For those of us old enough to have suffered through the calamity of the Greg Robinson Era, apologies in advance. We shouldn’t have to relive this ever again. But CBS Sports compiled a list of the 25 worst coaching hires since 2000, and our old friend appeared (understandably) on the list.
“Robinson was endlessly positive but the on-field results never matched his optimism. Robinson inherited a program that had only one losing season in 14 years under previous coach Paul Pasqualoni, but he immediately had the worst year in Syracuse’s storied history with a 1-10 record in 2005. He won only 10 games on the field in four seasons — five of those were later vacated — in the low point of Orange football.”
– CBS Sports
With respect to CBS for not overlooking the dumpster fire of Robinson, a no. 11 ranking is too low. His 5-37 record cited on the list factors in 5 wins that were vacated. But his 10-37 actual on-field record tells the more complete story.
His .213 winning percentage (without the vacated wins taken away), is good for dead last among Syracuse coaches ever. The next lowest is Reaves Baysinger at .286, who went 4-14 right after World War II. Robinson’s .213 makes Scott Shafer’s .378 look like Ben Schwartzwalder.
But those are just numbers that any one with Google can cite. You had to live it. You had to feel the hopelessness and despair every Saturday to truly understand what Robinson did to SU football. You had to cloak yourself in humiliation and darkness for four seasons. Because what Robinson did was actively murder the program.
Coach P’s effectiveness had waned and the Orange had begun missing bowl games and treading water with .500 seasons. So a change was needed, but just to recharge a program that still was reputable and only a few years removed from pumping out NFL Draft picks and competing as a league power.
Robinson was nicknamed “Groobers” by the Fizz, a name which captured the clumsy and comical state of his coaching. He attempted to reinvent the offense with a West Coast attack, insisted his defensive acumen would solidify the team, and kept selling the snake oil to a fanbase that had already gotten sick on the supply.
He went 1-10 in Year 1, with a ghastly 0-7 record in the Big East. In his final three seasons, he went a pathetic 1-6 in conference each year. Orange fans watched Rutgers rise from the dead to begin kicking the snot out of the Orange. South Florida and UConn looked like Michigan and Ohio State compared to SU. The defense was ranked as one of the worst in FBS annually.
A 2-10 record in Year 3 should have been the end. But AD Daryl Gross was too stubborn to admit he got it wrong. And Year 4 in ’07 was true devastation. “College Gameday” ran a segment on how far the Orange had fallen. The Orange lost to Miami of Ohio and had only one home win, over Buffalo.
The axe finally fell after the season, but the damage had been done. Syracuse’s brand suffered so dramatically, it still hasn’t fully recovered. Calvin Russell is the first 5-star football commit in 25 years. The Orange didn’t have a 9-win season for a decade after Robinson’s departure. Fran Brown’s 10-win season was only the second in more than twenty years. The program had been ripped to shreds.
So with all due respect to the other bozos on that list, Groobers needs to be higher because he actually drove a stake through the heart of the program, which is still not fully healed 15 years later.
