Syracuse University Athletics

“I would like to take this opportunity to reintroduce our new defensive coordinator – Steve Russ. A couple years ago when I hired Steve – Steve was the first person on the staff that I did hire – I told him that it was my intent that eventually he would take on the position of defensive coordinator. I always knew that he would be capable. I just thought that it was time for him to jump back in our scheme as a coach. He learned it for a number of years as a player (with the Denver Broncos). A year ago at right about this time, Steve and I sat down again and I told him I thought that he needed another year but that a year from now, we would make the switch. I feel very comfortable about this. I think a lot of him as a person. When we talk about the profile that we are looking for in our athletes, I think the same about our coaching staff and Steve epitomizes what we are looking for. I think that he has tremendous leadership and he has tons of energy. His enthusiasm is felt not only by his players (linebackers), but by many of the players out there. His work ethic is outstanding. He is really going to take a burden off of me when I won’t have to do all of the day-to-day affairs (of the defense). I think that he will do a real good job of accountability in that defensive staff room. He already has.”

 

“Now, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new offensive line coach – Chris Wiesehan. This search has taken a period of time. I spent a lot of time with it and have been through a number of people. Not only did I interview here bringing candidates to the school to talk to them, but I have been through a number of other coaches on the phone. I have gone from the west coast, the Pac 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, ACC, NFL. Quite frankly, I would tell you that in selecting Chris, if you asked who were the front runners at the start of the search, it might not have been the case. First of all, the information was brought to me by Desmond Robinson, our running back coach. He worked with Chris at Notre Dame. Des didn’t have a lot to say other than to tell me ‘Coach, I think it is work looking at this young coach and I think that he is your kind of person’ and left it at that. That was probably three weeks ago. As we worked our way through, I began to all of a sudden gather a little more information. I started really studying Chris. The more I studied, the more I liked.

 

“I have a very close friend who has played a major role in my life. He is the person who talked me into coaching – didn’t have to talk to me much – but he is the one who provided me the opportunity and went to my head coach. He is Jim Colletto, who was my position coach at college and later gave me my first full-time coaching job years ago. Jim had called me early in the process in regard to another football coach. I listened to him and went from there. Then, it was later that I had to call him back, asking him to tell me what he knew about Chris Wiesehan. It was very meaningful to me that Jim was strong about Chris in many different ways. As I learned Jim’s feelings about Chris, that led me to others. All of a sudden, I see on Chris’ resume the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and I see that Monte Kiffen’s name. I am expecting to see the offensive coaches on there but I also see Monte Kiffen’s. So I call Monte and he sounds a lot like Jim. I liked the different things that I was hearing. Again, I mentioned long ago, I knew what I was looking for. It was a matter of getting the right fit.

 

“What I really think that I found is an intelligent person who has a good football background and is one who is a student of the game. He really works at learning and staying on top of the game. His fundamental foundation, I believe that it comes right from the same roots that I come from. He spent three years with Jim Colletto, a year at Purdue and two at Notre Dame. When I watched Chris demonstrate and work in the room, I could see Jim Colletto’s influence. Jim Colletto was the Super Bowl champion line coach with the Baltimore Ravens. He was there for a number of years when they led the NFL in rushing. Jim is now with the Detroit Lions. Jim is a football coach.

 

“I like the energy that Chris displayed when he was in here with us. You could feel it. He has proven it. He made the sacrifice to go to Tampa Bay as an offensive assistant. If you don’t have energy, you aren’t going to survive in that world, especially there in that offensive system and the way that they put the work load on it. Next, I know in spending time with him, he is going to demand excellence. Our coaching staff felt that from him. His teaching methods – we spent hours in that room with him – his style was outstanding. It is not only what he said but how he said it. I think his information is strong. He was passionate about coming to Syracuse. That was very important to me that the person who decided to come was going to be one who was really excited about it. I think that at this time, the opportunity is there to do some real molding. I would like to believe that this is a group that has a chance to be a very good group. That is really where it all started and worked its way through. I am proud today to introduce you to Chris Wiesehan.”

 

“I think that sometimes when you do something right after the season, you leave yourself in a position where in the recruiting world people can try to put their own little spin on things. My point was why even give yourself an opportunity for anything. I am not even saying that there is any reason to but sometimes that is how it works. My point was when recruiting was over, we would take care of it. The decision was made over a year ago. Two years ago, I wasn’t certain when. A year ago, I knew I was going to do it after this season. It was a year ago right at this time, February. So I just told Steve that after recruiting was over this year that we would sit down and get it done.”

