogs. A complete bio on Paul Rice is posted at this link.
 
West begins his new position as Defensive Line Coach after spending the 2021 season in the same role at Delta State University. He has also worked as a Defensive Line coach at NCAA Division III Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. (2019-20), Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs, Ga. (2018), and two seasons at his alma mater Valdosta State (2016-17). West graduated from Valdosta State with a Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. A complete bio on West is posted at this link.
 
A former Columbia quarterback, Mornhinweg spent the previous three years as Quarterbacks Coach/Offensive Coordinator at Midwestern State (2019-21). He also spent one year as a Graduate Assistant at Ohio State in 2018. Mornhinweg, who saw action in 17 games with 12 starts for Columbia in both 2015 and 2016, transferred to Columbia from Florida before the 2015 season. He completed 190 of 334 passes (56.4 percent) for 1,653 yards and eight touchdowns. He will now tutor Columbia's signal-callers as Quarterbacks Coach. A complete bio on Morhinweg is posted at this link.
 
Kukesh moves from Columbia's Defensive Line Coach to its Defensive Backs Coach/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator. Under Kukesh in his first season as Columbia's defensive line coach in 2021, the Lions combined for 26 sacks for 160 yards and 73 tackles for loss for 303 yards en route to a 7-3 overall and 4-3 record in the Ivy League. Senior Paul Akere was named an FCS ADA All-American and Second Team All-Ivy League selection after registering 42 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, and 5.0 sacks. Overall, the Lions' defensive line combined for 12.5 sacks.
 
A four-year letterman for the Lions at linebacker, Woodley assumes his new role on Columbia's coaching staff as Defensive Assistant. While battling injuries throughout his career, Woodley played in 22 career games with eight starts at linebacker from 2017-22. He made 64 tackles (26 solo), 6.0 tackles for loss for 22 yards, had one sack for 11 yards, broke up four passes, recovered a fumble, intercepted two passes for 16 return yards, and scored a touchdown on a recovered blocked punt. He also served a team captain as a senior in 2021. He is a 2022 graduate with a degree in Psychology. A complete bio on Woodley is posted at this link.
 
Curry joins the Columbia Football program as its Player Personnel Director and Assistant Social Media Director. Previously, he worked two years as a Graduate Assistant for Academics and Compliance at Wagner College (2019-21). A former defensive tackle at both TCU and Nebraska, Curry earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors and was a Wuerffel Trophy nominee in 2016. He is the co-Founder and President of the TCU S.P.A.R.K. program, which used the college athletics platform to inspire and encourage socioeconomically challenged youth to stay in school and high schools to give inspirational speeches. A Keller, Texas native, he is a 2017 graduate of TCU with a degree in Criminal Justice and went on to earn a Master's degree in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management from Wagner College in 2021.