Elijah Robinson and Fran Brown wanted to ‘build a program together.’ The two are fulfilling that dream at Syracuse.
The two grew up in Camden and had their coaching careers intertwined at Temple and Baylor. Once Brown took over the helm at Syracuse, one of his first hires was Robinson as defensive coordinator.
Syracuse coach Fran Brown and defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson played football together at Camden High School. The two also overlapped at Temple and Baylor as assistant coaches from 2014 to 2017.
From a young age, they shared a dream to eventually work on the same sideline.
“We’ve talked about it for a long time, early in our careers, about one of us having the opportunity to become a head coach at some point, and that we would love to build a program together,” Robinson said. “I’m grateful for him wanting me to come and join him on his path.”
One of Robinson’s greatest coaching success stories came while serving as Temple’s defensive line coach from 2014-16. Former Eagles defensive end Haason Reddick, now with the Buccaneers, joined the Owls as a walk-on in 2012. Robinson coached Reddick during three of his five years as an Owl, helping the future two-time Pro Bowler go from an unrecruited prospect to an early first-round draft pick.
“[Hasson’s] somebody that everyone can look up to,” Robinson said. “He went about his day as a pro — the way he prepared, the way he practiced, and he just continued to develop. He’s a guy that had to fight, pay his own way, and he didn’t get a scholarship until his senior year in college.”
After three seasons at Temple and one at Baylor, Robinson was hired as Texas A&M’s defensive line coach, where he helped starters DeMarvin Leal (Steelers), Micheal Clemons (Jets), McKinnley Jackson (Bengals), and Jayden Peevy (Saints) earn NFL contracts.
Before the 2022 season, Robinson added assistant head coach and running game coordinator to his job titles. The following year, after Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher with two games remaining, Robinson got the job on an interim basis.
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“I was just honored to be chosen to lead that group of young men for the remainder of that time,” Robinson said. “They needed some leadership; they needed someone that cared about them, that was going to stick with them through it all.”
On Nov. 28, 2023, Fran Brown was hired as Syracuse’s head coach, and Robinson was announced as his defensive coordinator just days later.
At that point, Texas A&M had about a month left of practices and a bowl game remaining.
“When Coach Fran got the job [at Syracuse], there only would’ve been one way that kept me from coming to join him,” said Robinson. “That was [being] the head coach at Texas [A&M].”
The reason that Robinson accepted the defensive coordinator job at Syracuse was because the Aggies had already found his replacement. On Nov. 27, 2023, Texas A&M hired Mike Elko to be its next head coach, though he wouldn’t take over his new role until after the 2023 season.
“I appreciate [Syracuse] for allowing me to finish it out with those guys [at A&M] until their head coach came and took over,” Robinson said.
While Robinson was a big addition for Syracuse in terms of player development, he may have been even more valuable for his recruiting. In 2022, the Penn State alum won 247 Sports’ recruiter of the year award, an honor Brown received two years later.
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But when Robinson arrived at Syracuse, he took a firm stance against recruiting players from his old job.
“[Texas A&M] treated my family and I really well, and I built a lot of great relationships there,” said Robinson. “So, I wanted nothing but that program to have success, and for me to tell players or encourage players to leave, I wasn’t going to do that.”
Now in his second season at Syracuse, Robinson isn’t closing the door on becoming a head coach. Last November, Brown was asked about the possibility of both Robinson and offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, who also has Temple ties, potentially taking what was a vacant head coaching job with the Owls.
“When we continue to win the way that we’ll continue to win, I think there’ll be opportunities that open up that’ll put them in the same Power Four level, instead of trying to have to go down a level to coach,” Brown said.
But as of now, Robinson has his focus elsewhere.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to be where your feet are, something I learned as a player,” Robinson said. “I think if I start looking at opportunities too far ahead, they’ll never show up.”