Tag: Christian Robinson

Auburn announces defensive staff hires

Every day we shufflin.

Auburn will have a new man running the defense next season.

On Saturday, the Tigers announced that Jeff Schmedding has been promoted to defensive coordinator as Derek Mason stepped down.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Coach Mason for his leadership as our defensive coordinator this past season and wish nothing but the best for him on his next steps,” Bryan Harsin said. “The decision to leave Auburn was not an easy one for him, and he will always be a part of the Auburn family.

“Coach Schmedding was at Coach Mason’s side day after day getting our defense prepared and ready. He is a tremendous defensive coach, who has coordinated championship defenses and is a proven winner. I know our defense will take the next steps forward under Coach Schmedding’s leadership.”

The Tigers also announced the hiring of Jimmy Brumbaugh as the new defensive line coach.

“As we worked through this entire process, we were able to zero in and find two defensive assistant coaches who fit the coaching criteria and expectations we must have,” Harsin said. “Jimmy Brumbaugh is an Auburn Man with an extensive resume that includes several SEC schools and a long list of players he’s developed who have gone on to play in the NFL. He will be a veteran presence and great teacher of the game for our men up front.”

Christian Robinson will be coming aboard as the linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator.

“A coach who was literally raised with SEC football,” Harsin said. “Played in this league and has coached the last seven years at four different SEC programs. He’s a humble and hungry coach that we can’t wait to get around our backers and the rest of the defense.”

Zac Etheridge will now serve as the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. He was in charge of the cornerbacks in 2021. Bert Watts has added the title of associate head coach and will continue as the special teams coordinator and coach of the edge linebackers.

Former UGA linebacker no longer coaching at Florida

Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are moving on from their linebackers coach, Christian Robinson

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Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are moving on from their linebackers coach, Christian Robinson. Robinson, who played linebacker at Georgia from 2009-2012, is now looking for another coaching position.

Robinson served as a graduate assistant at Georgia under Mark Richt from 2013-2014. Robinson also held a similar role at Ole Miss and Mississippi State before becoming the linebackers coach at Florida in 2018.

Napier has decided on much of his support staff at Florida. Napier, the former Louisiana Lafayette football coach, will now focus on bringing in transfers and recruits to offset the large loss of talent that is leaving the program.

Christian Robinson recorded 159 tackles and 4.5 tackles during his career with Georgia. Robinson served as Florida’s interim defensive coordinator after the Gators lost to South Carolina this season. Robinson did not do enough for Napier to retain him on the staff.

Robinson thanked Florida in a Tweet. The Gators moved on from Robinson following their bowl game defeat to UCF:

It will be interesting to where Robinson decides to coach next. Robinson is one of many former Georgia Bulldogs in the college coaching ranks.

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Florida fires Grantham — former Georgia LB to run the defense

Todd Grantham out at Florida. Former Georgia LB to assume defensive play-calling duties.

The Florida Gators have officially parted ways with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, head coach Dan Mullen announced on Monday morning.

In addition to Grantham, Mullen also fired running game coordinator and offensive line coach John Hevesey, who has coached with Mullen since 2001.

The bigger news is the firing of Grantham, who previously held the same position at Georgia from 2010-13. While at UGA, he had a similar relationship with Bulldogs fans as he has had with the Gators fan base since he went to Gainesville in 2018.

Via GatorsWire:

The fanbase has long soured on the fourth-year DC stemming back to last season when the program wasted a historic offense due to defensive inadequacies that all boiled down to Grantham.

Florida announced in a statement that linebackers coach Christian Robinson will assume defensive play-calling duties for the Gators. Robinson is a former Georgia linebacker (2008-12) who played under Grantham at UGA and was a member of the Bulldogs’ team that came just short of beating Alabama in the 2012 SEC Championship Game.

Sep 18, 2010: Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham talks with linebackers Akeem Dent (51) and Christian Robinson (45) during the first half against Arkansas. Arkansas defeated Georgia 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports

Robinson then held graduate position coaching jobs at Georgia (2013-14), Ole Miss (2015-16) and Mississippi State (2017) before being appointed linebackers coach at Florida in 2018.

Robinson not only played for Grantham at Georgia, but coached with him at Mississippi State and then followed his former coach to Florida.

