Syracuse Football: Another wrinkle in possible departure of assistant Elijah Robinson

Elijah Robinson is still listed as a Syracuse football assistant coach on cuse.com, although many fans think he will end up coaching somewhere else in the 2026 season.

Teams such as LSU and Nebraska have reportedly shown an interest in hiring Robinson. Penn State's name has been floated around, too, for Robinson, who is an excellent recruiter.

On Friday, FootballScoop reported that Texas A&M may also have an interest in hiring Robinson. That's an intriguing wrinkle, as before he joined the Orange staff, Robinson was the Aggies' defensive line coach, co-defensive coordinator and then the team's interim head coach after Jimbo Fisher was fired.

Could Elijah Robinson end up staying at Syracuse football?

For the past two seasons, Robinson served as the Orange's defensive coordinator. But the 'Cuse defense struggled in the recently completed 2025 campaign, with Syracuse football going 3-9 overall.

Head coach Fran Brown, who is long-time friends with Robinson dating back to their childhood years growing up in Camden, N.J., demoted Robinson not too long ago. He is now the Orange's co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.

Recently, 247Sports reported that Georgia State defensive line coach and assistant head coach Jeremy Hawkins would come on board at the 'Cuse as the squad's defensive line coach. One minor thing to note here: On Hawkins' Twitter page, he says he is Syracuse football's "DL Coach (Edges)."

If Hawkins is focused on coaching the Orange's edge rushers, could that be a hint that maybe Robinson could stay on board at the 'Cuse? The team's previous edges coach, Nick Williams, has taken on the same role at Florida State.

When I wrote this article on Saturday afternoon, via the SU athletics department Web site, Robinson's bio lists him as the Orange's "Assistant Head Coach/co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line." We shall see how this all shakes out.

Amid the team's poor 2025 term, Brown has made significant changes to his assistant staff. Vince Kehres, formerly with Toledo, is the Orange's new defensive coordinator. In 2025, Toledo has put forth one of the best defenses nationally.

Additionally, SU Athletics formally announced on December 18 that long-time college and NFL coach Juan Castillo has joined Syracuse football as its offensive line coach. Most recently, he was an offensive analyst at Michigan.