Head Coach Greg Robinson 2006 NLI Press Conference Transcript
Greg Robinson’s opening statement:
“I think a lot was accomplished in the 2006 recruiting season. I think that we addressed some needs. I think that we have balance in the class in a way that I had talked about a year ago that I think is necessary here at Syracuse, academically. I think we have a group of young student-athletes who truly fit the profile that we are looking for: talented football players who know the importance of their academic world and their social behavior. I think that there’s a theme that runs through all of them and that’s their love for the game of football. That was really important to us. You really have to scrutinize and do a good job of studying and analyzing through this process to find those types of individuals.
”I think our coaching staff should be commended. They traveled to Ohio, all the way down to Virginia, and parts in between. It’s nice to see that we again added six more players from the state of New York. That’s 13 players over the last two seasons, two recruiting classes, which is good. There’s been a lot of hard work. In the recruiting process, you have to be willing to take a hit and get up and go again because that’s the nature of the business. I wish I could tell you we got every prospect that we were after. We didn’t. But I do know this – that our coaching staff truly, truly competed very, very hard. I think we have a real fine product. As our staff grows here at the University, it just becomes easier to identify those who fit and showing them what the product is and what it has to offer. These are the things that, in the past year, it’s been a year and a few weeks, a lot of hard work. I think that we’ve made a step in the right direction.”
”I think our coaching staff should be commended. They traveled to Ohio, all the way down to Virginia, and parts in between. It’s nice to see that we again added six more players from the state of New York. That’s 13 players over the last two seasons, two recruiting classes, which is good. There’s been a lot of hard work. In the recruiting process, you have to be willing to take a hit and get up and go again because that’s the nature of the business. I wish I could tell you we got every prospect that we were after. We didn’t. But I do know this – that our coaching staff truly, truly competed very, very hard. I think we have a real fine product. As our staff grows here at the University, it just becomes easier to identify those who fit and showing them what the product is and what it has to offer. These are the things that, in the past year, it’s been a year and a few weeks, a lot of hard work. I think that we’ve made a step in the right direction.”
Robinson on the physical size of the class:
“That’s true, even though I’m a believer that size is wonderful if people are able to utilize it. I think that there’s an effective weight that we spend a lot of time working to find within our system with our strength and conditioning coaches. The offensive line was definitely an area that we wanted to address. I think that we helped ourselves at the tackle position and we did all the way through the line. We got an outstanding deep snapper who will also get into the competition of the offensive line play in Ian Hammond. He is going to walk in and make a difference as a deep snapper and a short snapper, as well as get into the mix as an offensive lineman. I think we helped ourselves in the interior part of the line. If you go through winning programs and programs that I’ve been a part of that have won, you find intelligent people in that offensive line and that’s been a priority for us. Not only are these good athletes and good-sized athletes, I think there is also that theme of these guys can think on their feet. That’s so important in the offensive line.”
Robinson on why he wanted to address the offensive line:
“A year ago we didn’t really bring any (offensive linemen) in. We had lost two or three players from the year before and then four seniors went out this year. The numbers were low. We had to get some numbers. We had to create as much of a competitive environment as we possibly could and that’s why we even signed a junior college deep snapper who can play and another junior college offensive lineman who will come in this summer so that we have some experience in the competition. I’m pleased with the offensive line. I look forward to getting them here and getting going. When we infuse them with the group that we have it will be a very competitive environment. Everything we are trying to do is to try and create that and I feel strong that this group will develop. We will develop a fine offensive line.”
Robinson on if the incoming offensive lineman will compete for starting spots:
“Time will tell. I think that there might be some of that. There might be. From high school to college is a different deal. How they adjust, time will tell. There’s some people in there who I think are mature enough, I know they are mentally, and we’ll see how physically mature they are when they enter school, but might be able to jump in there and at least compete with those players that have returned, and hopefully compete early. It’s a position that it’s not as simple, but it can be done.”
Robinson on getting “Mr. Ohio Football” running back Delone Carter:
“It says a lot about our whole program. First of all, (assistant coach) Steve Russ went in there and did a remarkable job of putting the Syracuse product on the table for Delone Carter and his family, and this started last spring. When Delone came here, I think our staff starting with (director of football operations and player development) Reggie (Terry) and (coordinator of academic support for football) Scott Freeney, (strength and conditioning head coach) Will Hicks, (strength and conditioning assistant coach) Hal Luther, (running backs coach) Desmond Robinson, and (offensive coordinator) Brian Pariani. Everyone, from last spring to now, has done a very good job of interacting with Delone and his parents. I think it’s a real credit because Delone is a gifted football player. On top of that, he fits the profile. He really does. This is an achiever in his own way and he’s going to be successful in every way at Syracuse.”
