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San Jose State suddenly found themselves in need of a new defensive coordinator when Kenwick Thompson left to take the linebackers coach at Vanderbilt. This seems like a step down since 2013 was Thompson's first year as a defensive coordinator at the FBS level.
With Thompson gone, the Spartans needed to look for a new defensive coordinator, and at this time of the year the options are pretty limited. San Jose State ended up making a hire of a quality hire by bringing in Greg Robinson. Robinson most recently was the defensive coordinator with the Texas Longhorns, he also was the head coach of Syracuse between 2005-08 and also the defensive coordinator at Michigan from 2009-10.
Robinson also spent a decade in the NFL and half of that time was a defensive coordinator with the New York Jets and Denver Broncos. When Charlie Strong took over as the Texas head coach, Robinson's services were not retained.
This hire was able to be made as head coach Ron Caragher has a relationship with Robinson which dates back to their time together at UCLA when Caragher was a player in the late 80s, and Robinson was an offensive coach.
Robinson is 62-years-old and said prior to the Alamo Bowl said that he is not done coaching by saying, "I got at least 10 more years left in me."
Robinson is local to the area as he graduated from Pacific and grew up in Northern California and that is huge in recruiting. This 2014 class for San Jose State say all but one player hail from the state of California, so adding Robinson can only enhance recruiting with him being local and also his tenure in the NFL and at high profile schools.
