Greg Robinson Press Conference 09/09/07
Opening Statement:
"It's been a short evening and a short day for everybody. I've had a chance to study the film and somewhat assess where things are. I go back to last night's post-game interviews and I heard words like 'desperate' or 'discouraged.' I don't have those feelings. I feel challenged and that's a part of coaching and that really is the nuts and bolts of it. That’s what we are -- hard at work, working to do. The other thing I was asked about was, 'Is the offense broken?' When I really think about a term like that (broken), first of all it's not finished being built. It's a work-in-progress and there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle. When you think you have this part fixed all of a sudden another part sometimes gives. Same thing on the other side of the ball, as well as in the kicking game. Right now, I do know we're a 0-2 football team. We lost to Washington, which I told you I thought was a good football team and I'll tell you after playing Iowa, they're a good football team. The experience of playing at Iowa is good for our football team because it was an atmosphere that created some stress. At times we dealt with it well and other times we didn't. All-in-all there is a lot we can grow from."
On how he gets through these types of situations:
"First of all you, really have to analyze and address. There has to be – I guess the right word is – accountability. to issues and being willing to be honest with yourself and be able to express to other exactly what is. There has to be lines of communication. You have to make sure that there is communication. Then it's really getting to the issues and working very hard to solve them. I think in my 32 years of coaching there has never been a year when you don't have to address issues. Even in a win you come back knowing you have issues and that's part of the deal. But you really have to get on the same page with everybody."
On the second down and longs being a setback:
"It hurt us a bunch. We've had first-and-15 and you don't operate as well at first-and-15 as you do at first-and-10. You don't operate as well at second-and-14 as you do at second-and-six and on and on. We work hard to study those. How many of these are lost yardage plays? How many are penalties? And why are these lost yardage plays? Believe me, when you get behind in the downs it's very hard. The odds are against you and we're working hard to try and put the odds in our favor."
On using the pistol formation less against Iowa:
"A game plan is a game plan. The pistol is not the major issue. There are certain things in the pistol that are good and there are certain things we haven't really fined tuned in game situations. All-in-all it can give you some advantages if utilized properly, but we don't have to be just in the pistol. We'll be under center because we want to be."
On if he regrets setting up Syracuse's tough schedule:
"It's not an issue. It is what it is. It is the schedule. I think we're playing a pretty good football team in Illinois this week. We have to do what we have to do. All I know is this; we have to play Illinois this week. We played Iowa last week and we played Washington in the first week. Obviously, we weren't up to the challenge the first two weeks."
On if the team needs to get back to basics because of mistackles, dropped balls and penalties:
"I thought the mis-tackles were cut dramatically from the week before and there were a lot of good tackles. There were still some situations. Quite frankly, the defense was out there a lot and when you're out there a whole lot all of the sudden the odds are working against you a little bit. I saw a much improved tackling defensive team. When you talk about getting back to the basics, I think we're working on the basics – I really do. Some of it is accountability, too. In coaching I'll tell you this; I look at the kicking game: punt and punt coverage. Well last week we spent a whole lot more time on punt rushing for our punt team than we did our coverage part of it and I think it was because Iowa had several schematic things that they did that took a lot of work. It took a little bit out of our coverage process. All of a sudden you rob Peter to pay Paul and I see a breakdown in our coverage and you had real good coverage the week before. I do think we are a fundamental team that spends a lot of time on the basics and in certain areas there are some things that have improved and some things that still need improvement. We're going to continue to work on those."
On the reason for the dropped passes:
"I think it was a combination. I think that accuracy is always critical. Now, I tell our receivers all the time – and I played receiver – to make the quarterback look good. There are times when that ball is a little low and you have to go to the ground, but catch it. There are times when it's a little behind you, get your shoulders turned and get opened up so you can catch it. Make him look good. Then there are times when the ball is right there on the spot and we have to focus and catch the football. There were issues with both and quite frankly dropped pass or incomplete passes that are really open can kill you. No different in the running game when you have opportunities to make some nice things happen and all of a sudden there is a fundamental breakdown like we're talking about and it closes the whole darn thing up. We had a screen pass last night, and so often you hear that could have been a touchdown, but this one should have been a touchdown. Instead it's an incomplete pass, inaccurate throw. Those are the things we're working through. In some spots we're young and experience helps. We all want it all right now. I do too, believe me, I'm the first to tell you. I'm not one of these 'the five-year plan'. In fact, you know what; it's a process that you have to keep fighting through."
On troubles with the running game:
"You asked a question (earlier) about getting behind in the down. We had maybe three situations that were first-and-15, but on one of those first-and-15 plays there was a situation with the way it was set up that was good. We could have popped a run, but we made a line call that we didn't expect to make. All of a sudden what went from being a good looking play was just an ordinary one-yard gain. Some of that is just work and repetition and continuing to stay with it. As much as anything, when you've gone three-and-out, you've limited your opportunities to get things going. I keep saying to you, first downs – that's my thing. I want to see first downs because I believe when you start seeing first downs everything else gets going.
On what the number one problem:
"I don't know that it's like that. I wish I could just say this is the answer. No, I think it's a combination of all those things. You have to eliminate the penalties. You have to do a better job at blocking. You have to do a better job at catching the football. You have to do a better job at being accurate with the ball. I'm not going to say it's one of those things – it's all of those things. What you have to do is incrementally improve. If there were three drops and three inaccurate passes; if we can cut it down to where it's one drop and two inaccurate passes, we're improved. If we can be more consistent at hitting our targets in the running game by, let's just say, 33 percent better. All of a sudden we're better. If we just keep doing that, over time it gets better and better. There isn't just one thing. You have to work on all of those things. It's not just going to change over night. I don't think it is. I think it's going to be a process, but in the process you can still have success. What happens is as you begin to have more turns you begin to get a little bit more opportunity to improve. That's how I see it."
