Greg Robinson: Program Destroyer

First, let me say that Ive never been the kind of guy who blames everything on the coach.  Ive never been that guy who thinks a coach should be fired as soon as he is hired.  I have never been that guy who wants to fire a coach after one bad season, even if its a really bad season.

Normally I believe in giving a coach, especially in college, a few years as a grace period.  Its understandable that a college football coach trying to turn around a program might need a few years to get his own recruits in place.

But there are exceptions to this general rule.  Greg Robinson has been nothing short of horrific as the head football coach of the Syracuse Orangemen (Yes I say they are still the Orangemen).  Since being hired in 2005, Robinson has compiled a depressing 7-31 record.  Syracuse football might not have been in the best shape when Robinson took over but it was nothing like it is now.  In 2004 the Orange did manage to go to a bowl game.  They got destroyed in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl but went to a bowl game nonetheless.

Coaches should be given a grace period, but tere are a few things that negate this grace period.  First, making the program worse than it was when you took over is not good.  sure you can have a really bad year in your first season, but when bad seasons continue it is clearly because the coach is heading in the wrong direction.  secondly, when a program shows absolutely no signs of improvement after 3 years under a coach, then the coach is not doing so good.

its sad really.  Syracuse football was once a proud tradition.  Syracuse was once one of the best teams in the Big East; today they are an embarrassment (even for the Big East).  There is no excuse for a coach like Robinson, who has so obviously failed, to still be coaching a once respected football program.  The Orange will reclaim their prestige, but not with Robinson.

... Hey George O'Leary, want to come back to Syracuse?