Head Coach Greg Robinson, 2006 Media Day Transcript
Opening Remarks
“I’d first of all like to say welcome to the beginning of our 2006 season. It’s one that I think our football team, our coaching staff, the Syracuse University community, Central New York, all of New York, are looking forward to getting started. We are glad that we have 29 practices before the first football game. A whole lot of the hard work has been done from January to the end of July and now the fun begins. Training camp is part of it. We really are looking forward to getting started.”
What are your feelings this year compared to last year?
“I know that we have, in some ways, a more experienced football team that understands the world in which we are working, from just the approach of the coaching staff with the team, the system, to just overall familiarity. We’re experienced in that area. I can say there is a difference.”
What do you absolutely have to get done by September 2?
“We really have to get to where we are firing on all cylinders – offensively, defensively and kicking game. There are no preseason games so you have to get it right. That’s what the next 29 practices are all about is getting it right so that on September 2, we are ready to roll.”
Is there a difference in the atmosphere and the wild optimism of last year? Is that same enthusiasm and optimism for this year?
“You used the term ‘wild optimism of last year’. That’s your term. We were optimistic, whatever it is. Yes, we’re optimistic right now. I don’t know that we’re ‘wild optimism’. I don’t remember it like that. What I remember is a lot of people who were genuinely enthused about getting started and finding out where we were. I think I told you about a year ago at this time, you wanted me to make predictions. I told you I didn’t really know where we were. You have to go out and go. Am I excited and enthused about the start of this season like I was last year? Possibly more so.”
How important is genuine enthusiasm for these kids to go out there and get strapped up?
“The word enthusiasm, I think if you look in the dictionary, somewhere in there the definition spirited is involved. If you are feeling a spirited approach by our team, that’s a great thing. Football is an emotional game and those intangible characteristics and qualities are what make it a great game.”
How important are early games to get off to a good start?
“I think any season you are ever in, early games are very important. Trying to get things started in the right direction, I mean our intent is to win every football game. Last year was last year. It really isn’t what this year is all about. It’s about getting started right. I think that’s every team in America. I don’t care what sport it is, they want to get started right.”
(Quarterback) Perry Patterson said it was the most intense off season for him. Can you take us through his off season. What has he done to get ready for this year?
“I can’t really predict what kind of success Perry is going to have. But I know this, that if there is another person on this football team who has worked harder than Perry Patterson to be the best he can be, I’d like to see who it is. I believe that Perry has extended himself in a way that was unusual and it started in December of last year and has gone from January to today. I’m proud of his effort to this point. What he has done is given himself an opportunity. Many say that he deserves to have, no the world isn’t like that. You don’t get what you deserve, it’s what you earn. He has given himself an opportunity to be a better football player and a lot has been involved from physical effort to a mental effort to I think an emotional growth, as well. I think there has been an overall maturity in Perry and that’s a good thing. As a coach, that’s why you coach.”
How do you get these guys to believe they can win?
“I think it’s all about really gaining true confidence and true confidence is developed through hard work. Hard work and doing the right things right. As we go out there on our first walk-through today, it’s not just about repetition, it’s about perfect repetition. You take a bad repetition, you are creating a bad habit. The moment you begin to create good habits, you have a chance to do things right and you gain confidence. I believe it is a process. From the fundamental to the technique to the perfect repetitions, all of a sudden you begin to develop confidence. It goes from individual to team. That’s what the next 29 practices are all about. It’s about really developing. Not that there hasn’t really been a lot of that already taken place, but now it’s bringing it to a hit.”
Can you talk about the coaching staff changes and the difference in having a new offensive coordinator (Brian White)?
“First of all, I’m very pleased with Brian White as our new offensive coordinator and Phil Earley as our quarterback coach. What they give us is a lot of years of experience as football coaches. In Brian’s case, Brian has been an offensive coordinator for a number of years. He’s had success. Phil, in the same way, has been a quarterback coach for many, many years. He’s been an offensive coordinator for many years. I think that Phil is somebody who Brian is able to fall back on. I think it’s a nice combination, the two of them. I think that they have done a very good job. Both in their coaching careers have had some experience within the system that we are in. They have had to take on the terminology and the learning and have done a great job with that so that our players can continue to flow. I think being that they have been exposed to the college game the way that they have, gives us something that maybe we didn’t have a year ago, especially in the coordinator position. In (former offensive coordinator) Brian Pariani’s case, his role was professional football. We have a pro-style offense, but we do have an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach who I think can maybe have a better feel what these young college football players can handle.”
Is the running back situation any closer to being resolved?
“I think that I have stated that by the end of spring football, there has to be something starting to move. I felt that Paul Chiara and Curtis Brinkley had edged themselves out. Kareem Jones did some good things in spring ball. Kareem is going to get his work but right now I see Paul and Curtis are in a neck and neck situation right now. From the beginning of spring ball to right now that’s where I see it.”
