Last month, the Miami Hurricanes announced the hiring of Miami-native Travaris Robinson to coach the defensive backs, and Robinson was instantly excited knowing that he’d be returning to the South Florida area.
"I’m very excited about the opportunity to come back close to home,” Robinson said. “I feel the tradition here, what coach (Manny) Diaz and the rest of the staff are doing here - coach Diaz is doing a tremendous job of getting the program where it needs to be, doing it with the right people and the kids to get the program where it needs to be. I wanted to be part of it.”
Robinson played high school ball at Coral Park in Miami before leaving the area to become an Auburn Tiger, which led to a few seasons playing in the NFL. After turning his attention to the coaching profession, Robinson has spent the last 10 years in the SEC coaching DB’s, while also taking on defensive coordinator duties at South Carolina for the past 5 years as well. In that time, Robinson has built a reputation as a relentless recruiter that develops his players for the next level.
"I’m a very personable guy, and one of the biggest things in college football is creating relationships and that’s not just in recruiting,” Robinson said. “Get a kid on campus, have that kid feel he can talk about anything and that kid will play hard for you. I’m going to coach hard, hold him accountable for everything he does, but love him equally as hard.”
One of Robinson’s first acts as UM’s defensive backs coach was to reach out to all the families of players he was targeting in the 2022 class, instead of just the recruits themselves.
“That goes back to the relationships and doing the right thing,” Robinson said.
In terms of trying to sell local kids on staying home for college, Robinson reflected on his own time at Auburn and how it was difficult for his family in South Florida to get to his games.
“My mom never missed a game my entire life until I got to college,” Robinson said. “That’s one thing I regret in my process.”
What does he see as his greatest recruiting victory in his career?
“I had a bunch of them, my easiest was Vernon Hargreaves (at UF),” Robinson said. “To get a player that talented, it was `Stay the course'. The toughest would probably be our pursuit of Dante Fowler (at UF). He was a talented young dude committed to the school in Tallahassee. He told me he was coming the whole time, I just didn’t believe it. He ended up coming. I’ve won some and I’ve lost some, but I’ve won a lot more than I lost.”
Although his focus is usually on the back end of the defense, Robinson also recognized the importance of landing talented local linemen up front.
“This place is always filled with talent,” Robinson said. “We have a lot of big people around in these tri-counties that we’re very excited about. If we can keep those people home, we can be very, very good. Big people - you win up front. All these fast people, but you win games up front. We have a bunch of big people up front and if we do a good job of keeping those guys home, we’ll have a chance.”
Of his current group at corner, Robinson feels there is plenty to work with despite the inconsistent performance of the unit in 2020.
"The talent is there," Robinson said. "We can't give up the explosive plays. That's one of the things we're working on right now, tape for those guys we can sit down and watch it and go through the entire season on when they had opportunities to make plays. They're talented."
The Canes made a significant upgrade at corner over the offseason after bringing in the highly-talented Tyrique Stevenson from UGA, and Robinson is excited to coach him moving forward.
“He’s a talented young man. He played some nickel, outside at corner. We’ll play him at corner here,” Robinson said. “He has ball skills and competes. Me knowing him three years ago in high school, you can see how his focus has changed. Here’s a guy coming in and he knows his business and he needs to play well to accomplish the things he wants to do. He has a chance to be a really good football player.”
At safety, one of UM’s most talented players in Avantae Williams didn’t play a down in 2020 due to medical issues, and Robinson sees a ton of upside in Williams if he can return at full health.
“I think he’s an athletic, talented dude. He wouldn’t pick up the phone for me much when I was trying to recruit him at the other school I was at,” Robinson said. “I called him when I took the job, said `You’ve been running away from me for two years. Now you have to be nice to me because I control the playing time.’ I was messing with him.
“He is a big person to play in the secondary… He’s an exciting young player and is a physical guy and can play multiple spots. His home will be safety and he’ll be able to do all the techniques and things we do because of his athleticism.”
The bottom line for Robinson when breaking down his group at DB?
"Our guys are extremely talented,” Robinson said. “There are things from a discipline standpoint we can do a lot better, doing the little things right whether it’s eye control, proper angles, staying in the middle of the field.
“We need to get back to the basics of `Do your jobs.’… They can play man-to-man, zone, have some game reps behind them. Sometimes you have to break some of the habits, but it helps with a new coaching staff able to do it. There’ll be different individual drills, a different way of explaining. It’ll be good to get out of comfort zones.”
