Hello: Defensive Coordinator Greg Robinson Comment Count

Brian

Greg Robinson-yelling Two reliable sources are reporting that Greg Robinson is indeed the guy at defensive coordinator; unless there's an unexpected derailment an official confirmation should come sometime soon. (Bonus, ethically dubious confirmation can be found at Maize 'n' Brew, which relays some goings-on at the premium sites.)

I've said my piece on Robinson already—in a word: yikes—and am pretty skeptical of the hire. However, I am not a football coach or even that familiar with Robinson's work except in a macro "holy God what happened to Syracuse?" sense. Rich Rodriguez is, and he's basically gambled his career on his future performance. All hail Gamblor!

Also: Michigan might not be done searching for coaches. LBs coach Jay Hopson is apparently searching for a job closer to home, further proving that nothing escapes Mississippi's inexplicable gravitational pull.

Yes, this would make it a seriously uphill battle to retain the services of either non-enrolled DT commit.

Commence panic?

Update: official.

Comments

Coloblue

January 20th, 2009 at 2:02 PM ^

This guy was a terrific DC for the Denver Broncos. He interviews as a gentleman and coaches as a coach. Put in a picture that is a little less on the maniac side. He isn't one.

iawolve

January 20th, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^

(and I hope it to be true) that RR used the full Michigan network to come up with GR. I am going to assume he did not get the full use of that alumni base last year and that GR has been vetted on a few levels. The other benefit should be an opening back into CA recruiting (maybe?). Else, it seems a bit odd.

J. Lichty

January 20th, 2009 at 2:06 PM ^

He did not steal premium content i.e. no wholesale quotation or reprinting - he credited Rivals Balas with breaking the story and saying there is smoke coming from the website. Should have provided a link, but not seeing any dubiousness there.

bronxblue

January 20th, 2009 at 2:09 PM ^

I can only hope that RR thought this through, as all empirical evidence points to GR being past his prime and a bad choice as DC. The only hope is that GR can maximize the talented group he inherits, much like he did with Texas. The one advantage that I think he has, at least compared to SU and one that he enjoyed (briefly) with UT, is that UM is a national brand, and enough top kids are already predisposed to playing there that he won't have to work too hard to get some of them to sign. That said, DC might prove to by RR's Achilles heel.

bronxblue

January 20th, 2009 at 2:20 PM ^

If this was 2001, I would totally agree with you. But after leaving Denver, he helmed one of the worst defenses in the league in KC, had a 1-year uptick not killing UT, and then 4 years of abject failure at SU. So the "empirical evidence" shows that he once was an acceptable NFL-caliber DC, but now may be on a steep downward trajectory.

PattyMax64

January 20th, 2009 at 3:15 PM ^

I am undecided on htis hire, but what i don't understand is how someone can be on the decline? Did he forget how to call plays? Did he forget how to diagram plays? Did he forget how to teach players? All doubtful.

What likely happened was that the players in KC either sucked or did not fully grasp his system in the 1 year he was there. He did a pretty good job in Texas, and in Syracuse he proved that he is an awful coach and recruiter, that is all.

matty blue

January 20th, 2009 at 3:58 PM ^

you're talking about "empirical evidence" of his skill as a defensive coordinator, but you're counting four years of lousy head coaching as .

let's play a game - name the offensive coordinator: after five lousy seasons as a college head coach, he spent four years as a successful nfl offensive coordinator, which got him his next job - one year as a head coach for the worst team in the nfl. so - you're john harbaugh, looking for an offensive coordinator. do you hire cam cameron? of course you do. the lousy years as a head coach clearly don't mean that he can't coach an offense, and coach it well. which he did.

Ziff72

January 20th, 2009 at 2:14 PM ^

I'd like to see how RR spins it to us. Is he going to lean on the Super Bowls from the Middle Ages as his crutch for the hire and sweep the whole Syracuse thing under the rug or is he going to bring up something fresh that we haven't thought of to make it sound like a great move.

mspeters

January 20th, 2009 at 2:24 PM ^

'And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words I found a coach that I could keep.'

Hope is only as good as its object. Let's hope he's good.

TheMichiganDif…

January 20th, 2009 at 2:25 PM ^

I expected Rodriguez to make a splashy hire and revive our spirits after the worst season imaginable. This is not restoring my confidence in Michigan football.

