Georgia is a natural fit for Travaris Robinson
By: Anthony Dasher - UGASports.comWhen Nick Saban stepped down as the head coach at Alabama, Travaris Robinson knew there was just one other place he’d like to be – Georgia.
Fortunately for him, the stars aligned.
Will Muschamp was stepping back from co-defensive coordinator into an analyst role, leaving the Bulldogs needing a new safeties coach.
It turned out Muschamp wanted Robinson just as badly.
“He wanted to pass that torch to somebody that he felt that can come in and kind of run things like he did. And I was excited about that call,” Robinson said. “When Coach Saban retired, Coach Smart called me, and Coach Muschamp and him got on the phone and told me exactly what it was going to be. And I was excited to do it. I wanted to be a part of the same type of culture, the same type of environment, so I thought it was the best thing for me to do."
Muschamp and Robinson go way back.
Robinson served as a graduate assistant at Auburn, before working together at Florida, and later serving as Muschamp’s defensive coordinator during his tenure as the head coach of the Gamecocks.
“He's a guy that's been a mentor to me, father figure. And everything that I've done in my career, he always assisted me in,” Robinson said. “When he told me that he was looking into not being here full time, but being here a lot of the time, it's something that I wanted to do.”
Defensive Coordinator Glenn Schumann is working with Robinson for the first time.
However, his reputation was certainly well-known.
“I always had the utmost respect for him, as a coach and as a recruiter and just as a person. Will spoke incredibly highly about him even before this opportunity came about,” Schumann said. “I trust Will and his opinion with just about everything. It's been awesome to have Travaris here, and he's been a great addition.”
Although Muschamp is now an analyst, at least during the early part of camp, he’s around the program as much as ever.
In that regard, Robinson laughed that not much has changed.
“Coach Smart's in the defensive back room. He's a DB guy. Coach Muschamp's in the DB room, Coach Donte's (Williams) in the DB room. I mean, it's like an AFCA clinic every single day, man,” Robinson said. “But you know, at the end of the day, man, it's been, it's been great. I really enjoy Coach Muschamp being here and helping me kind of get through the process of learning how we do things.”
That includes getting accustomed to the different nuances between Saban’s former program at Alabama, and Smart at Georgia.
“Some of the things that we do here is a little different than what we did at Alabama. Kirby's done a really good job and Coach Schumann of changing some of the different things that we did and making it not as complex,” Robinson said. “I think our guys are able to play faster because of that.”
That’s not the only difference.
Casual fans look at the two programs and assume that Smart simply copied what Saban did at Alabama and applied it to his program at Georgia.
Robinson attests that’s not true at all.
Although the core principles and beliefs are the same, there are differences the average fan does not see.
“I think as I got here at the University of Georgia, I saw that Coach Smart was able to take some of the things that we did at Alabama and expound upon those things,” Robinson said. “I think from how we practice, the energy, the different things that we do, I think is very important and he does a great job of doing that."
When asked to specify, Robinson smiled.
“You see this microphone right here. That'd probably be the main difference,” Robinson said of Smart, referring to the use of a mic during practice to correct players for anyone within earshot to hear.
“As far as the energy and different things like that and getting out the guys and holding guys accountable, I would say is equal,” Robinson said. “But I would say the microphone, getting that public talking to. It's a little different now when a guy comes running to you and tells you something, compared to when you hear it on that microphone and your players hear, ‘Hey T-Rob, this guy doesn't know what he's doing, or you don't know how to coach it.’”
But Robinson is adjusting well, and there’s no place he’d rather be than Athens.
“It holds everybody accountable. It's really good, and anybody can get it, man. That's the great thing about this place,” Robinson said. “Coach Saban has been a mentor to all of us. We talk to him all the time. He's a guy who, everything we learned, we learned from him and, he's been great to us. But I’m excited about these guys and excited to be here."
