Some Candidates To Replace Cuse's Robinson

After sitting through the embarrassment of the Orange a few Saturdays ago at the Carrier Dome (PSU 55-13), I could not help but start to think where should this once proud top 25 program turn once they fire Greg Robinson in the coming months. It’s fairly obvious that Robinson is not getting it done at Syracuse and probably should have been replaced last season. Looking over the landscape of college football creates a lot of interesting candidates (I’m not sure Lane Kiffin is the way to go as he’s a west coast guy)any of which would be a significant upgrade over the current conditions.

Here are just a few names that would be worth a phone call for Syracuse.

1. Skip Holtz—East Carolina…..Likely to be the hottest name this off-season for what he’s already been able to accomplish with two consecutive upsets of top 25 teams (although suffered a tough loss this past week to NC State in OT). Maybe too rich for SU blood as Holtz will likely get offers from some other top programs. The Orange would be back in a hurry if they could land Holtz.
   
2. Al Golden—Temple….You know anyone who takes over the Temple program simply loves football as they aren’t going to the BCS games with this program. Golden is young (39 years old), a top recruiter (see his PSU and VA days), hard worker and would do wonders with the talent in the great Syracuse area.
   
3. Turner Gill—Buffalo…Has brought Buffalo from a laughing stock to a respectable program capable of the upset over a more talented program. Gill almost got the Nebraska job last year but might be interested in moving from Buffalo and the Mid-American Conference to Syracuse and the Big East.
   
4. Randy Edsall---Connecticut….A former SU assistant who turned down SU last time and seems content at UConn but is still worth a phone call for what he’s done with UConn. If SU wants him they may need to do the same thing North Carolina did with Roy Williams. “If you turn us down this time we aren’t going to ask again.”
   
5. Tom Bradley—Penn State Defensive Coordinator…With JoePA refusing to even name a successor the window gets smaller and smaller for Bradley to ever take over his own program. One drawback is the train wreck Robinson, a former defensive coordinator, has been taking over a program may make him a fallback choice.
   
6. Jeff Brohm---Louisville Offensive Coordinator…Former NFL QB and up and coming coordinator with the Cardinals who has had a hand in developing some top QBs, Stefan LeFors, Brian Brohm and Hunter Cantwell. Familiar with Big East but would likely bolt for the head spot at Louisville if that opened so may not be a long term solution.
   
7. Larry Coker—Former University of Miami Head Coach…Good coach who was one questionable referee call away from having two National Titles on his resume. Things got out of hand at the end of his regime at Miami but most of it was not his fault. Would likely bring some Fla recruits that a school such as Syracuse would have issues getting and is very familiar with Big East recruiting.
   
8. John McNulty—Rutgers Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks….Has some NFL coaching experience (Dallas Cowboys WR coach for 2003, Jacksonville Jaguars from 1998-2002) as well as a great working knowledge of the recruiting area from his earlier days playing for Penn State (1988-90), assistant coach at Michigan (1991-1994) and UConn (1995-1997) and now as offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Rutgers University. Again may suffer from the disaster that Greg Robinson as been after being elevated from defensive coordinator at Texas to head man at Syracuse.

One thing is certain the Orange need a change at the top as Greg Robinson has not come close to getting the job done and Syracuse is now nearing the point of no return for their football program. The alumni, fans, and people of upstate NY deserve a better team and program let’s just hope the University makes the right move and dismisses Robinson sooner than later.

Email me your thoughts at PSchuster612@verizon.net