Robinson on (Delone) Carter’s gifts:
“He’s a fine runner. He’s doing it at a high school level. He has to be able to bring it to college. I see a competitive spirit in him in everything that’s displayed on the field. He runs, he blocks, he’s even been on defensive blitz, and he makes plays. He’s down, then all of the sudden he breaks three tackles and he comes out of it. He just has a very strong will to win. On top of that, back in his junior year of high school, he had some academic issues. When it was mapped out for him what he specifically had to do, he’s done nothing but succeed in everything that he’s been asked to do. I’ve been to that school. I see the respect from the student body to the coaching staff, to the counselors, to the teachers. He has everybody’s respect. When you take a person like that, he’ll find a way to achieve.
“Delone is a good back. He can explode. He’s got strength and body balance, and he is competitive. Those are good qualities to have. Does he still have room to develop? Yes, he does. He has some things that you like to work with.”
Robinson on if (Delone) Carter will make an immediate impact:
“The thing that I’m looking forward to, first of all, is the competition this spring with our tailbacks. I see it already. It’s been two days of off-season conditioning. I see some guys who are hard at work. They’re working those lines together and I think it’s a very spirited competition already. That’s a good thing, because I’d like them to compete and compete and compete and see what emerges from them and then I would hope that we can infuse Delone and let him jump in there and compete next fall to see where he stands. I think that it starts with who is here, and then give Delone a shot at what he can do. Similar to what we did with Curtis Brinkley last fall camp. Curtis had the misfortune of his father’s illness throughout the season. It was hard on him, but Curtis was able to display some things in training camp as well. It will be interesting, but I look forward to spring ball to see what happens with our group of tailbacks. Then from there, now Delone comes in and let’s see where he stands with those guys.”
Robinson on quarterback Andrew Robinson:
“Andrew had only been a quarterback for a couple of years. It wasn’t like he played in fourth grade and he was the quarterback. He played different positions and played different sports. In freshman year of high school, he became quarterback. All of the sudden, you begin to put together what you see in his sophomore and his junior years, and you see a maturity taking place. Physically, he has some real abilities. He can throw the ball, he can throw with accuracy, he can throw with power. He has a strong arm, but he also has touch. He’s willing to stay in the pocket. He doesn’t get distracted by pressure. He can maneuver. He has a presence about him, maturity and leadership, and he’s a poised athlete. Is there room for improvement and room for growth? Absolutely. That’s also exciting. I think he is just scratching the surface. I think he has a lot of qualities. He’s intelligent. He has a lot of qualities that fit what we’re looking for at the quarterback position. The quarterback position in our offense is like a point guard in basketball. He has to deliver the mail. He has to make others look better. That’s his job –passing the ball with accuracy so the receivers can catch the ball and run and go with it, getting us out of trouble when he can identify problems, and so on. I think that Andrew fits those things. To what level will he be at when he comes in here? I don’t know that. I know this – he is very diligent about wanting to get started. He’s chomping at the bit to try to get us to give him bits and pieces so he can get going.”
Robinson on if the quarterback position and Andrew Robinson was the No. 1 recruiting priority:
“We identified a number of quarterbacks who we thought were gifted. We went out and decided that there were three of them who we wanted to go after. We offered scholarships to three quarterbacks and he was obviously one of them. We talked to him. If he was willing to get on board with us early enough to where he could maybe help in the momentum of the recruiting class, that we would leave it with the intent to just take one quarterback. He was willing to do that, so we were going to honor our word. I think that we’re fine. I like that Andrew is the young quarterback that will be working with us this fall.”
Robinson on if the offer not to recruit another quarterback was a risk:
“I never felt that Andrew Robinson was the kind of young person that if he told us he was coming he would change. We had been with his parents, we had been with his younger sister. They’ve been up to Syracuse a couple of times and we spent a lot of time communicating with them. I never ever, ever, in any way, doubted that if Andrew told us that he was coming, that he would consider changing. He’s held true to his word, obviously.”
