Tag: Mark Robinson

Fight erupts between Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles

A heated brawl erupted during the Steelers’ Week 15 contest after a physical altercation involving Darnell Washington and Calvin Austin.

George Pickens may have missed the Week 15 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, but his chaotic spirit lived on through some of his teammates early in the contest.

Steelers TE Darnell Washington—known for his impressive ability and willingness to block—did his best Pickens impersonation by driving Philadelphia Eagles CB Darius Slay all the way out of the end zone and slamming him into the stands.

The physical altercation took a turn for the worse when WR Calvin Austin III got involved, shoving CB Quinton Mitchell, who was near the pile of bodies. Mitchell seemingly landed a swing on Austin, but the officials must have missed that part of the action, as only Austin and Washington were penalized for the altercation.

Ultimately, the physical nature of the interaction that caused the penalty would stall the Pittsburgh Steelers’ scoring opportunity. The situation mirrored Pickens’ block attempt on Browns CB Greg Newsome II back in Week 12, where he drove the defender into the stands to end the game.

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Week 15: Back-to-back fumbles give Steelers momentum early vs Eagles

T.J. Watt and Mark Robinson created momentum-changing turnovers for the Pittsburgh Steelers early in their Week 15 clash with the Eagles.

Here is a special thank you to Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt and ILB Mark Robinson, who both contributed to momentum-changing plays early in the Week 15 contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

With five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts attempted to scramble and keep the play alive. Watt, who was already leading the league with five forced fumbles, added another to his fantastic 2024 campaign. Hurts almost had a rushing lane available, but Watt immediately punched the ball out as the QB made it past the line of scrimmage.

With a little over four minutes left in the first quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers punted after failing to capitalize on Watt’s forced fumble. However, as the Eagles’ returner, rookie CB Cooper Dejean, received the football, Robinson bolted down the field and delivered a huge hit, knocking the ball loose in the process.

After a personal foul penalty stalled the Pittsburgh Steelers red zone aspirations, the team would call on Chris Boswell to put their first points of the day on the board.  The Steelers currently trail the Eagles 10-3 as the second quarter begins.

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Steelers LB Cole Holcomb on the roster bubble as injury lingers

Cole Holcomb might not make the Steelers final roster.

Last season, before his injury, Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Cole Holcomb was great. In eight games he had 54 total tackles and had a 72.2 run-stopping grade by Pro Football Focus.

Holcomb suffered a serious leg injury that cost him half of the season and now could cost him much more. Holcomb started training camp on the PUP list and with each passing day, it seems less and less likely Holcomb will be ready to go to start the season.

Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac took it a step further. He hypothesized that Holcomb is nowhere near ready to play. Dulac even said that Holcomb might be a candidate for IR or even be waived.

If either happens, it really puts a spotlight on rookie Payton Wilson. The Steelers selected Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft but he is one of the most athletic and productive defenders from the entire draft class. It would also mean Mark Robinson has a better shot to make the team. With the return of Tyler Matakevich, we assume that meant Robinson was on his way out but if Holcomb is out of the picture, Robinson could stay.

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Florida football’s chief off-field staffer accepts Georgia job

Napier and Co. will be looking for Mark Robinson’s replacement in their front office but no timeline has been offered yet.

Florida football chief of staff Mark Robinson accepted a job with the Georgia Bulldogs for a similar role in Athens on Saturday after just seven months in the position with the Gators.

Robinson arrived in Gainesville at the start of the calendar year, with a focus on setting up a front-office-type structure that would help manage personnel throughout the year — similar to how an NFL front office would operate.

“Mark Robinson’s been outstanding,” Florida head coach Billy Napier offered back in March.

However, after interviewing with UGA on Wednesday, Robinson is moving on to Florida’s biggest rival and fellow Southeastern Conference school. The off-field staff member had already contributed to the Gators in his first months with the program.

“(I)t’s definitely helped me and I would tell you that for the first time, I think all of our systems are built,” Napier continued. “We’ve had quite a bit of change over the last couple of years. So it’s the first offseason where you’re not building a system right in the middle of it. So it’s been great.”

Now, Napier and Co. will now seek a replacement for Robinson in their front office. The program has offered no timeline as of yet.

Florida’s 2024 season opener

Florida and the Miami Hurricanes open their schedule on Aug. 31 in Gainesville, Florida. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Florida football’s chief staff member interviews for UGA job

Hopefully the Georgia Bulldogs won’t poach Florida football’s off-field chief of staff.

Florida football chief of staff [autotag]Mark Robinson[/autotag] reportedly interviewed with the Georgia Bulldogs for a similar role in Athens on Wednesday, sources told 247Sports national college football reporter Matt Zenitz.