What did Paul and Curtis do in spring ball specifically?
“I just think that it was just overall, everything. I think that it was running the football, running routes, blocking. It was all the things that are a part of it. I think that their consistency throughout the spring was felt.”
How much do you expect to see a Delone Carter and Andrew Robinson contributing?
“Contributing, I don’t know. I don’t know that. I have not worked with them yet. They are going to have opportunities through these 29 practices. We will know after 29 practices really where they are and have a pretty good idea if they can impact our football team early in their careers. There might be others as time goes on. We are going to work to expose the freshmen class, just as we did last year. A number of young players a year ago, including Bruce Williams, Curtis Brinkley, Nick Chestnut, Labar Lobdell until he was injured, were in that situation. We were feeling some of those young people early in camp and so we will see how it goes. I can’t tell you now, I haven’t worked with them. Going from high school to college, there is a difference. We know that. We have also seen examples of young freshmen that have made contributions on teams.”
How are Joe (Fields) and Bruce (Williams) adjusting to position changes?
“Well Bruce has been there (safety) all spring and Bruce is working very hard. I thought he made progress in spring ball as he worked his way through spring football. I know that he worked hard all summer, that’s just Bruce. In Joe’s case, Joe has never truly practiced with the football team at the safety position. Now, I know from everything that I’ve gotten, that he has worked extremely hard to put himself in position to go out and to perform here in training camp. We will make sure we know where Joe is early in camp.”
What traits did you see in Bruce that made you think that he would make a good corner or safety?
“Bruce is a safety. You like to have a safety who has quarterback like abilities mentally in the secondary. When you have a safety who has the abilities to make others better, that’s a plus. I have experience with a number of players like that in my past and I think that Bruce has those kinds of capabilities. I think that he is one who will be in position most of the time in the right spots. I think that he can get others in the right spot. He is learning how to be aggressive as a defensive football player. So I’m interested in watching his growth this camp.”
What’s your view of the oracles who see your team as a last-place team in the BIG EAST?
“I say this. One is, ‘Who do you sanction?’ Two is, I can’t really worry about all those things. I’m a believer of it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. I tell the story, and you can go back and look at it, I don’t know if it was Street & Smith’s or whoever it was, in 1996, they had the Denver Broncos picked to finish fifth in their division. That is fifth in the division, not in the AFC, fifth in the division. When we were 13-1 and had home-field advantage, it was a whole different look. I knew we had a good football team and you don’t really worry much about it. I like our team. How good are we going to be? Time will tell. I like where we are heading. If it can motivate, that is wonderful. I don’t worry about it.”
Will you predict a non-cellar finish?
“I’m going to tell you this. We are a better football team. We are a better football team. I told you what Mack Brown told me. Mack Brown copied Lou Holtz and he said after his 1-10 season, we’ll win twice as many games. Well, I’m not going to tell you that so that way I don’t feel like I’m jinxing myself. We are going to win. This football team is going to find a way to win. How many? I don’t know but we are going to find a way to win.”
What impact will losing senior leadership of last year have?
“They’re gone. This is this year’s team. This is the 2006 team. How come those guys were good leaders last year? Who’s to say who were really the good leaders? That’s your opinion. You never asked me who the good leaders were. I’m not telling you that they weren’t. We had a lot of good leaders last year and they weren’t just all seniors. When you become a senior, you change. We have good senior leadership right now on this football team. We have leadership in the junior class. We have leadership in the sophomore class. We do. I can tell you this – my gut feeling about some of these freshmen, we have leadership in the freshman class. Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. I know this – this team will not lack for leaders. I can tell you that just from everything that I have picked up from everything that has gone on all summer. Last year’s team was last year’s team. This year’s team is this year’s team. Leadership will not be an issue.”
What did you personally learn from last year?
“I just think I need to stay the course. Stay the course. I really believe that. Don’t deviate. If you believe what you believe in, stay with it. I believe what we are doing. I believe we are headed in the right direction. I just say keep at it, keep at it. I believe that.”
Do position changes make you feel like you have an even younger team?
“Really Jameel McClain moved from linebacker to defensive end, but he did that during the season last year. He played in games as a defensive end last year. I don’t want to come off like I’m going to make excuses for our football team. I’m not worried about our experience. I’m not. We are just going to work to get it right. That’s what we have got camp for. I told you at the end of spring ball, we needed to get our offensive and defensive lines going. We still needed a real good summer and we need a real good training camp. That’s where we are coming from right now. We need to put the final touches on it.”
Can you talk about losing three of you five starters on the offensive line?
