The Miami hurricanes made one of the coach signings in the top offseason, adding Travaris Robinson as the defensive coach.
Why is Robinson one of the top additions to any team in the country? Because Robinson has a proven track record as a talent recruiter and developer.
Robinson recently appeared on the ‘Behind The U’ podcast and provided many insights into his recruiting philosophies, his experience in joining the Miami technical team this off-season and what kind of defense UM will perform in the future.
Read the tips for this session.
LINK: Check out the full podcast here.
Robinson was recently the defensive coordinator in South Carolina, but he has a proven record of developing defensive backs wherever he has been: with Gamecocks, in Florida and Auburn.
Robinson won commitments from three five-star players: cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves III and Teez Tabor in Florida and defensive attack Jordan Burch in South Carolina.
He also won the following best players in the country during his coaching career: DB Marcell Harris, CB Jamyest Williams, DB Keanu Neal, DT Caleb Brantley, RB Jordan Scarlett, ATH Treon Harris, CB JC Jacksonand CB Cam Smith.
Robinson also has an eye for top talent that can be underestimated by recruiting services. Robinson recruited and helped develop four bordering stars Carlton Davis in Auburn and three stars Quincy Wilson in Florida. Both players were selected in the second round of the NFL Draft.
In South Carolina last season, Robinson mentored striker Kingsley Enagbare, a selection of the first team’s All-SEC, and full-back Jaycee Horn, a choice of the second team’s All-SEC. In 2019, South Carolina’s defense – led by defensive striker All-American Javon Kinlaw – kept his opponents at 20 points or less in five games. Second-year cornerback Israel Mukuamu won the All-SEC second team honors, while Jammie Robinson and Zacch Pickens won SEC All-Freshman honors for Gamecocks in 2019.
In 2017, South Carolina led the SEC and ranked ninth in the country, with 28 forced turnovers, while occupying the 25th place in points allowed per game with 20.7. Gamecocks scored 11 out of 13 opponents with fewer points than the season average. South Carolina tied for 10th in the country in forced turnover with 27 during the 2016 campaign, including 15 interceptions.
In his first season in Florida in 2011, Robinson led a UF secondary who was seventh in the country in defense of the pass (166.8), while the defense Gator was in eighth national in the total defense (299.5).
Robinson led a secondary that was one of the best in the country in 2012, ranking second in defense of passing efficiency (95.55) and allowing only seven touchdown passes – the second lowest number in the country. Florida had 20 interceptions this season, good for the seventh national, while safety Matt Elam was a selection of the first All-America team and choice of the draft of the first round.
In 2013, Robinson’s secondary was the seventh national in defense of passes and the eighth in defense of passing efficiency, while the defensive unit was eight in total defense. Under Robinson, Vernon Hargreaves III was an All-SEC freshman and All-America freshman, at the same time that he was named National Defensive Player of the Year by College Football News.
In 2014, in Florida, Robinson again mentored Hargreaves III, who was chosen for the All-SEC core team and nominated for All-America. Jalen Tabor received the honors of All-America freshman and All-SEC freshman. The Gators defense ended the 2014 regular season in ninth place in total defense, 14th in passing efficiency and 23rd in passing.
Read news and notes about Robinson’s appearance on the podcast ‘Behind The U’.
News and notes
• Florida was the school Robinson thought he was going to work for this year, but Manny Diaz did a good job of selling him about hurricanes. Robinson admitted that he took less money to train at UM. “Manny did a great job showing me who he really was and telling me about the team and the plans and expectations. At the end of the day, I want to win and win immediately and use my help to develop a secondary. “
• The podcast started with what would be Robinson’s recruitment proposal now: “When I was recruiting [against] Miami, I used to talk about how good U used to be and used to be DB-U, but when was the last time a defensive back came from U in the first round? This is going to change and the way it is going to change is you look at the history of the guys I had … The only thing we need to do is keep the guys from this state and this area here. What I’m going to say to the guys is that until you come here, you don’t really know what this campus is like. You think you know why it is close to home, but until you walk around and see the lake in the middle of the campus and the facilities will be compared to any other in the country. “
• Robinson has shed some light on the defense plan now that Diaz is going to be more active as a caller. coach Diaz has a slightly different style of play than I was when I called the moves. He’s a little more aggressive and he’s going to be aggressive and we’re going to press and create negative moves, so that’s where we’re going to hang our hat here in Miami ”.
• Robinson makes it clear that he likes to train the cover of the man to collide and run in the cornerback position. He shared why he likes this philosophy. “I think it forces the defender to make some bad moves,” said Robinson. “It makes them throw the balls deep in the field and the percentage of completion of these balls is not very good when you have defensive backs with length and skill with the ball… we can recruit players who can play this technique. This is a skill thing. We can get the kind of talented guy who can get his hands on boys a little bit and run around the field with [the receiver]”
• Robinson is excited to work with cornerback coach DeMarcus Van Dyke in high school and help prepare him to be a top defense coach. “I see a lot of me in it,” said Robinson. “He’s a guy who goes to work and is a recruiting person. He’s doing an incredible job in my three days here. “
• Robinson made it clear that his entire family is full of hurricane fans. When he was making his decision on National Signature Day as a player, Robinson was choosing between Auburn and Miami and his mother wanted him to go to UM, but he admits he was a little suspicious of the depth chart Hurricanes had on the receiver at Time. “Reggie Wayne was here, Santana Moss was here and Andre Johnson and I were in the same class,” said Robinson. “I knew there was only one football. I kind of knew Andre was a little better than me, so I thought it was in my interest to go somewhere else and play. “