Elijah Robinson - Temple DL coach

[zamzman]

http://owlsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1615&path=football

This was a new name to me posted on another board as a potential DL coach candidate. A bit inexperienced, but looks like he has a pretty good record. Moved up from player to grad assistant to full-time coach as PSU before the Paterno era ended. Stayed on with PSU after O'Brien took over (but not as a coach), and then left for another coaching job at Temple. Seems to be doing well. A coach like this wouldn't have the reputation of someone like McClure but could end up being a better fit.

While I certainly don't know if this is the one who'll end up coaching at Nebraska, this is the sort of up and coming young coach I think we should be going after. I think I'd prefer someone like him or Parrella over McClure. We just need to trust that if Riley takes someone like this, he's done his research and understands the potential as a recruiter and coach. When he's sought out coaches like this, it seems like he's hit the jackpot. NU is a big draw, so much better than Oregon State, that he can offer some of the best young talent and get them.

 

[newAD]

Can he recruit like Larry Johnson?

 

[mwulf]

I want someone who wants to be in Lincoln and is not interested in using our opening as a contact booster

 

[tpmcg]

I want someone who wants to be in Lincoln and is not interested in using our opening as a contact booster

me too, but id take someone who could spend a couple years replenishing our stock.

 

[The Tooth Fairy]

I'd like to not have a coach from Temple on staff.

 

[dinglefritz]

I'd like to not have a coach from Temple on staff.

Ummm Temple went 10-4 and nearly beat Notre Dame last year. They also beat Memphis when Memphis was on a roll. This guy landed a 5.9 4 star DE, a 3 star DE AND a 3 star DT from Hutchinson CC.......to play at Temple. Let that sink in.

 

[chicolby]

Temple's defense was ferocious last year. If you didn't watch them you missed out. I don't know how much this has to do with this particular coach, but they were salty.

 

[HuskerLLM]

I'd like to not have a coach from Temple on staff.

Suppose you would have preferred to not have a coach from Tulane on staff as well.

 

[GretnaShawn]

Ummm Temple went 10-4 and nearly beat Notre Dame last year. They also beat Memphis when Memphis was on a roll. This guy landed a 5.9 4 star DE, a 3 star DE AND a 3 star DT from Hutchinson CC.......to play at Temple. Let that sink in.

And they had like 7 or 8 sacks verse Penn State this year.

 

[dinglefritz]

And they had like 7 or 8 sacks verse Penn State this year.

Their DEFENSIVE LINE scored MULTIPLE TOUCHDOWNS last year as well......

 

[otismotis08]

I this a home run hire? Me thinks no.

 

[dinglefritz]

I this a home run hire? Me thinks no.

Who exactly would be a "home run hire" for you? Oh wait, yeah I know.....Eddie O. We have no way of knowing what any guy we hire will accomplish here. It would appear pretty clear by the D line class they just signed that this guy can recruit. Their defensive stats would make it appear that he also can coach. I'm not lobbying for the guy BUT dismissing his abilities just because he coached at Temple is beyond stupid. He may very well already have a great relationship built with some outstanding D line recruits. We don't know.

 

[otismotis08]

Who exactly would be a "home run hire" for you? Oh wait, yeah I know.....Eddie O. We have no way of knowing what any guy we hire will accomplish here. It would appear pretty clear by the D line class they just signed that this guy can recruit. Their defensive stats would make it appear that he also can coach. I'm not lobbying for the guy BUT dismissing his abilities just because he coached at Temple is beyond stupid. He may very well already have a great relationship built with some outstanding D line recruits. We don't know.

So you don't know either. Got it.

 

[dinglefritz]

So you don't know either. Got it.

You're the one saying that the guy wouldn't be a "home run hire". Soooo WHO the hell would be one? Angus McClure? lol. Amazing how quickly he ascended the ranks isn't it? Eddie O? Good luck with that one. I know, lets go get some current NFL defensive coordinator to be our D line coach. Oh wait, John Blake is available. He's a GREAT recruiter along the lines of Eddie O. Crappy coach but he would likely be viewed as a "home run hire" by many people. Face it, more than likely the guy we hire will be somebody that isn't on anybody's radar BECAUSE HE'S A D-LINE COACH. GIVE ME A NAME THAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY and is a realistic possibility.

