Head Coach Greg Robinson's Media Day Transcript (Aug. 4, 2007)
Opening Statement:
“I would like to start off by saying that it’s awfully exciting (to be starting the season). It seems it’s been forever for this day to get here. I swear after the BIG EAST meeting in Newport on the 14th of July, you’re ready to go to work after that – kind of destroys your summer a little – but really I’ve been chomping at the bit to get going. It’s exciting to get going and I appreciate you all coming out here to find out what’s going on. Without further-a-do, I’ll open it up to you.”
On the BIG EAST on the past few years:
“First of all, I didn’t have anything to base on what it was going to be like in the first year I was here. I just had come from the Big 12 and I was interested in planning the season out and getting a feel. It was pretty obvious to me that when we were going through the BIG EAST, and finished the season that year, that it was a very competitive conference from top to bottom and just comparing to the Big 12, I thought any of these teams could compete on that level. I think that last year represented that same thing. When you see the out-of-conference records against BCS teams and I just think that it is a very competitive conference and I don’t see that changing at all.”
On the biggest challenge of getting back to winning ways:
“I think that it’s a matter of staying after it. There is no magic dust or magic wand. I think a great example is Rutgers. They went four-straight years of losing seasons and all of a sudden they turned the corner and then the next season really turned the corner. You don’t know when it’s going to happen. It will happen here. Winning does breed winning. That’s why it’s important to get winning. I still think it’s one day at a time and one game at a time and that’s the way you look at it. When you start trying to see too much, you see nothing. That’s really what it is; maintaining the focus to improve and everything else will take care of itself.”
On if there is a sense of urgency heading into his third year to start showing more wins – especially in the conference:
“Well, I can tell you this, two years ago when we opened up against West Virginia there was a sense of urgency and I don’t think I change much – I am what I am. I work everyday to do the very best at what I do and that’s what it is. I like the progress this football team is making. I feel an excitement and the sense of urgency has been there since the day I took this job. I think if you went back to Texas or you went to Kansas City or Denver or the New York Jets or UCLA or N.C. State or Cal St. Fullerton or to Pacific, I don’t think they will ever tell you that I ever saw it any other way. There is always a sense of urgency to me, but there is also an excitement that the start of a season brings.”
On the running back situation and how he expects it to develop throughout camp:
“Obviously we have the Delone (Carter) situation (out with an injured hip suffered during Spring practice) and we have Curtis (Brinkley), right now, doing very well (returning from knee surgery). Curtis is making good progress and he’s running around and doing everything, but we are going to limit him for a period of time. It works two fold that way. When I talk to Curtis, I want to make sure that Curtis is very confident when we get going full go with him. It’s very important that I’m getting feedback from him, the trainers and the strength and conditioning staff – they’ve done a nice job, they really have. He’ll be interspersed into practice and certain things, but limited.
“After that I think that it’s obvious that Paul Chiara has gotten a number of turns and is an experienced runner for us. I feel that I got a good feel for Paul, but there are other players that I need to find out what they can contribute. I think that Jeremy Sellers is one. I went back and took every play that we had on film of Jeremy Sellers over the last two years in practice and it was, I think, close to 400 plays. I realized after studying the film that I’m not certain that we really were able to give Jeremy a chance to display what he can do. He never took a play with the starting group and was relegated to mostly third team type things. But I did see somethings in him that I was impressed with. One, I know he can run fast. Two, I know he is a tough runner. He is a very willing blocker and has a very good knowledge of our offense. We really have to find out what’s there. Next is Derrell Smith, a young running back who came into the program a year ago with Delone and at midyear came to me and talked to me about the possibility of going to defense. He saw the situation with Curtis and Delone (at running back) and felt that by going over to defense he could play sooner. I told him that would be great and halfway through the season he moved to the defensive side of the ball. He worked at safety. Then this spring he was working at linebacker and when Delone got injured we moved him over the last week of spring ball back to tailback. I do know this, that during training camp last fall, we got a chance to see him at times and the little bit we saw, I was impressed with his physical skills. I know his intentions are very good. So now it’s just a matter of trying to give him some reps so that we can see where he stands. I think that Daniel Bailey is one that we moved back to the running back position last Spring and we know that he is not the biggest back, but he can run. He has speed and we will give him some opportunities to display what he can do. We have a freshman running back, Doug Hogue, who we will do what we can to get him some reps early in camp just to see where he stands. We’ll find ways to give these people work. We try to spend time to get it organized and find out who can best complement Curtis. I always talked about how I thought Delone and Curtis were a good match. Their styles were different and it’s interesting to see what we can come up with.