“In losing those starters, they’re gone. Now it’s a matter of replacing them. The offensive line is an area that takes a lot of work. It’s a position that they’re asked to do things that maybe are the most difficult techniques to do on the football field and it takes a lot of work. That is what it is. We’re working very, very hard. I saw progress. I saw progress in spring ball. I saw young players from the season make improvements during the spring. Are we there yet? Nope. We still have work to do on that offensive line. I get every indication that they have gone above and beyond to try to get themselves right all throughout the summer.”
What are the positives to having a lot of new starters this year?
“First of all, on the defensive side of the ball, we lost seven starters. But we played 20 players on defense almost every game. So there were people gaining experience, even though they weren’t starters. There were starters who we lost last year who hadn’t been starters. For example, Steve Gregory moving back to defense and Ryan LaCasse finally getting a chance to be a starter. Tommy Harris had never been a starter. K.J. (Kelvin) Smith had never started at the middle position. I can’t worry about it. I don’t worry about it. I just need to get it right. That’s really how I look at it. I don’t have a major concern that we aren’t going to get these guys ready to go by September 2.”
Can you just talk about your emotions, going to bed last night, waking up this morning, walking out on this field knowing that camp is under way?
“Went to bed. I fell asleep quickly. Slept soundly through the night. As a matter of fact, I woke up to the alarm. Now that is unusual. When I woke up I was ready to roll. 5:30 a.m. My wife was ready, too. She was fired up.”
What was it like walking onto the field this morning for the first practice?
“It was great. I loved it.”
Can you talk about the strength of the linebacker position?
“I like this group. I really do. I think that they are good. I think that they are a good linebacking corps. I like the depth of it, as well. I think that with Luke Cain, K.J. Smith and Jerry Mackey, they set the pieces that we need. I like that position. I think that is a position of strength. I think that we can take advantage of their abilities.”
Are the linebackers likely the strength of this defense?
“I would say going into training camp, yes. I think it’s clear that it is the strength. I think that great leadership comes from them. They understand the system well and they can play. I think it’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to watching the development of the back end as well as the front.”
Are there noticeable differences between Coach Pariani’s and Coach White’s offenses?
“No because it is really our offense. Brian (Pariani) brought that offense from Denver. I can tell you this –
there is half of that offense that was never even touched last year. There is a whole lot of offense that can be used. How Brian (White) determines to use it will have a lot to do with the group of players that we have. Like anything, offense, defense, kicking game, you try to use your strength and hide your weaknesses. The offense that is in place and the system that is in place is the same offensive system. Now how it is utilized and what parts of it that will be utilized, time will tell.”
What kind of challenge do you think the schedule brings?
“I suspect that there are some guys that would like to say that you would want a breather. As I have told our football team – this is Syracuse University. Syracuse University. You look at our non-BIG EAST schedule. Wake Forest, Syracuse should be playing Wake Forest. Iowa, Syracuse should be playing Iowa. Illinois, Syracuse should be playing Illinois. Miami of Ohio, when you talk about Mid American Conference, Miami of Ohio, they play ball. We should be playing them. Wyoming, I watched that bowl game two years ago against UCLA, we should play Wyoming. We should play teams from California and Washington and everywhere around America because this is a national program. In this day and age, that’s the challenge that we have. That’s what Syracuse University is all about. It’s fine with me.”
How much is confidence psychological and what did you learn last year about keeping confidence on this staff?
“I think psychology is a part of it. It’s still got to be real. It’s not lasting. I see it as something that it is an inner strength, it must be developed. It has to be developed. Can it be shaken or moved? Of course. You work hard to fight it and get it back on track. It’s confidence in yourself and it’s confidence in your teammates. It’s the word trust. Trusting yourself, trusting your teammates, trusting your coach. It’s the fundamentals, it’s learning how to block, how to drive block. It’s the technique, the body position, the things that you do. Now it’s the repetition and doing it the right way time and time and time again. Now all of a sudden you begin to develop confidence. Trust in yourself and then you trust the one next to you and you trust them all around you. That’s really what it is. Is that psychology? Maybe understanding it is and understanding that you are taking on those things. It isn’t just going out there and thinking about it. I always talk about visualization. Visualization is about doing the right things. Doing them right in your head. Not just kind of on a whim. ‘I’m going to go out and make a lot plays today.’ It’s much deeper than that.”
So you are not one of these coaches who will bring in a motivational speaker?
“The mind is huge. I think it’s very important. That is all about what somebody can teach us all maybe how to focus – maybe when we are losing focus, how to get back on track or maybe teaching us on things on how to control your mind. I can’t tell you that I’m an expert in that area. Maybe I have learned techniques. There is a lot to be learned. I take that very seriously.”
Do you have something specific you want to say to the fans?
“My message is number one, I can feel the energy and the enthusiasm that the people of this community have for this program and, specifically, I know how badly they want this football team to win and to win in a way that they can appreciate it. We are on our way.”
