Travian Robertson talks vision for South Carolina line, coaching style

Travian Robertson’s first few years at South Carolina were a little lean. But he knew there was something special coming. 

The Gamecocks finished at least .500 in his first three years but never won more than seven games. But his final two years were the start of a four-year stretch for the Gamecocks where they operated at or near the top of the sport. 

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That success–headlined by an SEC East title and an 11-win season–came as Robertson took over as team captain, and it’s that same level of vision he’ll try and bring as South Carolina’s next defensive line coach. 

“I knew once I was able to get that role I had a vision of what i wanted the team to be. That’s all coaching is. Coach (Shane) Beamer has a vision. Coach (Clayton) White has a vision,” Robertson said. “I have a vision. We all come together. As a player and as a captain you have a vision. What do you want the team to be?” 

When he played at South Carolina Robertson was part of one of the best defensive lines in the SEC and in program history. 

It was a group that contributed to wins over No. 1 Alabama and at Florida to win the division. That was in part because of Robertson’s vision as team captain, and he’s going to be the same person trying to get South Carolina back to that. 

“What’s going to help me is just being myself. I have a vision to be one of the best defensive lines in the conference,” he said. “That’s my vision so I’m going to be myself. Because we were one of the best defensive lines in the conference.”

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Robertson earned a reputation in his first stint with the Gamecocks as a player as an about-his-business, hard-working defensive tackle. 

He’s strived to be the same as a player in the NFL and again as a coach. He grinded as a graduate assistant under Shawn Elliott before jumping to Division II Albany State for a few years. 

Elliott hired him back at Georgia State as an on-field coach where he spent time in the Sun Belt before coaching a year in the American at Group of Five power Tulane. 

That same work ethic is going to come with him to South Carolina and he hopes it permeates through the group he’s inheriting. 

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“Me coaching is the same as me playing. I’m just not playing anymore. My mentality is to dominate. I coach hard. I demand excellence in practice…We practiced hard every day on that field and I don’t expect anything less than that,” Robertson said. “Players want real these days. They don’t want fake coaches. They see through that. As a player I saw through that and read through the crap coaches were giving me…For me, I’m going to be myself.”

He does take over a talented and deep group that does have a few questions about it. The Gamecocks lose stalwart Zacch Pickens but return Tonka Hemingway and a few key pieces like Boogie Huntley and TJ Sanders. 

They also enroll a pair of talented newcomers in junior college tackle Elijah Davis and Xazvier McLeod. 

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On3 rated each as four-star prospects with Davis the No. 5 JUCO prospect and also the top at his position. McLeod checks in as a four-star prospect in On3’s rankings while the On3 Industry Rating has him as the No. 195 player in the 2023 class. 

“They’re big guys. They’re strong. And from what I saw they want to win. They want to win,” Robertson said of the group he’s inheriting. “They play hard. Like coach (Beamer) said, they’re good guys and good players. I’m excited to push them to be great Gamecocks.” 

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