”I’m confident that the running back position will be fine. I feel that way because I just see the people and I think there are some gifted people there and there is a lot of want-to. I say it, and I say it a lot, “One’s misfortune can be another’s good fortune.” So I look forward to training camp and really analyzing that spot.”
”I’m confident that the running back position will be fine. I feel that way because I just see the people and I think there are some gifted people there and there is a lot of want-to. I say it, and I say it a lot, “One’s misfortune can be another’s good fortune.” So I look forward to training camp and really analyzing that spot.”
On what “limited means” when referring to Curtis Brinkley:
“Well, I don’t think we will have him in team situations for a few days. I think it’s more of he’ll do the drill work with the running backs and then he will work with the strength and conditioning staff and the trainers to keep working on getting to, what I would term, 100 percent. I think that we’ll work him in and I’ll have to evaluate that after communicating with everybody. He’ll do things on the practice field, but I’m not going to put him in the full speed-type work yet. I’m not going to have him in seven-on-seven. I’m not going to have him in team periods, but he will do things like quarterback/running back exchange and things like that where it’s timing and all that. He can go and I’m just going to work our way slowly into it.”
On feeling uneasy about Brinkley’s situation:
“No, I really don’t. I think Curtis has a good understanding of what we are doing and he’ll be working enough with the position group to be working to get himself right. In the meantime, it’s working to help establish the other guys. I think we’ll get him going sooner rather then later. I don’t think it will be a real long period of time, but I don’t want to make statements because I really don’t know.”
On Jeremy Sellers’ health:
“He didn’t miss a game last year. I think he rated as our second or third best special teams’ player all last season. He did an excellent job on special teams. On kickoff coverage he was the first guy down on every single kickoff. On punt coverage he did an outstanding job. He didn’t miss a snap in the season last year. He got hurt in Spring ball. He pulled a hamstring, didn’t he? His status is 100 percent.”
On whether there is concern Brinkley won’t be ready for opening day:
“I don’t see that. I think Curtis will be ready.”
On where he would put Brinkley on a rating scale, percentage wise, as far as his health:
“You know. I don’t know. He can run fast. He can go right now. He can do a lot of things right now. Does he have total confidence? No. We haven’t put him through to much hard cutting. You know that type of thing. He is working his way into that.”
On the Orange being selected last in the BIG EAST:
“I think that’s more for you (the media). Again, I think I have told you this before, I go back to 1996 and you know we were an 8-8 football team at Denver the year before (1995) and we were picked fifth out of five in the Western Division of the AFC and Athlon and whatever the other magazines were, and I think you can go back and check it out, we were picked dead last and at one time (in 1996) we were 13-1 and had home field advantage (in the playoffs). Every year is a new year. Nobody knows and I don’t really worry about it. I really don’t. I just think it’s a matter of improving and just keep working. I really believe that.”
On if he worries about the ranking or uses it as motivation:
“I don’t even worry about it. I don’t have to [use it as motivation]. Our kids are motivated. To me that’s outside. Who do you sanction? I say that a lot. I sanction very few people. The only people I sanction are those people who are totally concerned about my well being. I know that they care for me so much that they are going to give me advice and they are going to give me their opinions that are in my best interest. All the rest of it, I can’t take all that and I don’t really worry about it.”
