Sportsline's Darst Puts Robinson on Hot Seat

In case you didn't know, the man to the right is Greg Robinson. He was named head coach of Syracuse University's football program on January 11, 2005.

Through his tenure in the Salt City, Robinson has compiled a woeful 5-18 record and has registered only one Big East Conference victory -- a 20-14 beatdown of Connecticut in 2006.

To J. Darin Darst of CBS Sportsline.com, this resume makes Robinson a front runner for "first coach fired" in 2007:

As for Robinson, he is only in his third year at Syracuse, but while Louisville, West Virginia and Rutgers are winning 10 games a season at the top of the Big East, his squad is down at the bottom of the conference. Nobody expects them to compete for the national title, but how about a bowl game? It doesn't take much to get to a bowl game these days -- just six wins. There is no excuse for a major program like Syracuse to not make a bowl game. The Orange went 1-10 and 4-8 in Robinson's first two seasons, so if there isn't improvement in year three, it's bye, bye Robinson.

Darst's opinion, however, fails to properly assess the circumstances under which Robinson is operating. As a consequence, his positioning of Robinson is improper.

Pertinently, Robinson has gone through, at best, about two and one-half recruiting cycles. Having been hired in early 2005, the third-year Orange coach was saddled with a recruiting class compiled of primarily former coach Paul Pasqualoni's prospects. These players, for the most part, did not fit the style of play Robinson desired and were fairly reviled nationally.

This has left Syracuse in the position of having only classes of freshman and sophomores that are truly Robinson "guys." Until these classes have the opportunity to mature and grow within the Robinson mold can an honest assessment of Robinson's ability be made. To fault Robinson for failing to succeed with players that he has no connection to is folly (unless, of course, you are Notre Dame and are sick of Tyrone Willingham).

Dr. Daryl Gross -- Syracuse's Director of Athletics -- recognizes this fact, even though he is hopelessly dedicated to making the Orange into a national title contender. Improvement is certainly expected on The Hill, however, to dismiss Robinson before the close of the 2008 season (or, arguably the 2009 campaign) would simple put Syracuse into a cycle of hot seat coaches required to win immediately. That, unfortunately, is not how a program is built; that is how turmoil becomes par for the course.