"I’m very excited about the opportunity to come back close to home,” Robinson said. “I feel the tradition here, what coach (Manny) Diaz and the rest of the staff are doing here - coach Diaz is doing a tremendous job of getting the program where it needs to be, doing it with the right people and the kids to get the program where it needs to be. I wanted to be part of it.”
Robinson played high school ball at Coral Park in Miami before leaving the area to become an Auburn Tiger, which led to a few seasons playing in the NFL. After turning his attention to the coaching profession, Robinson has spent the last 10 years in the SEC coaching DB’s, while also taking on defensive coordinator duties at South Carolina for the past 5 years as well. In that time, Robinson has built a reputation as a relentless recruiter that develops his players for the next level.
"I’m a very personable guy, and one of the biggest things in college football is creating relationships and that’s not just in recruiting,” Robinson said. “Get a kid on campus, have that kid feel he can talk about anything and that kid will play hard for you. I’m going to coach hard, hold him accountable for everything he does, but love him equally as hard.”
One of Robinson’s first acts as UM’s defensive backs coach was to reach out to all the families of players he was targeting in the 2022 class, instead of just the recruits themselves.
“That goes back to the relationships and doing the right thing,” Robinson said.
In terms of trying to sell local kids on staying home for college, Robinson reflected on his own time at Auburn and how it was difficult for his family in South Florida to get to his games.
“My mom never missed a game my entire life until I got to college,” Robinson said. “That’s one thing I regret in my process.”
What does he see as his greatest recruiting victory in his career?
“I had a bunch of them, my easiest was Vernon Hargreaves (at UF),” Robinson said. “To get a player that talented, it was `Stay the course'. The toughest would probably be our pursuit of Dante Fowler (at UF). He was a talented young dude committed to the school in Tallahassee. He told me he was coming the whole time, I just didn’t believe it. He ended up coming. I’ve won some and I’ve lost some, but I’ve won a lot more than I lost.”
Although his focus is usually on the back end of the defense, Robinson also recognized the importance of landing talented local linemen up front.
“This place is always filled with talent,” Robinson said. “We have a lot of big people around in these tri-counties that we’re very excited about. If we can keep those people home, we can be very, very good. Big people - you win up front. All these fast people, but you win games up front. We have a bunch of big people up front and if we do a good job of keeping those guys home, we’ll have a chance.”
Of his current group at corner, Robinson feels there is plenty to work with despite the inconsistent performance of the unit in 2020.
"The talent is there," Robinson said. "We can't give up the explosive plays. That's one of the things we're working on right now, tape for those guys we can sit down and watch it and go through the entire season on when they had opportunities to make plays. They're talented."
The Canes made a significant upgrade at corner over the offseason after bringing in the highly-talented Tyrique Stevenson from UGA, and Robinson is excited to coach him moving forward.
“He’s a talented young man. He played some nickel, outside at corner. We’ll play him at corner here,” Robinson said. “He has ball skills and competes. Me knowing him three years ago in high school, you can see how his focus has changed. Here’s a guy coming in and he knows his business and he needs to play well to accomplish the things he wants to do. He has a chance to be a really good football player.”
At safety, one of UM’s most talented players in Avantae Williams didn’t play a down in 2020 due to medical issues, and Robinson sees a ton of upside in Williams if he can return at full health.
“I think he’s an athletic, talented dude. He wouldn’t pick up the phone for me much when I was trying to recruit him at the other school I was at,” Robinson said. “I called him when I took the job, said `You’ve been running away from me for two years. Now you have to be nice to me because I control the playing time.’ I was messing with him.
“He is a big person to play in the secondary… He’s an exciting young player and is a physical guy and can play multiple spots. His home will be safety and he’ll be able to do all the techniques and things we do because of his athleticism.”
The bottom line for Robinson when breaking down his group at DB?
"Our guys are extremely talented,” Robinson said. “There are things from a discipline standpoint we can do a lot better, doing the little things right whether it’s eye control, proper angles, staying in the middle of the field.
“We need to get back to the basics of `Do your jobs.’… They can play man-to-man, zone, have some game reps behind them. Sometimes you have to break some of the habits, but it helps with a new coaching staff able to do it. There’ll be different individual drills, a different way of explaining. It’ll be good to get out of comfort zones.”
