Dec. 7, 3:07 p.m. – Greg Robinson finally got his man. Now the Syracuse head coach just needs to hope his new offensive coordinator – and longtime friend – Mitch Browning has the ability to turn a dire offense around.

After dismissing former offensive coordinator Brian White earlier this week, Robinson wasted no time filling the position. He held a press conference on Friday to announce the hiring of the ex-Minnesota offensive coordinator Browning.

‘I found it important to get through this as quickly as possible,’ Robinson said. ‘I think it’s a time of year where so many things are important, the recruiting world and what have you, that once I knew what I wanted to do I didn’t think there was any reason to procrastinate in any way.’

Browning faces the challenge of fixing a hapless Orange offense. Syracuse landed near last in the country in many offensive categories under White the past two seasons.

Minnesota often possessed one of the top offenses in the Big Ten while Browning coached at the university for 10 years. Robinson said whatever offense Syracuse chooses to run next year will be up to Browning, who will host his own press conference at a yet to be determined time Monday.

Robinson and Browning go back many years. The two worked as assistant coaches for North Carolina State in 1980 and 1981. However, Robinson emphasized Browning’s hiring was based on his body of work not his relationship with Robinson.

Browning has coached in college football for 28 years. At Minnesota, he mentored current NFL running backs Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney and Indianapolis Colts tight end Ben Utecht.

Browning also has been lauded for his success with the offensive line. At Syracuse, he’ll try to invigorate a line ranked as one of the worst in the country. Last year, the Orange allowed 54 sacks – second to last in the nation in the category.

Since Robinson arrived at Syracuse in 2005, the head coach said he has tried to convince Browning several times to join the Orange staff. When accepted the job at Syracuse, Robinson mentioned Browning was the first person he contacted about a coaching job, wanting him to serve as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.

Last offseason, Browning visited Syracuse to interview for the vacated offensive line coaching position, but decided it was better to take a season off from coaching.

‘I really feel like I do know the person well,’ Robinson said. ‘And that’s not the only reason he’s hired. He’s proven to be a good coach. I think the extra that I know about him makes me excited about having him here because I know he’ll do a good job.’

Robinson raised Browning for his recruiting abilities, stating Browning was ‘an outstanding recruiter’ who specifically made his presence felt in the state of Ohio in the past. Browning worked the sidelines for the Golden Gophers until 2006. When Minnesota head coach Glen Mason was fired, his replacement, Tim Brewster, decided not to keep Browning on the staff.

As Browning took the last year off from coaching, Robinson said Browning was in attendance when Syracuse played at Iowa in September.

The hire came less than a week after Robinson declared he would ‘shake things up’ at a program that has gone 7-28 during Robinson’s three seasons at Syracuse. Robinson also said on Friday he’s still evaluating the coaching staff, and Browning will begin looking over his own staff when he arrives in Syracuse on Monday.

‘I’m methodically going to go through the evaluation of our program,’ Robinson said. ‘Any changes that are made – and when I say changes, it doesn’t always have to be a position coach change, it can be a lot of things – but that’s a process that goes over time and I’m going to make sure to continue the process. This is not the end of the line of evaluation.’

Published on December 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm