South Carolina assistant Travian Robertson details recruiting philosophy: 'I'm looking to see who is in the gym'

South Carolina football defensive line coach Travian Robertson knows what he is looking for when he is scouting players for his unit. He spoke with GamecockCentral this week about his recruiting philosophy.

One of his favorite places to scout for talent is on the basketball court. According to Robertson, when he goes on scouting visits or when he’s looking at tape, “I’m looking to see who is in the gym…if you play basketball and you play D-line, with the way [White] calls plays, you’ll fit in real well.”

Big guys on the basketball floor play with physicality, but they also develop good footwork and movement instincts. That’s what Robertson covets in a player. “I have a vision,” he stated. “Big guys who can move have a really good place in this league. It takes some coaching to get them to do the techniques, though,” he explained. “There’s a lot of guys that’s walking around high schools with long arms, and they can freakin’ move. But there’s not a lot of guys who really want to do it.”

Though he works together with defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Sterling Lucas and defensive coordinator Clayton White on the entire front, Robertson’s primary focus is the defensive tackle position. His recruiting efforts at the spot in the 2025 class mirror his philosophy.

“These guys I brought in, like Caleb Williams? His arms, his length, his size: that lives in the SEC,” he explained. “Those guys like him, once we develop them and get them in the program, learning to strike and explode off the ball, it’s going to be a show.” Williams was joined in the 2025 recruiting class by fellow incoming freshman Christian Ingram and junior college product Zavion Hardy. All three players are at least 6-5 and 290 pounds, and all three played basketball.

Bringing in that type of talent to go with returners Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine and transfer portal veterans like Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, Davonte Miles, and Troy Pikes has Robertson feeling optimistic about his unit’s ability to replace four NFL guys from last season. “I think they are hungry guys,” he said. “This is a group that understands that they’ve got some shoes to fill, and they want to do it…I’m excited.”

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Robertson, who also played high school basketball and whose listed height was 6-4, saw that play out during his own playing career at South Carolina.

Robertson arrived in Columbia as a combo defensive end/defensive tackle and was part of some really good fronts under defensive line coach Brad Lawing. During that time, he recognized something about most of the impact players near the football. “I’m a tall guy…Cliff Geathers was 6-6, Cliff Matthews was 6-4. That changed the D-line,” he said. Players like Jadeveon Clowney (6-6), Devin Taylor (6-8), Chaz Sutton (6-4), Kelcy Quarles (6-4), Aldrick Fordham (6-3), and Gerald Dixon, Jr. (6-3), played on the defensive line with Robertson, too. When guys like Geathers and Matthews graduated, Coach Lawing was able to replace them with big, athletic guys.

By the time he finished his career as one of the Gamecocks’ best-ever defensive tackles, Robertson and a long line of other big athletes had helped lead some of the best defenses in program history. That plan is the same one he has as a coach.

Because he recruits high-level athletes, Robertson demands a lot out of his players. He prioritizes versatility, both with position and alignment. “Offenses are getting so smart now. They like to go fast and trade formations. If you get a guy who can only stay on one side, you’re stuck,” Robertson said. “I always tell guys, ‘We’re not getting up just to play right or left. We’ve got to be able to shift.’ Some guys can do it, some guys can’t.”

Robertson expects his players to be able to play on either the left or right side of the defensive line, and in some situations, play multiple positions. 2024 standouts TJ Sanders and Tonka Hemingway played 3-technique, nose tackle, and defensive end in certain packages during their career.

That positional versatility is yet another example of why Robertson emphasizes athleticism in recruiting. He said, “I get guys that tell me, ‘Oh, I’ve got this 6-8, 380-pound tackle!’ So, I’m like, ‘Well, can he move?'” he laughed. “Because I’m picturing him now against Tennessee going fast. He can’t help them. There’s a place for [guys like that], but it’s not in our defense…we take pride in who we pick.”

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