Greg the Pirate

A big tip of the hat to Matt Gelb and his twitter feed for pointing out this fantastic Detroit Free Press article on Greg Robinson.

The story is one long puff piece from beginning to end, with only tenuous connections to reality. Staff writer Kirk Snyder obviously wanted to give a little gift to Michigan fans and did so by ignoring Greg's past. The story starts with a headline that calls Robinson a "perfect fit" for the University of Michigan and gets better from there.

In the article Greg says he draws on a lot of things when coming up with his defensive philosophy, including "pirating" schemes he sees other coaches implementing. Based on his work at Syracuse, I'd guess he's watching a lot of tapes from the Arena League. The article even has a section subtitled "Quite a Resume" and describes landing Robinson as "a coup." I'd bet even money that a year from now Michigan fans will think of this coup the same way the people of Cuba think of Castro's.

The piece as a whole is one big wet sloppy kiss that almost completely ignores the man's epic failure at Syracuse, or the fact that he got back into college coaching because he was fired from his last NFL gig. As a head coach he failed, and as a defensive coordinator he failed almost as spectacularly. The teams he put on the field for the past 4 years were the worst tackling, least disciplined teams I've ever seen. His penchant to sit in soft zones, play corners as much as 15 yards off the line of scrimmage and refusal to blitz and pressure the opposing QB made average offensive teams look like juggernauts against the Orange.

So while Greg is gone and it it time to move on - you'll have to excuse me if I get a little heated when I read an article talking about what a great coach he is -- because the damage he inflicted on this once proud program is still there. He left new coach Doug Marrone a team that, according to some assessments is the worst statistically and athletically in the history of the school. Kudos to the Detroit Free Press for ignoring the past 4 years - I have a feeling the coverage will get a little tougher after Ohio State hangs 50 on them and Robinson's defense makes Terrell Pryor looks like Superman.

So Michigan fans here's some friendly advice -- hang in there, we feel your pain. Also, pray Rich Rod's offense can sore 50 game, it may be your only shot at winning games.