Robinson arrived in Gainesville at the start of the calendar year, with a focus on setting up a front-office-type structure that would help manage personnel throughout the year — similar to how an NFL front office would operate.

“Mark Robinson’s been outstanding,” Florida head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] offered back in March.

“Just that direct line of communication with Florida Victorious, our current players, their parents, their representation. It’s a new world. We’re living in a new world.”

The off-field staff member had already contributed to the Gators in his first seven months with the program.

“(I)t’s definitely helped me and I would tell you that for the first time, I think all of our systems are built,” Napier continued. “We’ve had quite a bit of change over the last couple of years. So it’s the first offseason where you’re not building a system right in the middle of it. So it’s been great.”

Florida’s skipper had even more positive words to shower on his top off-field staffer, who serves in a role that ostensibly makes him a general manager for football operations.

“Hiring Mark Robinson’s been good. I think we have a forward-facing person that’s kinda the front office, in-house, that works with Florida Victorious,” Napier said.

“We’ve made some adjustments in the personnel department, Jacob LaFrance is the general manager. We’ve got good workflow there. [autotag]Bird Sherril[/autotag] heading up the portal side, so, we’re executing there. I feel like all those systems are up and running pretty good.”

Florida’s 2024 season opener

Florida and the Miami Hurricanes open their schedule on Aug. 31 in Gainesville, Florida. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Florida hire Texas A&M associate athletic director in new front office role

The Florida football program made a hire for a new front office role, poaching from a fellow SEC program.

The Florida football program is rebuilding from the ground up, and the team made another hire last Friday, but this time in the front offices.

According to Swamp247, the team is looking to thread together a string of front-office hires and started with bringing in former Texas A&M Aggies associate athletic director [autotag]Mark Robinson[/autotag] for an unspecified role. His primary focus was managing the TAMU football program in College Station.

Robinson spent six years with Texas A&M and held the same associate role for the Florida State Seminoles from 2013-17. The Greensboro, North Carolina, native started his football office career in 2003, acting as the assistant director of football operations for the Aggies.

Although his official role has yet to be revealed, it is expected to be similar to his previous stints with the other programs on his long resume.

The Gators are still gearing up for spring practices, but are rebuilding the team slowly and steadily with coaching hires and welcoming athletes from the transfer portal.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

4 realistic takeaways from the injury to Steelers LB Kwon Alexander

Here is the most likely plan for the Steelers with Kwon Alexander out for the year.

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost starting inside linebacker Kwon Alexander to what is being described as a season-ending Achilles injury. This would be a serious issue no matter what but the fact that Alexander was in the starting lineup to replace Cole Holcomb makes it even more significant. Holcomb suffered a season-ending knee injury the week before. What will the Steelers do next? Here are our four most realistic takeaways from the injury and how Pittsburgh should proceed.

Five takeaways from Chris Lows’ ESPN article detailing Jimbo Fisher’s future with Texas A&M

Here are five takeaways after reading Chris Low’s in depth ESPN article describing Jimbo Fisher’s future at Texas A&M, and more.

Throughout my time covering the Texas A&M Football program, and of course, Head Coach Jimbo Fisher’s widely discussed tenure, those outside of the Texas A&M media realm generally relied on the low-hanging fruit that was the free media fodder provided on the back of the Aggies’ dismal 5-7 (2-6 SEC) 2022 season.

Back in late December, Fisher, who (finally) saw the writing on the wall, took a big shot after hiring Bobby Petrino as the program’s new offensive coordinator, taking his first assistant job since 2002. Bringing some personal baggage, Petrino’s offensive acumen and extensive coaching resume completely outweighed any negative aspects of his hiring.

Throughout the summer, most of the outside skepticism was based on the potential animosity seen within the future Fisher/Petrino dynamic. Still, through a successful spring with notable changes to the offense, which continued into the fall, the Aggies opened the 2023 season with a bang, blowing out the vising New Mexico Lobos 52-10 behind starting quarterback Conner Weigman’s five touchdowns, three thrown to ascending sophomore wide receiver Noah Thomas.

On Wednesday, ESPN senior writer Chris Low released his highly anticipated article after spending time in College Station to interview Jimbo Fisher, Bobby Petrino, and Texas A&M Athletic Director Ross Bjork to finally bring some much-needed clarity regarding the general vibe around the football program, Fisher’s coaching future, and of course, predicting how the Petrino experiment will pan out during the rest of the 2023 season and beyond.

Here are my five takeaways from Low’s thought-provoking ESPN piece.