Terrion Arnold opens up on Nick Saban coaching DBs, impact of Travaris Robinson

The Alabama defensive backs have always expressed the special connection they have with Nick Saban throughout the years, given his history coaching the position in his early years as an assistant. Sophomore safety Terrion Arnold is no different, developing a respect for the relationship between coach and player as well as coach and assistant.

During an appearance on The Player’s Lounge, Terrion Arnold confirmed Nick Saban’s occasional favoritism toward the defensive backs.

“Saban loves the DBs,” said Arnold, careful to not give too much away. “That’s him.”

Terrion Arnold has also received a front-row seat to new defensive back coach Travaris Robinson’s first year under Nick Saban. He discussed the adjustment process and what he has seen between the two over recent weeks and months.

“T-Rob is from Florida so he’s for real,” said Arnold. “I kind of differentiate it between, like, you can tell who on the team is from Alabama, who on the team is from Florida just by the way they carry themselves. It fits. I feel like when he got there, he’s a very personable person. His track record speaks for itself, look at who he’s put in the draft.

“Him and Saban really go hand in hand together. When he first got there, he was used to being ‘that guy’ from Miami, so he would try to demonstrate or do drills this way. And coach Saban would be like, ‘No, we do it this way, this way, this way.’ And you could tell coach Saban has kind of let him off the leash, especially with his pedigree, and just let him do what he does. They go hand in hand together.”

More about Travaris Robinson

Travaris Robinson was a first team All-SEC nominee as a senior at Auburn in 2002, defeated Alabama in the Iron Bowl. He went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft but ended up with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers that year.

He quickly jumped to college coaching in 2006 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater before bouncing around to Western Kentucky, Southern Mississippi and Texas Tech before 2010. That’s when he landed at Florida from 2011-14 as defensive backs coach and worked with future NFL talent like Marcus Maye, Keanu Neal and more.

After a one season back at Auburn in 2015, Robinson moved to South Carolina as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach from 2016-20, coaching Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu before arriving at Miami in 2021.