Former Penn State quarterback and Super Bowl champion Michael Robinson joins Nittany Game Week for an in-depth conversation about the future of Penn State football. In this interview, Robinson makes his case for why interim head coach Terry Smith deserves the permanent position and explains what he believes went wrong under James Franklin.
KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED:
🏈 Why Robinson Used His NBC Platform to Support Terry Smith
Robinson explains his decision to speak publicly about Penn State’s coaching situation during a national broadcast and what motivated him to take a stand.
🏈 The Culture Shift Under Terry Smith
Robinson describes the dramatic difference in team energy and player attitudes between his production meetings for the Oregon game and later in the season after Smith took over.
🏈 “Ball Coach” vs “Program Builder”
Robinson breaks down the distinction between these two coaching philosophies and why he believes Penn State needs the former at this stage of the program’s development.
🏈 Lessons from Joe Paterno
Robinson shares memorable stories from his playing days, including how Paterno took control of play-calling to get Larry Johnson his milestone and what those experiences taught him about coaching.
🏈 Immediate Changes Under Smith
Discussion of specific tactical decisions Smith made upon taking over, including making Kaytron Allen the featured running back and increasing competitive practice periods from one to four per week.
🏈 The Importance of Penn State Roots
Robinson addresses why he believes the next coach should have deep connections to Penn State and Pennsylvania recruiting, and his frustration with coaches using the opening as leverage.
🏈 Diversity in Coaching Opportunities
Robinson raises important questions about career advancement paths for Black position coaches and why Smith’s opportunity matters beyond just Penn State.
#PennState #PennStateFootball #TerrySmith #MichaelRobinson #CollegeFootball #BigTen #NittanyLions #JoePaterno #CoachingSearch #WeAre
source
What does he mean by how does a black man become a head coach? Obviously there’s some extra struggle but Marcus Freeman, James Franklin, Sherron Moore, and Fran Brown were all position coaches, then coordinators, then HC. They didn’t just magically get it.
A GREAT interview with a guy who was in the "belly of the beast". Thanks, Mike!
Im all for this keep Terry around its like Joepa days again
Ok. They brought in new coaches and schemes, of course they guys were destined to be overwhelmed as they got to know both the people and schemes… We are trying to say Terry changed things. Franklin also would have won these games. WE ARE ranked 20 in ESPN power index… we are a dominant, superior team. We lost to the top 3 teams in the country by next to nothing (overtime, couple points, couple scores AT ohio… ). Terry is not intimidating he is known, and yeah they went to Kaytron and dumbed down the offense allowing the talent to shine, but we also brought a NEW quarterback and had to do this. The earlier games they were allowing the players some time to catch up on all the new stuff. This year started with 3 weak games that did nothing to help us get up to speed. You see the results. EVERY year it's the same, you have to have a decent quality opponent prior to facing a top team in early season.. at the start of his year, we had the opposite of last season's ideal set up in the CFP. We were behind the 8 ball and it took time to get rolling. It's a false correlation to say TSmith is the reason for anything. We need an exceptional head coach. Not sure we need a guy screwing up pressers (go back and listen to T throw his hometown way under the bus, unreal) and getting all kinds of emotional. He had a lifetime to get ready. If you screw that stuff up without trying, you are not ever going to be ready. Not a knock on a great man, but this isn't just any college program coaching position. There are a million great men who shouldn't be coaching PSU. We may not get a great man, but we may get a great HC. That's the job title. (And no, if Sandusky gets out soon on appeal, he's not the guy, either).
Go with Terry. Be smart. He is a true part of the Nittany Nation. He understands the mentality.
Love MRob’s impersonation of the “old man.” Spot on!
JF was at fault for the condition of the team
The whole team was uptight in early in the season
I've haven't yet heard a credible criticism of Terry. Let's address some of the most common:
– Recruiting – as Michael said, Terry is already the current face of recruiting.
– NIL money won't come from a non-big-name coach – that's bullshit. NIL comes from Alumni. Terry speaks "alumni"; no one will outdo him on that front.
– Was never a head coach – he IS the head coach. He is getting results. Futher, a big misconception of both business and sports is that each job is a superset of all positions under it. Not so. Terry was stuck as a position coach. Head coach is the best fit for him, not OC. He can bring people together to solve problems. That's the guy you want at the top.
– Making in game decisions – seriously? You need exactly one bean-counting analyst (ala Peter Brand from Moneyball) on the headset to remind Terry of optimal decisions at crunch time.
– Terry doesn't come with his own staff – who do you think the 500+ people were that congratulated him on his win? Terry has connections throughout the football world. Not only that, he can simply put a call out to alumni for things like strength training, nutrition, financial optimization (NIL), and statistics (analytics). He can literaly just get on social media and say, "Hey, alumni, we need someone to help optimize this" and the resumes will pour in. Penn State has the largest dues-paying alumni association on the planet. Need a general manager? PSU MBA's a top choice in industry. He will have no problem assembling staff because, again, his primary skill is leading people toward solving problems.
He has already shown that he can make corrections that Franklin either was blind to, or was unwiling to execute, or was unable to effect via influence. He is the exact step up the Pat Kraft is looking for.
The search is over.
God Bless Michael Robinson and Terry Smith. And I agree with MRob 100%.
This is the best articulated argument for moving on from Franklin and hiring Terry Smith I have heard anywhere by anyone.
We don’t need a CEO. We need a ball coach.
Kraft not giving Terry Smith the job would be as big a mistake as Sandy Barbour extending Franklin's contract.
Well said Mike Rob ! WE ARE !!!
I knew Michael when he played ball with my son Joe Iorio center. He is a gentleman! Co-author The Penn Dtate Walk-On…
Thank you, Mike. Appreciate all of your insight and love for our Lions!! WE ARE 💙
I love Michael Robinson, that bowl win against lsu was great! My only thing is do you think James should have been fired! I can get behind terry if you didn’t see James as a good coach.
My first Penn State memory is the 79 Sugar Bowl but MRob and Poz running that 05 team was my all time favorite. This is a great interview with Penn State royalty sitting in his throne.
I've never wanted Terry to be the head coach. However, this guy is starting to change my opinion.
Letting yourself get held up by coaches and their agents (agent?) for more and more millions is a mistake. Passing over a hungry, humble guy who does it the Penn State way is also a mistake.
All of these coaches all have the same agents let me use all kinds of different programs to push for more money for the coaches
I’ll listen to Michael Robinson’s opinion ten times over about what is best for Penn State football before I have any interest in what the usual suspects in the national sports media think.
Give Terry his shot!
This was awesome, thanks guys!
Mike, you make so much sense. The most I have heard. An 86 yo. Life long fan.
No no
Going to be an interesting process; Terry is a Penn State guy, an inside the family guy and if this were UNC hoops, he would almost be a slam dunk hire, if you will.
Mike Rob's take was insightful, particularly the analysis of making Kaytron the clear cut number 1 lead back and that's going to be an instrumental tactic for potential bell cow recruits at running back, if…IF…Terry Smith is the choice.