Greg Robinson coached the Jets before denying them a Super Bowl trip
Former New York Jets defensive coordinator Greg Robinson passed away at the age of 70 on Wednesday. Robinson’s son Dominic confirmed the news to Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com, announcing that his father had died from complications with Alzheimer’s disease.
Robinson spent five years in the Jets’ organization, first as a defensive line coach under Bruce Coslet (1990-93) and later as the defensive coordinator in Pete Carroll’s sole season (1994).
The Jets offered Robinson his first NFL coaching experience after he spent 15 years as a college assistant. New York was second in the league in takeaways during his one season as the defensive supervisor, paced by five interceptions each for James Hasty and Marcus Turner.
After Carroll’s departure, Robinson took on the defensive coordinator duties on Mike Shanahan’s staff in Denver. Armed with a defense that featured Steve Atwater, Tyrone Braxton, and Bill Romanowski, Robinson helped guide the Broncos to consecutive Super Bowl titles.
Ironically, he’d beat the Jets to reach the latter championship, as Denver forced six turnovers in a 23-10 win over New York in the 1998-99 AFC title game. The Broncos forced four more turnovers in the ensuing 34-19 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Robinson later took on head coaching duties at Syracuse University, where he went 10-37 over four seasons (2005-08), with five of those wins vacated.
Though his time with Orange isn’t fondly remembered, Robinson continued to make his mark as a defensive leader, later working with the Kansas City Chiefs (2001-03), Texas Longhorns (2004, 2013), and Michigan Wolverines (2009-10). His last coaching job came as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at San Jose State (2014-15). Orange NFL alumni that played under Robinson include Chandler Jones and Justin Pugh.
Robinson is survived by his wife Laura and his children Dominic, Lindsay, and Leslie.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
