The idea to host the final walk-through on Friday afternoons before Saturday games on the South Lawn came from Bagnoli, in his first year with Columbia after 23 years guiding Penn. Seeking ways to limit how much time the players spend on their feet, and understanding the commute to Baker Athletics Complex, at 218th Street, can be inconvenient, to put it mildly, Bagnoli saw the green grass in the middle of Columbia’s urban home as an opportunity.

“Given what we do on a Friday,” Bagnoli said, “we figured that was a good place.”

The two lawns, bisected by a pathway leading to Butler’s entrance, measure about 80 feet by 40 feet each, big enough to support the team as it walks through its plays (only those players who are dressing for Saturday’s game get to participate). Bagnoli, like most coaches, uses Friday simply as an opportunity to go over last-minute personnel looks and review the scheme. The players wear T-shirts and shorts, no helmets or cleats.

“The students really don’t get a chance to see them up close and personal,” Bagnoli said. “Just to get them down there in Columbia T-shirts and shorts, it’s positive.”

For many years, the two lawns actually formed a contiguous field, with stands framing the end zones to the east and the west, and the 50-yard line pointed due north, toward Low Memorial Library, the Pantheon-inspired centerpiece of campus. The rotunda in Van Am Quad was an aiming point for kickers. The Hall of Famers Bill Morley and Harold Weekes played there. So did Lou Gehrig, a versatile fullback (and not a bad first baseman, either).

Needing additional space, however, Columbia bought 26 acres in 1921 on a rocky hilltop at the narrow neck of Manhattan, above the estuary known as Spuyten Duyvil Creek. A football stadium was constructed in 1923 and finished in 1928, and the Lions have maintained that spot as their athletic home since.