Daryl Gross wants stability in the Syracuse University football program. That’s why Greg Robinson will return as head coach next season after a 7-28 record in his first three years.

‘Now it’s time to stabilize,’ said Gross, Syracuse’s director of athletics. ‘It’s time to do that. I know there’s some impatience and people want things right away, but there’s some sophistication and strategy that goes into these kinds of decisions.’

After days of speculation, Gross announced Wednesday afternoon that Robinson would indeed remain Syracuse head coach.

The Orange finished 2007 with a record of 2-10, marking the second 10-loss season in school history. The other campaign came during Robinson’s first season as coach in 2005, when SU went 1-10. Average home attendance in 2007 was the lowest in more than a decade.

Gross said Robinson will return with the knowledge that Syracuse needs to demonstrate ‘significant progress’ in 2008. The athletic director would not specify a set number of wins, but he did say the time for rebuilding the team is over.

‘I want to see some wins,’ Gross said. ‘We’ve played well at points. We’ve worked hard. We’ve shown progress. We’ve been in this building format, but now it’s time to have some success.

‘It’ll be obvious when we’re having success.’

Gross said he made the decision to keep Robinson after an evaluation of the entire program. He conducted ‘extensive discussions’ with Robinson as well as former players, coaches and members of the university’s Board of Trustees during the past week.

The feedback Gross said he received had one clear message: Give Robinson time to bring more of his own players to SU.

‘Do I think we should have won more? Yes. Absolutely, I think we should have won more,’ Gross said. ‘… And maybe somebody else may have gotten two more wins. But who’s to say that would have been six or seven more wins? Who knows? But what I do know is that (Robinson) needs to have another recruiting class.’

Robinson himself maintained his ability to recruit as the 2007 season progressed and questions about his job security intensified. The 56-year-old former defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos and University of Texas has earned his reprieve from Gross, despite a paltry 2-19 record in the Big East.

‘I am committed to doing whatever it takes for our program to improve and regain the confidence of our community in 2008,’ Robinson said in a statement released by SU Athletics. ‘There are clearly a number of key areas in which we need to make substantial progress. At the same time, I am evaluating what changes we need to make as a coaching staff to maximize the substantial talent we have on our roster to achieve success.’

Robinson was on the road recruiting and not available for further comment beyond his statement. He will meet the local media on Friday. Gross said he would not preside over changes to Robinson’s coaching staff – that it was the head coach’s responsibility to make those decisions.

Gross hired Robinson on Jan. 11, 2005, less than a month after firing former head coach Paul Pasqualoni, who compiled a 107-59-1 record in 14 seasons at Syracuse. In Pasqualoni’s final season, SU went 6-6, including a 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Gross said firing Pasqualoni was a different situation because he felt the regime had become stagnant and required change. This time, Gross says, the signs of improvement are evident, but need more time to develop.

It is unsure whether money was an issue with regards to retaining Robinson. Gross would not comment on contract specifics, but Robinson makes approximately $1 million per year as the highest-compensated employee at Syracuse. With two years remaining on his contract, it might have taken as much as $3 million to buy out Robinson and his staff.

Gross said that was not significant.

‘The only main factor we considered is, ‘How do we have success with our program?” Gross said. ‘It doesn’t matter what the variables are. We just want to have success.’

Robinson has yet to field a truly competitive team. Of his seven wins, three have come against Bowl Championship Series opponents. And the defense, which Robinson considers his expertise to be, allowed 34.8 points per game, the most in school history.

Gross acknowledged injuries and inexperience that hampered the Orange this season, and the factor he kept coming back to was Robinson’s ability to recruit.

That being said, Gross believed it was only fair to see his coach through a fourth season.

‘Someone could write a paper as to why this guy shouldn’t be back,’ Gross said. ‘It could be done very, very well. But the right thing is to allow someone to have the opportunity to have success. Greg believes he can win next year, so we’re going to give him that opportunity.’

Published on November 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm