The same question always seems to rise from someone outside of Syracuse who knows the football team’s record but not the situation.

What’s going on with Syracuse football?

The question is loaded with the context that this program was once one of the better in the country and is now in the basement, irrelevant on the national scene.

The question is further magnified this November, when Syracuse will once again miss a bowl and the fate of head coach Greg Robinson, who has won just seven games in three seasons, will become a pressing issue as the days wind down of another losing season.

What’s going on with Syracuse football?

It’s a question that has no easy answer. Instead, it is a combination of factors ranging from what can be controlled – coaching and improvement – to what cannot be controlled – injuries and inherited players.

To hear Robinson discuss it, this team is plagued by injuries and inexperience. These claims are true, considering if it worked the way Robinson drew it up: Andrew Robinson would be healthy at quarterback; Delone Carter and Curtis Brinkley healthy at running back; Tom Ferron still playing tight end; Jermaine Pierce helping at linebacker – the list goes on.

‘It’s just real and sometimes people don’t want to hear that, but it’s a fact,’ Greg Robinson said following Saturday’s 41-10 loss to South Florida. ‘I hate to sit here and sound like I’m making excuses because I’m not. I’m telling you what it is, and we’re heading in the right direction, contrary to what others might want to think. Everybody thinks it’s ‘presto.’ It isn’t that way.’

Yet injuries are a part of football. Coaches make a lot of money to look at the personnel they have and figure out how to win games with them.

Every situation is different and depth has much to do with rebounding from injuries. But injuries are not the only reason why Syracuse is on pace to finish below 110th nationally in total offense for the third straight year or why the defense has gotten worse each season under Robinson. (It was 57th in the nation in 2005, 107th last season and is 110th this season.)

There are other factors – game planning, preparation, in-game adjustments – where a coach can at least make up ground lost with injuries.

So the question remains:

What’s going on with Syracuse football?

Robinson talks glowingly about what’s ahead. He has for a few weeks now, building up class upon class, therefore creating depth and plugging in positions of need.

On Tuesday, Robinson stood in front of an auditorium of reporters and was more frank about himself and his status than he’s ever been. Seeing Robinson on a weekly basis, he seems amicable and cordial, but he’s very seldom quotable.

That changed quickly.

‘I’ve had people that stood up for me, that brought me here that said, ‘Hey, this is your football team,’ Robinson said. ‘I want to show those people that what we’re doing is right. … There’s a lot at stake. I want you to know, I feel that as much as anybody. This is real important stuff.’

This was a different Robinson from the one who usually arrives and spouts cliches and stories about when he was an assistant at UCLA or coaching defenses in the NFL. He sounded more like a man who knows his coaching has been questioned.

‘I think my record can show that I’m a good football coach,’ Robinson said.

To that point, 33 years and two Super Bowls are still worth something.

Yet the criticism has not been nearly as loud as they could be, considering there are coaches around the country – like Bill Callahan in Nebraska, Dennis Franchione at Texas A&M, Karl Dorrell at UCLA, among others – who face questions about their job status every week.

It is true Nebraska, Texas A&M, UCLA are better programs than Syracuse overall, but if the aspiration is to be considered part of that category, the expectations from the coach should not be different.

This same argument should apply when pointing out the abnormal patience with successful turnarounds at Rutgers, South Florida and Connecticut.

South Florida and UConn were I-AA teams when those coaches took over. Rutgers was Rutgers when Greg Schiano took over.

None have the national prestige of Syracuse. If Syracuse wasn’t a name, no one would be asking the question…

What’s going on with Syracuse football?

The problems go beyond Robinson, which is also important to understand. He is not solely responsible for the sinking of the program – he’s just at the top when the program has hit the bottom.

You win with talent. Robinson is the first person to admit that much. And those problems started before Robinson set foot at Manley.

For the most part, good teams depend on fifth-year, fourth-year and third-year players. Those players on this team were former SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s last two recruiting classes and Robinson’s first one, which was a wasted class, considering he had only a month to keep what was left and put together what remained.

There are few major contributors on this team from those classes. Jameel McClain, Joe Fields, Dowayne Davis, Jake Flaherty, Carroll Madison, Ryan Durand. Those are solid players, but none are All-Americans. Plus, notice how none are offensive skill position players. Pasqualoni, a praiseworthy coach, was never accused of being an earnest recruiter.

However, Robinson has had enough time with this group of players and has two recruiting classes. In his third year, there should be marked improvement. The idea of building class upon class is correct by principle, but it is what is needed to build a perennial bowl team. A coach who has been in a program for three years should be able to at least improve season by season. That is the part that is so mystifying.

The best Syracuse can finish this year is 4-8. More than likely, the record will be 2-10. This is two games worse than last year’s 4-8 mark and one game better than the 1-10 embarrassment of Robinson’s first season. Syracuse is being outscored by an average of 17.7 points. That tells you most weeks that SU doesn’t just lose, but isn’t even competitive. And in the past two seasons, it has not progressed but instead regressed throughout the season.

The Carrier Dome crowd has taken notice. Besides a Family Weekend push, when many tickets are sold well in advance, the attendance has dropped nearly every game this season. Wasn’t that part of the reason Pasqualoni was let go?

The positives are the young players – particularly at the skill positions. Mike Williams has been phenomenal this season. Andrew Robinson has displayed promise. Delone Carter had a great freshman year.

The recruiting has picked up, though not nearly enough. For the fourth straight season, the top players from Central New York – Mike Hart in 2005, Kevin Collier in 2006, Mike Paulus in 2007 and Latavius Murray this season – are going elsewhere.

It all leaves Syracuse facing another disappointed season. It leaves Robinson openly campaigning for his job. It leaves Syracuse fans wondering what has happened to a once proud program.

Unfortunately for those fans, there are no easy answers.

Unfortunately for Greg Robinson, the question is not going away.

Zach Berman is the featured sports columnist at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear every Wednesday. He can be reached at zberman@syr.edu.

Published on November 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm