Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl J. Gross' Remarks on Greg Robinson
Opening Statement:
“It is a wonderful day for Syracuse University, Syracuse University football, Syracuse fans and the Syracuse community. After an extensive, thorough national search, we have found the coach that will lead the Syracuse football program to national prominence. His name is Greg Robinson.
“First of all, we are flattered by the interest in the Syracuse football program. It has been an incredible search. There have been wonderful candidates and extreme interest. At the end of the day, Greg Robinson is the perfect choice for Syracuse University. He brings so many brilliant ingredients to his whole scheme and he has done so many wonderful things. He has been in college football and he has been in pro football. He has won championships and has been at the championship level so many times. Two teams this year held that great Oklahoma team to minimal points. USC in the national championship held them to 19, but the University of Texas held Oklahoma to 12 points. That was with the leadership of Greg Robinson. His defense has been copied all over the NFL.
“When we picked a football coach for Syracuse University, we didn’t want someone who was just going to be competitive with the rest of the coaches in the BIG EAST. We wanted someone special. Someone that is going to be better and smarter and have great work ethic. You will see it on the football field. You are going to see great defense and exciting offense. Let me tell you if you don’t have your season tickets, you may want to get them now. This is going to be a lot of fun and we are going to have a blast doing this together.”
On all the candidates:
“We had some terrific candidates in this pool. I told you I was looking for a guy with NFL and college coaching experience and there are a lot of guys that have that. I think that this is perfect for Syracuse right now. It is the level of expertise that we need. Greg is witty and funny and he can talk, but at the end of the day, does he know ball and can he coach? Can he get SU to that BCS game, to that national championship game? I believe we can and one day we will have that opportunity.”
On coach Robinson:
“He comes in here with two Super Bowl rings and with four Rose Bowl championships. He is 8-0 in the postseason. He has a lot of experience. And it starts with the right leadership.”
On his contract with SU:
“I won’t get into all that. I will say that it is a long-term commitment and we believe in giving people opportunity to do all those things and feel stable. He will have the opportunity and resources to make this happen.”
On the other candidates:
“I turned over a lot of stones. I had some great conversations with some great candidates. There are a lot of candidates that will be college head coaches soon. And a lot of the candidates are going to be NFL head coaches soon. The fact that I got exposed to some great candidates is only going to help me help them and enhance their opportunities.”
On the search process:
“It was thorough. I have never, even at USC, went through a process as thorough as this one was and I am really proud of it. I have to say that Nancy Cantor is a wonderful, wonderful leader. She does not allow you to miss any aspect of the search. She was really constructive as far as that went. And I thanked her, because it allowed me to feel confident in the selection that we made.”
On if coach Robinson’s age mattered at all:
“No, that had nothing to do with it. Greg has tremendous energy. I don’t even know how old he is. He is around the age of Pete Carroll, obviously. I haven’t seen 20-year-olds with the energy of Greg Robinson or Pete Carroll. These guys know what they are doing and they are brilliant. They are about educating young men. They are really, really good at it.”
On the lows and highs of the search:
“There was no real low points because it was really impressive with the candidates that called and showed interest. It was incredible and I was really flattered by it. The high point was to go through all the candidates and to feel good at the end of the day that I have the right guy.”
On if the fans will be happy with this:
“I think so, but this is the thing, when we hired Pete Carroll (at USC) the fans were not happy about it. It is one of those things where, if you don’t understand it, you will understand it soon.”