 

“I think that it was important that I was. To be involved and to instill in that defensive room, with the coaches and the players alike, the philosophy of the program. I feel good about our coaching staff. Specifically with Steve it gives me the opportunity to step back and also, more importantly, it gives Steve the opportunity. I think that he is capable. Just like when I got opportunities in this business, I was looking for the day when I thought it was right for Steve to become the coordinator. That is important to me, being able to elevate him for all that he has done is a good thing.”

 

“I don’t know that I ever felt that. It isn’t like I am not going to be working. That won’t be the case. Steve will handle a lot of the day-to-day affairs and get things right. I will still be able to generate some things but I will be able to do some other things, too. I don’t know that I ever looked at it like that (too much work). When you see that you have somebody who is capable of doing something, I think that is a good thing to give them that opportunity. You delegate to them and know you are able to see a little more and see what else you can infuse.”

 

“I think that I will keep an eye on the special teams more. I will be able to spend a little more time studying the defense that our offense is going to face early in the week. I am not going to be giving plays, but I can at least identify some things I think can be helpful. Any little moment of time that you can extend yourself a little more in recruiting, that would be a great thing. Dealing with our team and getting to know those players even better. I like to think that I spend time getting to know them but I want them to really feel where I am coming from. I am just saying these things but I don’t know really where it is all going to fall in place. I do know that I feel good about putting Steve in a position like this. I know that I can be helpful to him and the rest of the staff and those players.”

 

“I was always involved but to what extent, I was limited. There is going to be more time for me. I will be able to study what they look like. I talked about early in the week. Sometimes I would not be able to see things until maybe Tuesday or Wednesday that I might really have a grasp of things. I might be able to see something sooner. I don’t want to imply in any way that I am getting ready to jump in and be the offensive coach. No, I am going to be the head coach. I am going to let my good people coach because I think that there is a lot of knowledge there.”

 

“Yes, I did talk to Pete. (smiling) He was telling me that he slept in until 8:30-9:00 every morning (after he hired a defensive coordinator). (Wife) Laura (Robinson) gets up too early. I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

 

“He had a good guy – Nick Holt. He believes in Nick Holt. Nick had worked for him and then left and came back. I have a real good coach. That is really what it was. Pete was still involved. Not to the same extent that he was previous years.”

 

“He has a mind of his own, too. I want him to stimulate that room. I think they will think better when I am not in it. He will pull out of them maybe what I might not have been able to just because it is not the head coach, it is Steve, the guy who they have worked with for two years. I think that can lend itself to more of what I like to say, ‘Green light thinking’. I think you always have to have room for that.”

 

“No, Steve will coach the linebackers.”

 

“Thank you, Coach. I really appreciate this opportunity. It is a great honor to have. It is a tremendous amount of responsibility to have and one that I am really excited about and one that I am very much looking forward to. As a young coach, you can’t ask for anything more than someone who is there, a hand to guide you, a hand to push you, a hand to challenge you and a hand to help you become a better football coach. I can say that without question that from two years here at Syracuse University, I have been able to have that with Coach Robinson and the rest of our staff does, also. To be able to work with him on a day-to-day basis and to grow as a coach and to have that opportunity, it truly is an honor. Not only to work here but it is obviously to take this position. It is one that I take very seriously and one that I am very excited about. I can’t wait to continue to work with our program. I think that it is really headed in the right direction. I don’t have faith because faith is belief without evidence. I believe because I have evidence. I see what we continue to do. I see how the program is built. Each day I come to work, I get more excited. I am really having blast working with Derrick Jackson, our new defensive line coach, and with Jimmy (Salgado) and Scott (Spencer) and the rest of the guys. It is a great challenge and, like I said, we have wonderful, wonderful kids who work their butts off. I just wanted to thank Coach. I truly believe in giving credit where credit is due. A huge amount of credit has to go to Coach Robinson for continuing to help me along and I know he will continue to do that as we continue to get after it together.”

 

“Of course not, this is Syracuse defense. Coach is the architect. If you threw me somewhere else, this is what I would run. I believe whole-heartily in this. Without prolonging the question, this is a great defense. From playing in it and coaching it, it has everything.”

 

“I am not going to go into specifics. It is maybe just different ways of looking at this or that. Really, my foundation is my foundation and a big part of my foundation is Greg Robinson. A big part of my foundation before I got to Syracuse was Greg Robinson because obviously when you first start out coaching and you have never coached before, you fall back on things that affected you and experiences that you had as a player. When you immerse yourself in football the way you do in the NFL, that stuff rubs off on you as well. It is not like all of a sudden I got to Syracuse and saw these things, but the different coaching things start to rub off on you a lot more when you are in the room and you are on the practice field and you aren’t a player anymore. My foundation is this defense. Like Coach said green-light thinking. Sometimes you sit in the meeting room and you watch that film and you get ready to play opponents and it is ‘How about this, how about this, how about this?’ I am not talking about going off and running Buddy Ryan’s (46) defense. You have to stay within your system otherwise your guys start to have some issues. You have to have a system and I really believe in the system that we have and how we go about doing things.”