On whether or not he sets a bar to determine a successful season:
“I want to win them all. That would be really successful to me. I don’t know [if there is a level]. People want to talk bowl games – that would be fine with me. People want to talk winning season – that would be fine with me. But you know something, but when I say 7-5, I kind of say, ‘Well, who did we have to lose to?’ or 6-6 to go to a bowl game, who are the six teams that we had to lose to. I don’t know who we have to lose to. I know we have a demanding schedule and I don’t have a problem with that. But I don’t know which one of these teams we have to lose to. I want to win them all. We are going into every one with the idea that we are going in there to win. And who knows what’s going to happen? You know, I told you last spring I knew going into the season that Wake Forest was a good football team, but I couldn’t get up here and tell you, ‘Oh, look at their 4-7 team, but they are a really good team.’ No, I told you, ‘They are a very experienced football team and they are well coached and I see all that.’ They were a good team and they ended up 10-2 and with adversity, as well. You don’t know in this game. So, where are we? Time will tell. But in the meantime, I like our group. I like how we are improving. I told you last spring that I like our team. I like how they compete against each one another. They have something about them. They compete but they enjoy it.”
On the younger members of the team and their importance:
“I think it’s very important. I’m looking forward to watching the freshman class this year. I like the group that came in last year. I think that when you start talking about younger players, I think you will continue to see them infused. They are kind of moving up the ladder. Bruce [Williams] is a junior in college – I can’t believe it. Seems just like yesterday, Bruce and Lavar (Lobdell) decided to come here. There are a lot of young players who are working their way up the ranks and I see some gifted young people. And when I say gifted, I go beyond physical skills. I think they are going to make their presence felt on this football team. There a whole bunch of young people I think are making progress and getting better.”
On what he would like to see Andrew Robinson do in training camp:
“Just keep working. You know, I said it to you at BIG EAST media day that it’s very impressive for a young man who has been in this building for 12 months to be where he is. As I say it to you, he is a leader and he doesn’t demand it, he commands it. There is a difference. I think he understands his role. He’s very mature. Sometimes people ask me to compare him to people – and I’m not saying to the level of this – but I have been around some great quarterbacks in (Troy) Aikman, (Boomer) Esiason, (John) Elway, but a guy I think Andrew reminds me of, a little bit, is Trent Green. Somewhat of an underrated person, but the thing I loved about Trent Green was he made people around him much better. Trent is a giver and he makes those other players better. I think Andrew has qualities like that. The rest of it is just keep working hard. I don’t have to say a whole lot to Andrew Robinson. He has a great focus, a nice personality and he can work hard and laugh and enjoy himself, too. So I think its go through camp and keep growing. Keep helping others improve.”
On his prediction for an opponent that could do what Wake Forest did last season:
“Well, you guys know who the good teams are. I don’t know who is going to be 4-7 then be 10-2. I don’t know that.”
On how Mike Williams contributed in comparison to what he thought he would contribute:
“Mike Williams is everything I expected. I had very high expectations of Mike Williams and the thing I’m most proud of Mike Williams for is how he attacked summer school. I don’t ever worry about Mike Williams’ physical skills. But I think he has other qualities about him that if we continue to develop and we develop the whole person of Mike Williams, I think we’re going to have a special person. That is the thing I think is to keep building the esteem inside of him to be all that he can be and I think everything about him will just accelerate. I have a very high regard for Mike in every way. He’s a leader. He has a personality that is wonderful and infectious. He has excellent work habits and the ability to maintain focus and mature that’s what his whole world is about right now. I’m glad I still have three more years to work with him because I’m very interested to see what the finished product is with Mike.”
On the new linebacker corps:
“I have confidence in our linebacking corps. First of all, I think (defensive coordinator and linebackers coach) Steve Russ has done a wonderful job at raising these wonderful players. They aren’t really young players anymore. Between Ben Maljovec and Jake Flaherty and Vincenzo Giruzzi, they have been two and a half years committed to being the best they can be. They have some physical skills, all three of them, and they have helped with our special teams, as I’ve mentioned, so they have been in games and that’s important. But I think that there are some young players (at linebacker), as well. I think that Mike Stenclik and Parker Cantey made their presence felt in Spring ball. I think that it’s just a matter of getting out and getting to work again and see who we can get grooved in there and get going.”
On the significance of having (wide receiver) Taj Smith back on the field:
“Taj Smith is a very special individual and we talked about it in our meeting last night. Taj Smith came in here a year and half ago and walked into the winter program and on the first day he was here, on the first thing he ever participated in, to a man on our football team, he made his presence felt. It has never changed. So to get him back, just in spring ball to have him back out there again was a plus. And to think we get to have him for another year is a wonderful thing for Syracuse football. I mean he goes beyond his position.”
