NEW YORK — Columbia's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Jon Poppe has announced the additions of AJ Gallagher, Greg Skjold and Justin Woodley '21CC to the coaching staff. Gallagher will serve as wide receivers coach, Skjold takes over as offensive line coach and Woodley, the former Lions' captain, will be the linebackers coach.
 
Additionally, Poppe has retained defensive coordinator Justin Stovall and defensive backs coach Andrew Kukesh.
 
"All three of these guys are exactly what we're looking for when building a staff," Poppe said. "Their experience within the Ivy League is going to be huge for us, both in recruiting and game planning. I'm really happy to continue to work with AJ and Greg after having success with them last season and it's great to bring a true Lion like Justin Woodley home. They are exceptional leaders of people and they will help foster a dynamic culture for our current and future student-athletes."

Gallagher spent the 2023 with Poppe at Union College as quarterbacks coach, helping the Garnet Chargers to a 10-2 record and a trip to the second round of the Division III NCAA Championships. Quarterback Donovan Pacatte was an All-Liberty League Second Team selection after finishing the season with 2,283 total passing yards, nine passing touchdowns and added six more on the ground. Prior to Union, he was on the staff at Princeton from 2021-22, where the program went 17-3 record during his stint and worked with current Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas.

Skjold, who was also with Union College last year as offensive coordinator, returns to Columbia staff after previously serving five years under Al Bagnoli as an offensive assistant. Under Skjold's direction, helped guide one of the nation's top running back combinations in Michael Fiore and Jonathan Anderson, who became the 27^th teammates in Division III history, and first ever at Union, to rush for over 1,000 yards in the same season.

Woodley rejoins his alma mater after being a quality control analyst at Stanford in 2023 and was on the Lions' staff as its defensive assistant in 2022 immediately after his playing career ended. He played five seasons for the Lions from 2017-21. While battling injuries throughout his career, he saw action in 22 career games with eight starts at linebacker and was a team captain in 2021.

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