Super Bowl DC + Barwis + ninja offense better = lots of wins, or this alum is going to start taking the writing on the wall seriously.

goblueLA

January 20th, 2009 at 2:27 PM ^

Mile, you're quoting stats from 10+ years ago. This guy is a disaster. In not being to attract a decent D coordinator, I hope this is not a sign that we're losing our luster.

This is not good.

jblaze

January 20th, 2009 at 2:30 PM ^

but saying, "However, I am not a football coach or even that familiar with Robinson's work..." and then to basically condemn him, while generally believing that RR was a good hire doesn't make sense to me.

If you are going to throw GR under the bus, at least put some research into it man.

There are definitely positives about him (2 Super Bowls, ~10 years of NFL DC experience, a good D at Texas, positive Texas fans views on him, improved Denver D).

As has been said many times, a HC is not a DC and vice versa. They are 2 different skill sets, and recruiting at Syracuse isn't like recruiting at M (meaning that we are better).

GO BLUE!!!

wolverine1987

January 20th, 2009 at 3:09 PM ^

there. Brian (plus Chitown in a diary post) laid out stats of Robinson's coaching tenure. They are not impressive, for the most part. So saying that one isn't familiar with someone else's work (having not, as most of us don't, watch Syracuse or non-M football every game) but that the stats look bad, is perfectly logical.

jblaze

January 20th, 2009 at 6:43 PM ^

his HC experience at Syracuse (which makes him look like the worst coach ever, no question) should not be compared to a DC position. Those stats are not comparable.

Also, I don't but that he is 1/2 a HC, because obviously RR decided to put his influence on Shaffer with the whole 3-3-5 debacle, so he does pay attention to the D, and I'm sure will continue to pay more attention to the D.

HailHailToMichigan

January 20th, 2009 at 2:30 PM ^

He has success in both college and the NFL as a D-Coordinator. He also runs a defensive scheme very similar to what's commonly used in the NFL. That has got to look good to recruits.

He may not be the sweet talking southerner who will go to the recruits house and woo his mother. We have other guys for that.

mtzlblk

January 20th, 2009 at 2:38 PM ^

OK, so I can't really get excited about this hire. Maybe I can reserve judgment pending some results, but I think this choice for DC puts that out another year, as in i won't expect great things out of him his first year. Concerns are that he seems to be highly dependent on having top-flight personnel to work with, yet does not seem to be able to recruit such personnel. I don't believe he has the roster to be successful at present and by all accounts he is a liability in terms of recruiting. Prognosis? Put my faith in RR's hiring chops? Hmmmmm...

Bigger concern, is this really the best candidate we could pull and what does that say about UM's desirability as a coaching destination? If I look at the opportunity objectively, I don't think I would consider being DC at Michigan my dream job given recent history and the outlook for next year. I would look at it as a giant opportunity to be told what to do and to get hung out to dry in the next year or so, at least. Is it possible that RR called on a bunch of potential candidates and was told 'No thanks' and thus reduced to Robinson as the best alternative?

Color me skeptical, I guess. I am just scared that the perfect storm of events that resulted in the debacle that was last season may not have come to an end yet.

Just for the sake of putting these comments in context, I am a big supporter of RR, I think we got lucky in hiring him and generally think he walked into a buzz-saw of a situation last season that does not portend future results. I like him also and do not buy into any of the negative hype.

The Spread

January 20th, 2009 at 2:39 PM ^

alright. We will have a winning record (i predict 8-4 next year) and will begin a new consecutive bowl streak that ended last year. He is a good DC not a HC and he is a great role model for these young kids. I don't love the hire but i like it. There were no other options out there who would've accepted $250-300K a year.

bronxblue

January 20th, 2009 at 3:06 PM ^

I am always amazed when UM gets outbid for top coaches considering just how much money the AD has at its disposal. I know that some schools act like idiots and throw around obscene amounts of money (ND with Weis, UW with Holtz), but if you are already committed to spending millions on new student-athlete halls, practice fields, weight rooms, etc., why suddenly get frugal with the coaches?

Anonymosity

January 20th, 2009 at 2:55 PM ^

He was spotted at Syracuse in the fall, wasn't he? (leading to ridiculous rumors about him being interested in their HC job...)

I suppose there is a chance these things are related. More likely, though, I'd guess it's coincidence, since I find it hard to believe he has much of a hand in the football program these days.