 

[otismotis08]

You're the one saying that the guy wouldn't be a "home run hire". Soooo WHO the hell would be one? Angus McClure? lol. Amazing how quickly he ascended the ranks isn't it? Eddie O? Good luck with that one. I know, lets go get some current NFL defensive coordinator to be our D line coach. Oh wait, John Blake is available. He's a GREAT recruiter along the lines of Eddie O. Crappy coach but he would likely be viewed as a "home run hire" by many people. Face it, more than likely the guy we hire will be somebody that isn't on anybody's radar BECAUSE HE'S A D-LINE COACH. GIVE ME A NAME THAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY and is a realistic possibility.

So, IYHO, there is no home run hire for this position. Got it.
Every position on this staff has the potential to be a major difference maker. A DL coach can do much more for a program than just coach the DL. That is what we need.

 

[dinglefritz]

So, IYHO, there is no home run hire for this position. Got it.
Every position on this staff has the potential to be a major difference maker. A DL coach can do much more for a program than just coach the DL. That is what we need.

His biggest job is recruiting other than coaching and the guy at Temple U looks like a good recruiter AND good coach. What YOU obviously want is a 'big splash" hire. I just want a guy that can do all major aspects of his job well once he gets to Lincoln. I don't care if he's coaching at Slippery Rock. The only way we can judge him as a "home run" hire will be after he's been here a year or more.

 

[otismotis08]

His biggest job is recruiting other than coaching and the guy at Temple U looks like a good recruiter AND good coach. What YOU obviously want is a 'big splash" hire. I just want a guy that can do all major aspects of his job well once he gets to Lincoln. I don't care if he's coaching at Slippery Rock. The only way we can judge him as a "home run" hire will be after he's been here a year or more.

Call it what you want. We should not settle for someone who might be able to get it done in a few years.
Big time programs make big time hires.

 

[rrthusker]

Interesting thread. Many specific questions asked yet no specific answers provided.

 

[dinglefritz]

Call it what you want. We should not settle for someone who might be able to get it done in a few years.
Big time programs make big time hires.

"Big time D-line coach hire?" lol. So who's your guy? Eddie O is not available. You obviously have never hired any professionals. You hire a person with relevant successful experience in his field with the right personality and references. That's all you can do. What he does after he/she gets the job is what matters and I don't care what his name is, you have no guarantees. I know, we can hire Wade Phillips away from the Broncos. He's coached D-line before....

 

[otismotis08]

Whoever is presented to you will not be "realistic".
I don't pretend to know. This isn't my business. But I know that a proven professional is better than an unproven learner-on-the-job.

 

[dinglefritz]

Whoever is presented to you will not be "realistic" because you seem to be a settler.

Well I do like to stomp my boot and slap my knee. So I've got that going for me....

 

[jlb321]

Call it what you want. We should not settle for someone who might be able to get it done in a few years.
Big time programs make big time hires.

??? didn't you advise us not to sleep on John Parella in another thread???
concerned about a potential hire from Temple - as opposed to someone with 2 years of experience in Div 2 at northern michigan

 

[otismotis08]

??? didn't you advise us not to sleep on John Parella in another thread???
concerned about a potential hire from Temple - as opposed to someone with 2 years of experience in Div 2 at northern michigan

No, I was referring to another JP (#55) as someone who might have some interesting ideas.
Never said Parella was a home run hire.

 

[HuskerNinja]

Interesting thread. Many specific questions asked yet no specific answers provided.

Decision making and analysis is not a particular strength of many around here. Outdated stereotypes and knee jerk evaluations are the preferred method.