On what makes Smith so special:
“I think it’s not just love of the game of football because I see what he does in the community. First of all, he is a gifted athlete, but on top of that he has intangible characteristics that I think are rare. Number one, he has work habits that are outstanding. Two, he is a giver. He is a giver. He is always concerned about someone else. He really is – be it his mother or his teammate or kids in the community. That’s what he is and he can’t hide it. We always talk about your actions speak so loudly we can hardly hear you talk – that’s Taj.”
On defensive end Jameel McClain:
“I think Jameel is another year experienced. Really he was going into that [2006] season kind of feeling his way a little bit and I think he has a much better understanding of all that we are trying to do with him. We used him similarly to the way we used Ryan LaCasse, where he could do different things. I think with that in mind, he is more in tune with how he will be utilized. I think he is more experienced to doing those things. People understand him a little better, so people will be keeping an eye on him, but I think he will create problems for offenses. Sometimes with him creating problems it might be someone else on our defense who might reap the benefits sometimes. He’ll be one who has to be reckoned with.”
On McClain being compared to (former Syracuse All-American and current Indianapolis Colts All-Pro) Dwight Freeney:
“I never coached Dwight Freeney and I’m very slow to compare people to others. I don’t think that that’s always fair to do. I think Jameel is a very good football player.”
On McClain’s ability to rush the passer and how it changes play calling:
“First of all, he was a very consistent pass rusher last year. Now all of a sudden the double teams are more prevalent, but he creates things and others need to reap the benefits. It’s funny when we evaluate film, we grade, what we call twofers in how many times does that guy take two blockers and how many times is he singled up in one-on-one situation in pass rush. Then you get a statistic and a grade. That is the way you have to evaluate that. I think it’s very important that everyone in that (team) room sees that. Accountability isn’t just you and your coach. It’s in that room and they all understand it, they see it and they can chart it. It’s like tackles. People can talk about this guy made 16 tackles. (Former Syracuse linebacker) K.J. (Kelvin Smith) made 16 tackles in a game last year. Well, how many of those were where he was unblocked. Tony Jenkins is eating up two blockers. K.J. would be the first to tell you we chart yardage. When you make contact, how many yards after contact is made when you haven’t been blocked? We chart all that. In the room, they see that. Whereas if you’re making, what we call a circle tackle, when you’re coming off a blocker and making a play, that is a different deal. But by holding the room accountable all of a sudden that guy who is making 16 tackles has a lot more appreciation for that guy that’s eating up two blockers. When the media says, ‘Gosh, Tony Jenkins only had three tackles for the whole game,’ but K.J. was free in the line of scrimmage. Then all of a sudden K.J.’s saying, ‘You know what Tony, I appreciate what you are doing.’ I really believe football players play the game for respect. Back to the question, Jameel already creates issues and he will continue to do that. If they want to keep going one-on-one, he’ll make plays. If they want to double him up, then others have to make things work.”
On (strong safety) Dowayne Davis’s role in the secondary:
“What he did for us in the Spring was he showed us he has versatility. I think that opens a door for us to use him as a versatile player. If it’s sometimes as a corner-type player, be it nickel or be it a safety-type player, he’s capable of doing both. I see us trying to utilize those skills and trying to fit him into our system in different ways that most takes advantage of the things he can do. I think our system is one that we can adjust and adapted the pieces a little bit to fit the talent of what we have.”
On the cancellation of the Wyoming game:
“The scheduling, I really don’t spend a lot of time involved with that.”
On Wyoming head coach Joe Glenn saying Syracuse lacks class:
“That’s okay. That’s Joe. Joe’s a good man. Joe Glenn is a good man and if he made a statement, he’s an emotional guy, and he’s entitled to his opinion. I know that we don’t lack class. We have a nice operation here. I don’t have a problem with Joe Glenn. He’s allowed to say whatever he wants to say. I really didn’t follow the whole thing on it.”
On the idea of Syracuse getting a new football stadium:
“I have a whole lot of other things to worry about than, what’s the term, feasibility studies. It’s really not my world right now.”
