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The Daily OrangeFB | When should Greg Robinson go? Now
He should go in the middle of the season
By Andy McCullough
Posted: 10/6/08, 12:42 AM EST Section: Sports
Removing Robinson alleviates all that pressure. A clean break, and Gross can focus on finding a qualified, quality new coach, something he's done, with one glaring exception, since he took over the athletic department.
• Firing Robinson takes a burden off the players.
A pall surrounds this program right now, with Syracuse supporters vehement for Robinson's dismissal. Callers vent on talk radio and readers rage on message boards online.
But the players on this team say they don't listen to any of that. Greg Robinson is their coach. They don't let the groundswell to remove their leader affect them. They remain in the bunker of the locker room, impervious to the outside world.
"Yeah, don't believe it," said Curt Lox, a sports psychologist and associate dean at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. "Of course they pay attention."
The departure of Robinson, the sunny symbol of Syracuse football's failure, removes some of that stress. This team has an overwhelming majority of underclassmen on its roster. Firing this coach sends a message: The athletic department will no longer let them flounder under Robinson.
• Firing Robinson gets rid of Robinson.
Well, duh. But it's important.
Here's a fun game. Pick the highlight of Greg Robinson's tenure.
The lowlights are easy (between Florida State in 2005, West Virginia in 2006, Iowa in 2007 and Akron this season, Robinson's reign feels like one sustained nadir, always spiraling lower and lower). But highlights don't come cheap. And they don't feel like much of anything.
How about the Wyoming game in 2006? Delone Carter broke out, scored four touchdowns, two in overtime to win at the Carrier Dome.
Yes, that was nice. Except the team lost the following five games.
Well, there's always that Louisville win last year, right? That was shocking: a wild win when facing a ranked team on the road.
Except we soon found out Louisville stunk. And, as usual, the Orange lost seven of its next eight.
Slim, hollow pickings, it seems.
There's little reason to deal with any more of this. No need for a defensive coach that doesn't use a nickel package and doesn't blitz. No need for a coach who refuses to go for a 4th-and-1 in enemy territory and gives up an opportunity like he did in last Saturday's 34-24 meltdown against Pitt.
"My record speaks for itself," Greg Robinson said last year. He was 7-26 at that point.
Let's face it: His record still rings out, loud and clear. So do the reasons to fire him.
Andy McCullough is the enterprise editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. You can reach him at ramccull@syr.edu.
• Firing Robinson takes a burden off the players.
A pall surrounds this program right now, with Syracuse supporters vehement for Robinson's dismissal. Callers vent on talk radio and readers rage on message boards online.
But the players on this team say they don't listen to any of that. Greg Robinson is their coach. They don't let the groundswell to remove their leader affect them. They remain in the bunker of the locker room, impervious to the outside world.
"Yeah, don't believe it," said Curt Lox, a sports psychologist and associate dean at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. "Of course they pay attention."
The departure of Robinson, the sunny symbol of Syracuse football's failure, removes some of that stress. This team has an overwhelming majority of underclassmen on its roster. Firing this coach sends a message: The athletic department will no longer let them flounder under Robinson.
• Firing Robinson gets rid of Robinson.
Well, duh. But it's important.
Here's a fun game. Pick the highlight of Greg Robinson's tenure.
The lowlights are easy (between Florida State in 2005, West Virginia in 2006, Iowa in 2007 and Akron this season, Robinson's reign feels like one sustained nadir, always spiraling lower and lower). But highlights don't come cheap. And they don't feel like much of anything.
How about the Wyoming game in 2006? Delone Carter broke out, scored four touchdowns, two in overtime to win at the Carrier Dome.
Yes, that was nice. Except the team lost the following five games.
Well, there's always that Louisville win last year, right? That was shocking: a wild win when facing a ranked team on the road.
Except we soon found out Louisville stunk. And, as usual, the Orange lost seven of its next eight.
Slim, hollow pickings, it seems.
There's little reason to deal with any more of this. No need for a defensive coach that doesn't use a nickel package and doesn't blitz. No need for a coach who refuses to go for a 4th-and-1 in enemy territory and gives up an opportunity like he did in last Saturday's 34-24 meltdown against Pitt.
"My record speaks for itself," Greg Robinson said last year. He was 7-26 at that point.
Let's face it: His record still rings out, loud and clear. So do the reasons to fire him.
Andy McCullough is the enterprise editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. You can reach him at ramccull@syr.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
michael
posted 10/06/08 @ 3:57 PM EST
great article. grob should have been fired after he went 1-10 his first season. no other school in the country would have put up with that. or the 4-8 season. (Continued…)
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