 

[SilentCommit]

Whoever is presented to you will not be "realistic".
I don't pretend to know. This isn't my business. But I know that a proven professional is better than an unproven learner-on-the-job.

I don't pretend to know much, but I do know with 99.99% certainty that you will be unimpressed and skeptical of our next hire.

 

[otismotis08]

I don't pretend to know much, but I do know with 99.99% certainty that you will be unimpressed and skeptical of our next hire.

I'll bet the under.

 

[resdog851]

Whoever is presented to you will not be "realistic".
I don't pretend to know. This isn't my business. But I know that a proven professional is better than an unproven learner-on-the-job.

Very few on here are pro's where this is our business. We give opinions about the team. You commented that this guy is not a homerun hire, then refuse to even give an example of somebody YOU would be pleased with. Go ahead. You can do it. Give us your opinion on somebody you think would be a homerun. Be realistic though. Current NFL DL coaches aren't leaving the NFL to come here. Same goes for a bunch of D1 DL coaches. Give us just one name that would be realistic or even one you would say is a stretch to get, but would be a homerun hire. I thought Hank Hughes sounded like a great hire last year. Shows you what I know.

 

[otismotis08]

Very few on here are pro's where this is our business. We give opinions about the team. You commented that this guy is not a homerun hire, then refuse to even give an example of somebody YOU would be pleased with. Go ahead. You can do it. Give us your opinion on somebody you think would be a homerun. Be realistic though. Current NFL DL coaches aren't leaving the NFL to come here. Same goes for a bunch of D1 DL coaches. Give us just one name that would be realistic or even one you would say is a stretch to get, but would be a homerun hire. I thought Hank Hughes sounded like a great hire last year. Shows you what I know.

"Be realistic". Translation...just go ahead and settle.
Hank Hughes? Really?

 

[ellobo]

I don't know much about this guy but I do know a little about the 4* Temple landed. The kid decommited from PSU because he thought it was too far from home...let that sink in for a minute...Philly (where the kid is from) is 2 hours from Happy Valley...when the kid picked Temple he even said that it wasn't anything Temple did but rather he simply decided he wanted to stay home (for those that don't know Temple is in Philly).

I just point this out because those saying Temple getting a 4* DL is a sign of this coach's recruiting are not accurate. The fact his next best recruit was a 5.5 (low) 3* is a more accurate reflection. With that said, Temple is a close to impossible place to recruit to in terms of getting stars. A guy could have great potential to close on kids but you would never know it while he is wearing the Temple brand. What you can, however, judge a Temple coach on (recruiting wise) is his ability to evaluate talent and find hidden gems.

 

[Redblood23]

N has gone conservative with almost every hire they've made. Go get a name that can recruit please. Then again, I'm not really sure if anyone wants to come to N.

 

[rrthusker]

Interesting thread. Many specific questions asked yet no specific answers provided.

Bump

 

[resdog851]

"Be realistic". Translation...just go ahead and settle.
Hank Hughes? Really?

My point by mentioning Hughes was that I was not afraid to say somebody I thought would work didn't. You went through the trouble of responding to me, and still crickets. No name. Anyone? You strike me as one that will love to come on here later and say what a bad hire it was after they fail, but won't show yourself if they work. Do you have ANY name you consider a good hire? If not, don't bother responding.

 

[N-sane]

My point by mentioning Hughes was that I was not afraid to say somebody I thought would work didn't. You went through the trouble of responding to me, and still crickets. No name. Anyone? You strike me as one that will love to come on here later and say what a bad hire it was after they fail, but won't show yourself if they work. Do you have ANY name you consider a good hire? If not, don't bother responding.

Pretty sure some posters would only be impressed with a current NFL D-line coach or a D-line coach from a current top 10 college team. If it's not one of those 42 men they're gonna whine and moan.

 

[dinglefritz]

I don't know much about this guy but I do know a little about the 4* Temple landed. The kid decommited from PSU because he thought it was too far from home...let that sink in for a minute...Philly (where the kid is from) is 2 hours from Happy Valley...when the kid picked Temple he even said that it wasn't anything Temple did but rather he simply decided he wanted to stay home (for those that don't know Temple is in Philly).