On if he could wave a wand and have a new facility:
“I don’t know anything about what is being proposed or whatever. I don’t know any of that. (smiling) I’m trying to picture what a magic wand really looks like, because I wish I had one.”
On the freshman:
“I haven’t practiced with them yet. I’m very slow to assess and put things on people until I have real data and I can’t go by high school film and I can’t go by what my players tell me about guys, but I am really looking forward to watching them. I have heard some nice compliments by our older players about our group. The best thing I like about what our older players said about out younger players is that they work hard. That is a good thing to hear. That is what a coach wants to hear.”
On if some players recruited to play other positions would step in at running back:
“That’s possible. I don’t know right now. I kind of laid out what my plan is right now at the running back thing, but if need be and someone might be able to make a difference in there, we’ll do whatever we have to do.”
On the skill positions, including tight end, receiver and running back:
“You bring up two tight ends and you are probably referring to Tommy Ferron and Jawad. Nesheiwat. Tommy Ferron has made a decision not to come back to Syracuse. That was Tommy’s decision. He is dropping out of school. Well, he might be transferring to another school, but he’s not transferring to go play. He has quit football. A year ago at this time, Tommy wanted to quit football and sitting down and talking to him and his parents he decided to come back and go through training camp. After about a week he decided he was great. But after going through this summer weighing it all he just decided he just doesn’t want to play football. He feels like he doesn’t have the love of the game to go out and play.”
Mike Owens making the switch from linebacker/defensive end to tight end:
“It’s interesting because before we even know Tommy was going to quit I really felt like Mike Owen – the outside linebacker/defensive end for us – might make a good tight end. I knew he always had offensive skill just from his high school days. I approached him in June about the thought of becoming a tight end. He was willing to give it a go and we are going to put him to work here. He’s a physical football player. He’s a good athlete. He has good hand-eye coordination and he is a very accountable football player. I think bringing a guy like that to our offensive side of the ball gives us more of a dimension in that regard. It will be interesting to watch his progress, as well as the other young players.”
On the deep threat opening up the running game:
“I think that when you talk about Taj (Smith), Mike Williams, Lavar (Lobdell), Rice Moss and Danny Sheeran and Donte Davis that it is a nice receiving corps. We have to do everything we can to exploit that. The running game, I know Curtis is an excellent runner, but I think the responsibility is going to fall on the offensive line, just like it will in the passing game. The players will tell you what they’re looking forward to is the development of our line. That’s been probably the most talked about position since the season ended last year and I’m really looking forward to their development. I watched them in the Spring and I thought I saw a real growth. I know this, from everything and every indication I’ve gotten, they have worked extremely hard this summer to get their game ready.”
On (quarterback) Cameron Dantley’s time in training camp:
“He got every other rep in Spring ball. You know it won’t be that many now because we have young kids we want to get in and get involved. Cameron, right now, ended up as the backup to Andrew after the Spring, so he’ll get plenty of work.”
On (running back) Delone Carter’s status:
“Right now we don’t plan on playing Delone this fall, but he has been training very hard. He cannot run right now. The doctors have held him off. I don’t know if he can or can’t, but it has not been something he has done. He has done a lot of work and he’d love to get going and try to get back at it. The doctors will sit down with him again next week and give him a thorough update of where they see him. This will be really the first major update that we’ve had. But, he has worked extremely hard with our trainers and with (strength and conditioning coaches) Will Hicks and Hal Luther.”
On whether or not he plans on redshirting the freshman quarterbacks:
“I haven’t really thought about that as of right now. I always say that redshirting is something that is earned and sometimes young student-athletes think because since they don’t play as freshmen that they automatically redshirt. No, that is a financial investment. I want to make sure we are investing in something that I believe is a product that with more time to develop and is going to come along and be a factor. So I expect young players to show enough as freshmen that we decide to redshirt. We give them the opportunity to go to summer school, which is like a whole year of education. So, I don’t like that we automatically redshirt somebody. In their cases, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is redshirting, but I really haven’t thought through it. I’m just interested to see where they are now, where their development is at this time, and how far we can take them along during camp.”
