Travian Robertson 'hit the ground running'
New South Carolina defensive line coach Travian Robertson‘s first week on the job likely hasn’t involved much time spent at Andy’s Deli or hanging out on the historic Horseshoe on campus — two area staples that are dear to him.
The former Gamecock, who was officially named the program’s d-line coach last Monday, arrived in Columbia last Tuesday and quickly hit the recruiting trail.
“He hit the ground running,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said Monday during an appearance at the Midlands Welcome Home Tour Event. “He got here on Tuesday and he was on the road by Tuesday night. Once he came in, and we did the press conference and did everything he needed to do from getting organized standpoint, and I think it’s been great.”
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There hasn’t been much of an adjustment for Robertson, who returns to Columbia after one season at Tulane.
Not only is he entirely familiar with the program from his time playing for the school and following it from afar in the years since, but he also already has relationships at some of the high schools he’ll now be recruiting for the Gamecocks.
That made it easy to slide Robertson directly into Jimmy Lindsey’s old recruiting territories.
“One of the things that was attractive with Travian was the fact that he, when he was at Georgia State, when he was at Tulane, when he was at Albany State, he recruited a lot of the same areas,” Beamer continued. “And so really, we just plugged him in where our previous D-line coach recruited and he’s hit the ground running and has a good understanding about those areas.”
That should make many of those high school coaches happy since they’ve been lobbying Beamer to bring Robertson on board for a couple of years.
“When I got hired here, I had a lot of high school coaches that reached out to me two years ago, whenever it was, three years ago, telling me that I should hire Travian Robertson,” Beamer said. “So there were a lot of high school coaches then that felt really, really highly of him and he’s only improved as a coach and a recruiter since then.”
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The Robertson hire has been one of the most widely acclaimed in recent school history as those coaches, South Carolina fans, and former players have all applauded Beamer’s latest most.
Count former South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who lives in Columbia, among them.
Johnson, who believes Robertson is headed towards a “tremendous” coaching career “that’s already off to a great start,” joined the Gamecock Central Takeover Hour on 107.5 The Game last week to discuss it.
“I was just tickled to death; I think it’s a great hire by Shane,” Johnson said. “I really liked Jimmy Lindsey, a really good football coach, and great guy. But I think this is a really good fit for Carolina. Travian, he’s taken a path that I think really enabled him to become a better football coach at this young age than a lot of guys. Some of these guys get out of the NFL or Power 5 programs and they want to go get a job somewhere where they can go on all the bowl trips and things. Travian went where he could get his hands on coaching and recruiting. And I think he’s more than ready. And I think he’s a great fit for the situation. And I think Carolina just got better.”