I just point this out because those saying Temple getting a 4* DL is a sign of this coach's recruiting are not accurate. The fact his next best recruit was a 5.5 (low) 3* is a more accurate reflection. With that said, Temple is a close to impossible place to recruit to in terms of getting stars. A guy could have great potential to close on kids but you would never know it while he is wearing the Temple brand. What you can, however, judge a Temple coach on (recruiting wise) is his ability to evaluate talent and find hidden gems.

Might have been nice if our last D line coach had been able to persuade a certain DE/TE from Omaha to stay home because Iowa City was too far.......He landed one more 3 star DT than Hughes did last year. I'm not saying he's a recruiting juggernaut but you better look at their entire class and see what the rest of the kids were they signed before you cast doubts about his recruiting ability. Almost their entire class was 2 stars other than the kids this guy recruited.

 

[NikkiSixx]

For the guys that say to just leave it up to the coach to hire someone, I think that sounds like a reasonable thing to do. They should know who is good in their ranks and who is not.

Yet coach Riley did hire coach Hughes. So this just means it's not a guarantee for the coaches either.

It's a crapshoot finding a guy who does a good job who also gets along with the rest of the staff, who recruits well and who fits in.

Most of the time, you're just doing your best guess and rolling the dice.

 

[ellobo]

Might have been nice if our last D line coach had been able to persuade a certain DE/TE from Omaha to stay home because Iowa City was too far.......He landed one more 3 star DT than Hughes did last year. I'm not saying he's a recruiting juggernaut but you better look at their entire class and see what the rest of the kids were they signed before you cast doubts about his recruiting ability. Almost their entire class was 2 stars other than the kids this guy recruited.

I did look...maybe you should take a closer look...they landed:

1) a 5.5 3* (the lowest of the 3*s) who is local. No p5 offers, mostly fcs offers with second biggest offer being Uconn which is not his local school and sucks.

2) a 5.5 Juco that lists only Rutgers as a notable offer...first RU rarely takes jucos so I'm not sure it is even a real offer...second any contact he had with them was likely with the staff that was fired and were known to be lame ducks for months prior to it becoming official

3) there are two 2*s

4) in his own words the 4* said it wasn't something temple did but simply he wanted to stay home...His only other choice in Philly would have been FCS 'Nova...there are some personal reasons that kept him there

Dude...I live in Jersey and follow Jersey area recruiting which is temple's backyard. I don't follow temple directly and thus don't know the coach...but if he was somewhat making waves (recruiting wise) in the area I would have at least heard his name prior to this.

 

[otismotis08]

My point by mentioning Hughes was that I was not afraid to say somebody I thought would work didn't. You went through the trouble of responding to me, and still crickets. No name. Anyone? You strike me as one that will love to come on here later and say what a bad hire it was after they fail, but won't show yourself if they work. Do you have ANY name you consider a good hire? If not, don't bother responding.

Wrong. I've been impressed so far with Bray, Williams, Stewart, Cav...
That said, this is an opportunity to bring in a true game-changer for this program. We need a Lupoi, Kiffin, Orgeron type. But, I know, those types of guys are just not realistic for a school like Nebraska.

 

[Thor4NU]

Robinson would be a great hire. B1G experience and successful at Temple

 

[resdog851]

Wrong. I've been impressed so far with Bray, Williams, Stewart, Cav...
That said, this is an opportunity to bring in a true game-changer for this program. We need a Lupoi, Kiffin, Orgeron type. But, I know, those types of guys are just not realistic for a school like Nebraska.

I think the first two are obtainable. Either would be great hires. We will see.

 

[otismotis08]

I think the first two are obtainable. Either would be great hires. We will see.

I'm sure there are others out there that I don't know about. But these guys are representative of what I'm looking for. Give Lupoi $$$$$$$$$$$$ and let's get the Blackshirts back in high gear.