 

“No, not at all. First of all, Greg is a man of his word. Really, you guys have to realize too that as a young coach, everyone has aspirations and you push yourself to be ready. At the same time, I want to be ready and who better to know than Coach when I am ready? I was fine with that. I said ‘When you think I am ready, Coach, let’s run with it. In the mean time, I will do everything that I can to help myself get ready.’ He was obviously there guiding and challenging and working that thing the whole way. It never got frustrating because coaching is coaching and I am having a great time here. Really, I believe in where we are going and I told coach ‘Coach, whenever you think I am ready then I am ready.’ If it wasn’t right away then it wasn’t right away. I don’t have a big deal with that at all to be totally honest.”

 

“It was great. It was a great feeling. It was a great responsibility. It is a tremendous honor and a tremendous responsibility and one that I am very excited about. I am trying to keep myself a little bit subdued here. I believe whole-heartedly in this football program because I have evidence. I believe it. I see it every day and I couldn’t be happier on how things are going, where the direction this football program is going and it starts from the top. Coach’s lays the foundation and we have a great bunch of coaches and kids and everybody going on the same page and working for the same goal.”

 

“I appreciate everybody coming out. To be a part of Coach’s staff and to come to Syracuse University is humbling. It is a tremendous University that is deep in tradition, obviously in football. Coach did mention the places that I have been. To me, it is not a factor at this point. I have to go put it on tape just like I tell my players every day. The great thing about our profession is all week you get to prepare and then you get tested every week and then you get evaluated. You get a chance the next week to do the same thing. I am big on being 1-0 once-a-week. Coach talked about the passion that I had on the interview. I think that anytime you get to talk about football, it is exciting. Just talking football gets your juices flowing. To talk about passion and the reason why I became really interested in the job was when I saw what was on tape and the kids who were there and the opportunity to make an impact. You want kids to play inspired and passionately, I think you have to coach passionately. I love this game. I said when I got into coaching, and I had a lot of other opportunities like a lot of young men do, if you are not passionate about what you’re doing, then what are you doing? I knew I wanted to be on the grass. I knew I wanted to be around young men. I knew I wanted to lead. I knew I wanted to mentor. I knew I wanted to challenge. I haven’t done anything yet here in Syracuse, but I am looking forward to it. We have a long way to go up front but we have a plan. We are going to plan our work and work our plan. We are going to get it done and we are going to make an impact with this offense.”

 

“I think that he stressed the fundamentals and techniques. There were a lot of good candidates for this job and I feel fortunate to be in this position. In this business so much of it is timing and fit. I think you win with fundamentals. You can call a million plays. You can call scattered green light, right-left 72 long-go halfback special, but if your step on inside zone is in the wrong place and you’re facing the wrong target, you aren’t going to win. As the interview process went on, I think that fundamentals and techniques emerged as important. Coach needed a very high tempo.”

 

“There is no question. I think that on both sides of the ball. Both sides of the ball the game starts up front. The offensive line has to set the tempo. I think in the structure of defense that we play here, I think that the d-line has to set the tempo.”

 

“Coaching is coaching to me. I think that coaching is teaching. Anytime that you have a chance to teach is exciting. Whether it is at the high school level or whether it is in the NFL I took that opportunity for two reasons. One, I thought it was a great opportunity to step outside of what I had been doing and learn the West Coast offense and learn the intricacies of it from one of the best teachers of it in the business from (Tampa Bay head coach) Jon Gruden. The other thing was pedigree. I think it plays a more important role in our industry every day. I thought that was a great opportunity to show that I can work hard and I am willing to learn. To get your PhD in football was my mentality.”

 

“I just think that anytime you get an opportunity like that it is exciting because you would much rather build something rather than inherit it. Like I said, I haven’t done anything (here yet). It is my first down. I have a long way to go and we as a group have a long way to go. I look forward to the opportunity to challenge those kids and make them better football players. You talked about scheme and whether it is the West Coast or Option –  there are a lot of ways to win football games. Again, it is fundamentals. Each kid individually just wants to get better. He doesn’t care if you throw the ball 90 times or run it 90 times, he wants to know how to block that guy in front of him and get better individually. Those are the things that I like about football.”

 

“I wouldn’t say that. Football is football whether it is bingo or drive, you see those concepts over and over again in different systems.”