Alabama Expected to Hire New Cornerbacks Coach from Miami

The Alabama Crimson Tide offered Travaris Robinson, Miami's defensive backs coach, a position as its cornerbacks coach on Wednesday. Robinson is expected to head to Tuscaloosa after meeting with the Hurricanes' new head Mario Cristobal. He would be the team's fourth current on-field assistant with experience as a defensive coordinator.

The position opened after Jay Valai announced on January 11 that he would be moving on to Oklahoma and becoming co-defensive coordinator under new head coach Brent Venables.

A Miami, FL native, Robinson spent the last season back home and coaching under Manny Diaz. He was retained by Miami through its coaching change from Diaz to Cristobal.

Robinson brings SEC experience with him if he officially joins the team. Previous to his job at Miami, he was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at South Carolina from 2016-20 under Will Muschamp. Robinson was also the defensive backs coach for the Auburn Tigers in 2015 and spent five years with the Florida Gators in the same role from 2011-15.

He started his career as a graduate assistant at Auburn from 2006-07 before becoming an assistant coach at Western Kentucky in 2008, Southern Miss in 2009, and Texas Tech in 2010.

In college, Robinson was a wide receiver turned safety and kick returner at Alabama's in-state rival, Auburn, under Coach Tommy Tuberville from 1999-2002. He earned first-team All SEC honors in his senior season, recording 92 tackles and four interceptions.

He then signed as with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent following the 2003 NFL Draft and played in five games as a rookie before being waived and claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom he played four games for.

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Robinson is regarded highly as a recruiter, taking part as either primary or secondary recruiter for three of Miami's top 10 recruits in the 2022 class. He helped teams land 26 total 4- and 5-star prospects throughout his years as a coach including Florida cornerbacks Vernon Heargreaves II and Teez Tabor and South Carolina defensive tackle Jordan Burch.

In 2020, Robinson mentored cornerback Jaycee Horn, who was taken eighth overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

If all goes as expected, Alabama will be getting a defensive backs coach with a lot of experience in the SEC and in the realm of recruiting, bolstering a staff with a lot of defensive experience.