SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Greg Robinson danced. No really, he danced.

He stood there, with his team on the most famous field in college football, engulfed by the Notre Dame band as it crowded around them and blared the Irish fight song. He bobbed up and down and side-to-side, and his players followed suit. Earlier, in those initial, blissful moments after Syracuse’s 24-23 upset of Notre Dame, Robinson’s team had chanted ‘G-Rob, G-Rob,’ a salute to a coach they loved but never could win for.

Maybe someday, when Greg Robinson reflects on his career at Syracuse, that chant will resonate in his head. He will remember this moment, one of his last as Orange head coach, when all of his failures and shortcomings at SU were masked by a thrilling win on college football’s most hallowed ground.

In the grand scheme, this win holds little meaning. Syracuse will play out its final game of the season at Cincinnati next week with little consequence.

But for one night, Greg Robinson could smile. This was his win. A glimmer of triumph set amidst the misery of the last four years.

And here it was, encapsulated in a scene, as Robinson and his team celebrated and the sounds of Notre Dame’s band faded into the chilly, black night. The 57-year-old head coach, who six days earlier had been fired, couldn’t deny it was a special moment.

‘The first college football game I ever saw was in the LA Coliseum,’ a giddy Robinson said after the game. ‘It was 1960. It was Notre Dame versus USC. I’m telling you I wasn’t rooting for USC. So it’s very special for me.

‘That whole scene right there, I’m really glad we were a part of it.’

Special, despite the game’s tempered stakes. This isn’t the same Notre Dame team that Robinson saw that day in 1960, whose golden helmets once shined at the pinnacle of the college football landscape. This year’s Irish team is now 6-5. Its coach, Charlie Weis, faced Saturday many of the same questions Robinson did leading up to his firing.

But the quality of the product in South Bend hasn’t detracted from the mystique of the stage the Irish compete on. There is still a sacred feel to Notre Dame Stadium, the 80,000-seat cathedral nestled so seamlessly into this Catholic university in Indiana.

The fans still fill out the stadium’s wooden bleachers, and chant and dance and jig like they have for decades. Touchdown Jesus still beckons beyond the south end zone, his arms as wide and inviting as ever. The Notre Dame band still blares that fight song, the one Robinson and his team danced to. The exposure of a guaranteed time slot on NBC is nice, too.

This was a showcase for Syracuse football, a ‘help wanted’ ad of sorts for the program.

But for these players, who have grown so fond of their eternally optimistic head coach, the chance to send Robinson out with a banner win provided plenty of incentive. In the locker room afterward, junior defensive tackle Art Jones was overcome with emotion.

‘I remember my freshman year playing here, and one thing Coach Robinson said, he promised the seniors ‘We’re going to get after them,” Jones said. ‘I talked to him after the game and emotions were running. I cried, because I remember him saying that my freshman year.’

‘Greg Robinson has been though a lot at Syracuse,’ sophomore center Jim McKenzie said. ‘… We just wanted to play hard for him and show the nation that we can play and that he’s a hell of a coach.’

The players did their part. So did Robinson. He hasn’t done much right in his four years at Syracuse, but it is a testament to him that his players were ready to play this game. He vowed his firing wouldn’t be a distraction for his team. Few outside the Orange locker room probably believed him.

‘This is a heck of a football team,’ Robinson said. ‘They know that I have strong feelings for them, and I’d like to believe they have strong feelings for me.’

But lurking behind the joy of Saturday’s win was the reality of Robinson’s situation. The Orange is still 3-8. In a little over a week, Robinson will say his goodbyes, clean out his office. This victory won’t change his legacy at SU. Director of Athletics Daryl Gross will find a new name to resurrect his program. Syracuse football will move forward.

And Robinson will be left to reflect. On the good, the bad, all of it. No doubt this victory will hold a special significance for the nice man who just didn’t fit as a college head coach.

Later, after most of the players had made their way to the team bus, Robinson re-emerged from the locker room. He had changed into a tan overcoat and orange tie. He was greeted by family, friends and a few Syracuse fans who made their way to the team’s entrance on the south side of the stadium. His wife and son were there.

He shook hands. He chatted. He laughed. Every once in a while he turned back toward the tunnel, as if taking in what had just happened. His breath faded into the Indiana air.

And Greg Robinson smiled.

John Clayton is the sports editor of The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. You can reach him at jsclayto@syr.edu.

Published on November 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm