Former Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson dies at 70

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Greg Robinson, Syracuse football head coach from 2005-08, died Wednesday from a form of Alzheimer’s Disease, his son Dominic told syracuse.com. Robinson was 70 years old.

Robinson coached at the collegiate and professional levels for parts of five decades, winning back-to-back Super Bowls as the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator in the late 1990s before being hired by SU in 2005. Robinson led the Orange to a 10-37 record over his four years as head coach, and was fired after Syracuse went 3-9 in 2008. However, his record at SU dropped to 5-37 after Syracuse vacated 11 wins from 2004-07 due to the use of ineligible players.

“We’re saddened to learn of the passing of Greg Robinson. On behalf of the Syracuse Athletics family, we send our condolences and support to Laura and the entire Robinson family,” Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack said in a released statement.

After leaving Syracuse, Robinson was Michigan’s defensive coordinator for two seasons before leading Texas’ defense in 2013. From 2014-15, Robinson was the defensive coordinator at San Jose State, and retired after the Spartans’ bowl game against Georgia State in December 2015.

Despite his difficult four-year stretch as SU’s head coach, Robinson helped recruit and develop future NFL players including Arthur and Chandler Jones, Mike Williams, Ryan Nassib and Justin Pugh. Doug Marrone, who replaced Robinson as head coach after the 2008 season, led Syracuse to two bowl wins over his four years as head coach with Nassib, Pugh and Chandler as his key core.

In 2016, Robinson spoke with The Daily Orange, saying he had “no regrets” about his time in charge of the SU program.

“I loved my time at Syracuse,” Robinson said. “Absolutely loved it. Hated that it had to end the way it did. Wish we had won more. We had great kids. It was a great situation. Great people. I love the town.”

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