On improvements from game one to game two:
"On the offensive side of the ball, I did not see the dropped balls in game one like that. (Quarterback) Andrew (Robinson) was more accurate in game one. In the running game, we had more chances than in the first game, but there were opportunities. What you read, what the block is, all those different things, but you can see they're not that far off to make a big play."
On his assessment of (quarterback) Andrew Robinson:
"First of all in game one I thought he did a lot of things well. I thought there were still some decision-making things that we could have improved on. I thought in the game last night, I saw him get tentative – this was mid-second quarter. You got the feeling he was worried too much about the end result. I told him, 'Hang in there, do your thing, just go play. Get better. See if you can get better.' That's all I told him, just get better. I saw him in the fourth quarter of that game make two different throws and I though 'Wow, that's Andrew right there.' I think he can self correct. As he gets more into it, he'll be quicker. But he has that ability and when you find football players to self correct, they are fun to coach. He can get the inhibition to audible, but he had to fight through it a little bit. Let's believe that's going to help him down the road."
On former Syracuse All-American tight end John Mackey being honored at halftime of the Illinois game:
"Retiring John Mackey’s jersey is an honor that's well deserved. I have to believe his family and the Syracuse community will truly appreciate it. For me, as a tight end growing up in the game, there was no doubt in my mind John Mackey was the greatest tight end who ever played the game of football. For 30 years there was nobody who compared to John Mackey, in my opinion. Then, to come to Syracuse and have his great nephew (linebacker Jerry Mackey '06) playing for us, I thought was pretty neat."
On Illinois:
On Illinois:
"They're skilled. They had a tough battle against Missouri and they went down to the wire. Even though Missouri got out on them early, they fought back. Then yesterday against Western Illinois, I thought they handled them pretty well. I haven't been able to watch that film, but I've seen the numbers on it and I think they did what they thought they should be able to do."
On the offensive line breakdowns in the run game:
"Those things are apart of the game. A lot of communication goes on during a football game and a lot of identification. You have to be keen. That's why I tell you it's very hard to be an offensive lineman. I think it's one of the toughest jobs there is in the whole game of football because there are so many challenges and so many different things you have to be totally intune to. Then it has to work all the way along that line. They have to be in harmony together. So why does it happen? It happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes the defense creates it and sometimes it's not really seeing it, not really focusing and maybe not really understanding it. That is where we have to check as coaches and our check communications. We are going to get to it though. Things do happen and the thing you want to do is minimize them."
On playing more offensive linemen and what he sees with them:
"First of all I'm going to qualify it by saying they were going against their (Iowa's) second unit defense. But what I saw was an enthusiastic group of players who are very hungry to get out there and play. Sometimes the offensive line is the last group to be subbed, just by the nature of the way it is. There was energy coming from them and I think on several plays there was some good blocking that took place. I do qualify it by saying it wasn't that first front four, which I think is a very good front four."
On if Iowa was a low point of his three years at Syracuse?
"No, it wasn't my low point because I don't know if I have a low point. I don't look at it like that. I'm being challenged right now and that's great. That's part of the deal. This (the season) is a long haul now – it's 12 games. I’m going to be right up front with you; I was in some ways more disappointed after Washington than I was in this game because I didn't feel the fight of our football team in the second half as much as in the Washington game. On the road in a situation where it was a tough environment and things had gone wrong, I never felt our football team discouraged in any way. They knew there were issues and I believe when you still feel fight in your football team to the very end you're heading in the right direction."
On how tough it was to watch the first half?
"It isn't a matter of tough on me. I don't sit there and go 'Oh gosh.' It isn't about me. It's about the game and I'm trying to figure things out. All of a sudden something happens here and, boom, we have to get something going. We have to get this fixed, we have to get to this, and we have to get this going. It's 60 minutes and you don't have time to sit and think about yourself. Quite frankly, you shouldn't.
"It was tough on those guys out there playing. It isn't tough on me. It's a matter of getting them to where they can get it right. That's what it's all about. I just see certain mistakes that are made at that moment and I want to get that corrected. I want to get someone right. I went to Andrew and I talked to jhim. I got to Jake Flaherty and said, 'Come on Jake the guy is three steps out of bounds. You don't have hit him. Yeah, you held him up, but no you didn't have to hit him.' you're just working through the game and that's what it is."
On senior center Marvin McCall's health statues:
"We'll know more as the week goes on. He has a sore ankle, but I don't know how bad it is. I don't know that it's truly severe."
On the two blocked field goals:
"I didn't think the focus was good enough. That first kick would have made it – it was a good kick. And, someone said the snap was a little low. It was a little low, but John Barker did a good job of getting it right up there and they timed it up and hit it. We had a breakdown with two guys. They didn't use very good technique. We've been very good at that and it’s the same old thing: sometimes you think you have this plugged and you think you're pretty good here and all of a sudden, boom. That's sometimes how it works."
On allowing 77 points in two games and if he will be more involved in the defense:
"As I mentioned to you last week, I'm going to do whatever I think I have to do to help the football team. If that means to help the defense in some ways, I will. If it means to help the kicking game, I'm going to do that. If it means to do something to try and help the offense, I'll try and do that. That's the way it is. Quite frankly, I know the number of points, but when you go back and evaluate and the offense was starting plus 43, plus 29, plus 32, the margin for error is very, very fine. There's not much. But, in fact, there were a lot of good things done by the defense last night.