Robinson on linebacker Parker Cantey and wide receiver Dan Sheeran:
“We are going to play Parker Cantey as an outside linebacker. Some would argue that he has enough offensive skills to play on the offensive side of the ball. Parker likes to play defense. He is a fine blitzer. He can cover. He makes plays. He has an aggressive demeanor on the football field. Here he is, from down in Brooklyn, wonderful parents. I’ll just give you an example of what he is all about. He comes up to visit on the weekend of our football banquet, this is not a family of great means, but he and his mother came up to the banquet, and I was pretty impressed that he came to show respect to our football team by wearing a nice suit. Might be a little thing, but I think that’s the kind of young person he is, but when he plays, he gets after it. There’s also another side to him. He’s a mature young man who I think has a lot to develop in a lot of areas. When you see the finished product here, I think everyone is going to be proud of what Parker brings.
“Dan had no choice but to be a good football player. He had a number of older brothers who were also pretty good athletes and they decided when he was very young that he would have to be pretty good, too. He’s been competing all of his life. He’s gifted as an athlete. When you say gifted, I mean physical skills, but there’s more to him than that. He’s a competitor. He’s intelligent and I think that he’s the type of player that because of the environment that he’s been in from a young age to now, he might have a chance to compete early in his career. Something tells me that about him because he’s been competing fiercely, I can tell by his demeanor. I’m very happy to have him on board with us.”
Robinson on wide receiver Andrey Baskin’s academic situation:
“I’m not going to get into all of the particulars, but he has some work to do. Andrey knows that and Coach McBride knows that. He’s working very, very hard. We can only guide him so much, but I think he’s working hard to try and make the grade.”
Robinson on if Baskin will make an immediate impact:
“He’s gifted in every way. He’s a big, strong receiver. He’s been a good safety, too. He’s a good football player with gifts. He has some natural things about him, a feel for the game. He’s able to make plays when it doesn’t look like he should. All of the sudden, he comes out of nowhere and there are three guys running, he tips the ball on one side and gets the ball on the other. He’s a fine football player. It will be interesting to see his role as he becomes comfortable here.”
Robinson on if the receiver position was a priority:
“I think that Taj (Smith), I think that it was important to get an experienced receiver if we could out of the junior college ranks. Taj Smith is from the east coast. He’s from Newark, NJ, went to Bakersfield Junior College. I went to Bakersfield Junior College so I know people there. We did our homework on Taj. I think that he is physically gifted, but he has done some real maturing since he’s been in junior college. He has marvelous work habits, it’s been displayed already since he’s been here. I think what he can help do is raise the level for the rest of the group just because he steps in and he is competing immediately. I think I already see it in the rest of the group. There is a serious already in the receiving corps that I think they know that it’s time to step it up a notch.”
Robinson on making changes in the coaching staff:
“It’s funny how things work out. I’m not saying that there was change needed. There was improvement needed. When Major (Applewhite) decided to go to Rice as the offensive coordinator – and we love Major, Major is Major – it also gave us an opportunity to assess where we were. Now, the next person who we bring in, how can he be helpful in a way that maybe Major even couldn’t be? How can this next person enhance our situation? I was very pleased when we were able to bring Brian White on board. I could see that with the qualities that he had and the experiences that he had, he would be a nice fit. Then, when Brian Pariani decided to leave, that’s my next objective. How are we going to take this opportunity to evaluate where we are? How can the next person enhance the situation even better? These have been, in my mind, great opportunities. I am pleased that coaches feel – and I tell our staff all the time that I believe that we have a fine coaching staff and I think that they should always feel that at any time they can improve their lot in life, then I’m all for it. I’m there to help them. I do believe that there are good coaches out there. Sometimes, what it does, it gives you an opportunity to maybe get someone that can fulfill something that might be needed in some other way. I don’t know if enjoy is the right word because there are a lot of phone calls and a lot of talking and discussion, but, I like the process. I’m doing everything to take advantage of it.”
Robinson on when (offensive coordinator) Brian Pariani officially left Syracuse:
“Brian is gone. Brian left Monday night. The process is at work. What I appreciate is that over the last six days before Brian left, Brian took the offensive coaches, specifically Brian White, and they were immersed. There were some real good football sessions that you don’t always get. I know Brian Pariani took a lot of criticism, but I also know this, Brian left a lot for our staff and our football team a lot to embrace and to take. The knowledge and the attention to detail that he brought will not go unnoticed. We will all reap benefits from those things that he brought to us.”
Robinson on the defensive line:
“I’m not concerned about our defensive line situation. I like our recruiting class a lot. I thought that were a couple of players at the end who would have been icing on the cake. That’s really how I looked at it. That’s recruiting. We won some real battles, too. As time goes on, I think we are going to win more of those than we lose.”
