SYRACUSE - Greg Robinson flashed his customary smile on Tuesday, even though the end of his painful rookie season as head football coach at Syracuse was still fresh in his mind.
Robinson and his Orange (1-10) head into the offseason with a nine-game losing streak in tow, the only victory coming against Buffalo, which also finished 1-10. And Robinson holds the dubious distinction that he coached the first Syracuse team in 116 years of football to lose that many games in a season.
“Did I plan on winning more games? Absolutely. Are we going to? I firmly believe it,” Robinson said. “I don't want to make excuses. It was frustrating for everyone involved.”
Not much goes right when you win only once and go 0-7 in the Big East, but in Saturday's season-ending loss at No. 16 Louisville the Orange finally showed signs of improvement in almost all aspects of their game. Robinson said he would spend the next month evaluating everything but didn't expect to make any changes to his staff.
“Rash, reactive changes aren't necessary,” he said. “There has been a lot established in the overall perspective. But if it's the right thing to do, that's part of my job.”
The well-publicized move from the run-oriented option game of former head coach Paul Pasqualoni to a pass-dominated attack was a bust from the start. It didn't help that the best quarterback on the sidelines to run the new offense was Major Applewhite, who starred at Texas. The problem, of course, is that Applewhite, who graduated four years ago, is now the Orange's quarterbacks coach.
The team offered just fleeting glimpses of what the West Coast offense could be as it struggled mightily with junior Perry Patterson and sophomore Joe Fields - who took turns at quarterback - throwing to an inexperienced corps of wide receivers.
Patterson, who started eight games, finished the season 130-for-273 (47.6 percent) and 1,504 yards with six TD passes and 11 interceptions. Fields was 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) for 155 yards, no TDs and three interceptions.
Preseason injuries to wideouts Landel Bembo, Rice Moss and Lavar Lobdell placed the Orange in dire straits right away, and the team never recovered. Of the 117 teams that play in Division I-A, Syracuse finished the season ranked 105th in passing offense (150.8 yards per game), 114th in scoring (13.8 points per game), and 115th in total offense (257.4 yards per game).
“We were dysfunctional all through training camp on the offensive side of the ball,” Robinson said. “All of a sudden I'm moving (freshman defensive back) Nick Chestnut over (to wide receiver) in the Buffalo game. He never played a down of offense in his life. We're kidding ourselves. We were at step one in an offense that needs those integral parts working for you. We were getting down to where it was just young children.
“That's why I'm not quick to pass judgment on people and young players,” Robinson said. “Doggone it, the kids were in there trying. They don't know what they don't know.”
When he took over last January, Robinson tried to create as much competition at each position as possible, and that mind-set will continue as the recruiting season intensifies.
Robinson must replace three standout seniors: defensive ends James Wyche and Ryan LaCasse and hard-hitting safety Anthony Smith, who anchored a vastly improved defense. He'll also look for defensive backs, offensive linemen, running backs and wideouts, but the No. 1 priority is a quarterback who will fit the new system.
The Orange already have a commitment from Andrew Robinson, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound star at Baltimore's Calvert Hall College High School who's generally regarded as one of the better high school quarterbacks in the country. Coach Robinson said he wouldn't be averse to playing Andrew Robinson next season, citing the exploits of Willie Tuitama, an 18-year-old who in his second college start led Arizona to a stunning upset of UCLA earlier this month.
“Every coach wants to have, down the road, his quarterback in the program,” Robinson said. “And I look forward to that day when I can say that this is the young man that I recruited and believed in, and go from there. There's opportunity for some young people to have an impact on the program early in their career. And there's many young people in high school coming to play college football that would like that chance.
“I'm not going to get hung on 1-10. I'm going to show that we're building something here. All I can do is lay it out, really sell it (to recruits). We're building something here. You come in and check it out.”
“Did I plan on winning more games? Absolutely. Are we going to? I firmly believe it,” Robinson said. “I don't want to make excuses. It was frustrating for everyone involved.”
Not much goes right when you win only once and go 0-7 in the Big East, but in Saturday's season-ending loss at No. 16 Louisville the Orange finally showed signs of improvement in almost all aspects of their game. Robinson said he would spend the next month evaluating everything but didn't expect to make any changes to his staff.
“Rash, reactive changes aren't necessary,” he said. “There has been a lot established in the overall perspective. But if it's the right thing to do, that's part of my job.”
The well-publicized move from the run-oriented option game of former head coach Paul Pasqualoni to a pass-dominated attack was a bust from the start. It didn't help that the best quarterback on the sidelines to run the new offense was Major Applewhite, who starred at Texas. The problem, of course, is that Applewhite, who graduated four years ago, is now the Orange's quarterbacks coach.
The team offered just fleeting glimpses of what the West Coast offense could be as it struggled mightily with junior Perry Patterson and sophomore Joe Fields - who took turns at quarterback - throwing to an inexperienced corps of wide receivers.
Patterson, who started eight games, finished the season 130-for-273 (47.6 percent) and 1,504 yards with six TD passes and 11 interceptions. Fields was 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) for 155 yards, no TDs and three interceptions.
Preseason injuries to wideouts Landel Bembo, Rice Moss and Lavar Lobdell placed the Orange in dire straits right away, and the team never recovered. Of the 117 teams that play in Division I-A, Syracuse finished the season ranked 105th in passing offense (150.8 yards per game), 114th in scoring (13.8 points per game), and 115th in total offense (257.4 yards per game).
“We were dysfunctional all through training camp on the offensive side of the ball,” Robinson said. “All of a sudden I'm moving (freshman defensive back) Nick Chestnut over (to wide receiver) in the Buffalo game. He never played a down of offense in his life. We're kidding ourselves. We were at step one in an offense that needs those integral parts working for you. We were getting down to where it was just young children.
“That's why I'm not quick to pass judgment on people and young players,” Robinson said. “Doggone it, the kids were in there trying. They don't know what they don't know.”
When he took over last January, Robinson tried to create as much competition at each position as possible, and that mind-set will continue as the recruiting season intensifies.
Robinson must replace three standout seniors: defensive ends James Wyche and Ryan LaCasse and hard-hitting safety Anthony Smith, who anchored a vastly improved defense. He'll also look for defensive backs, offensive linemen, running backs and wideouts, but the No. 1 priority is a quarterback who will fit the new system.
The Orange already have a commitment from Andrew Robinson, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound star at Baltimore's Calvert Hall College High School who's generally regarded as one of the better high school quarterbacks in the country. Coach Robinson said he wouldn't be averse to playing Andrew Robinson next season, citing the exploits of Willie Tuitama, an 18-year-old who in his second college start led Arizona to a stunning upset of UCLA earlier this month.
“Every coach wants to have, down the road, his quarterback in the program,” Robinson said. “And I look forward to that day when I can say that this is the young man that I recruited and believed in, and go from there. There's opportunity for some young people to have an impact on the program early in their career. And there's many young people in high school coming to play college football that would like that chance.
“I'm not going to get hung on 1-10. I'm going to show that we're building something here. All I can do is lay it out, really sell it (to recruits). We're building something here. You come in and check it out.”
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.