The Gators are 4-5 overall and 2-5 in SEC play this year. Georgia beat them 34-7 on October 30.

Michigan football assistant coach hiring tracker

Michigan football is building out its new coaching staff and with so many changes, here are those who have been connected to Ann Arbor.

Michigan football is experiencing an incredible amount of turnover on its staff, with some wholesale changes making for a new-look coaching unit set to overtake the team in 2021.

While there’s been just one addition to the offensive staff at this juncture, and it appears that most of the offensive staff will return in bulk, the defense is another story.

We already know about Michigan’s hire of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, which was announced on Sunday, as well as the previous hire of running backs coach Mike Hart, but there are multiple names that have been reported to join the staff in short order — though none of those have been made official.

Here are all the names of those connected to coaching jobs at Michigan, what their status is, their job history and more below in our coaching tracker.

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Florida attempting to retain potential Michigan staff addition

Florida is working to keep one of its bright, young assistants from departing for Michigan football.

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Hold onto your butts, it’s not a sure thing that Michigan football gets its man when it comes to a defensive assistant.

Multiple reports indicated that the Wolverines were looking to add Florida linebackers coach Christian Robinson and that it was all but a done deal. However, the former Georgia linebacker is clearly well thought of in Gainesville, as FootballScoop — who first reported that Robinson was set to become a Wolverines coach — reports that Dan Mullen is doing what he can to retain the Gators assistant.

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More:

Late Saturday night, sources informed FootballScoop that MacDonald and Robinson had agreed to join the Michigan staff, formal offers were transmitted … all that remained was collecting signatures.

Michigan formally announced the addition of MacDonald Sunday afternoon.

In the meantime, sources on Sunday told FootballScoop that Gators’ head coach Dan Mullen reached out to Robinson to attempt to retain his linebackers coach. Sources with direct knowledge said Mullen and the Gators countered Michigan’s offer to Robinson, with the Gators offering to elevate Robinson’s pay.

Will Michigan counter and stay in the race for the 30-year old defensive assistant? Stay tuned, an answer should come sooner than later.

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Florida position coach hired by Michigan Wolverines

The Gators have lost their third defensive coach this offseason, this time a positional coach who will be taking a new role in the B1G.

Friday morning, it was reported that Florida linebackers coach Christian Robinson would be leaving the team to take on a position with the Michigan Wolverines. It’s not clear at this time exactly what role he’ll be taking on as a member of the Wolverines’ defensive staff.

Robinson’s departure to the B1G was precipitated by Michigan’s hiring of Mike MacDonald as the defensive coordinator. He and Robinson formerly worked together on the staff of the Georgia Bulldogs, and will be reunited under the maize and blue banner.

“I feel spoiled just because I have bodies, and so it’s ‘next guy up’ mentality,” said Robinson regarding the Florida linebacking corps. “It’s allowed us to move guys around and really see guys play with different guys. It’s a different mixture when you get guys who have never been on the field together … and I’ve really enjoyed the way they’ve meshed together.”

Admittedly, the Gators haven’t had much success with their linebacking group, or, really, the defense as a whole in recent seasons. The outlook for 2021 isn’t especially rosy, either, as the team will almost certainly be losing starting linebacker Ventrell Miller to the NFL draft and has received the news that James Houston IV has entered the transfer portal.

Robinson’s departure is just the latest defensive coach to part ways with the Gators. The team also let go of two coaches who had served under defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in 2020 in an effort to revitalize their defense in the upcoming season.

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Report: Michigan poaching Florida Gators assistant for defensive staff

Michigan football is adding another young, voracious recruiter to the defensive staff, per reports.

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Now we’re getting more of an idea of who will be joining Michigan football’s staff, and it’s having something of an SEC flair to it.

According to FootballScoop.com, Jim Harbaugh is targeting Christian Robinson, another former Georgia alum — like incoming defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald — who most recently coached linebackers at Florida under Dan Mullen.

Per the report:

Sources tell FootballScoop that Christian Robinson is planning to leave Dan Mullen’s University of Florida staff, where Robinson’s spent the past three seasons as the Gators’ linebackers coach, and is expected to join the defensive staff for Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan program.

A former Georgia player who’s worked in the Southeastern Conference at his alma mater, as well as Ole Miss and Mississippi State in addition to his trio of seasons in Gainesville, Florida, Robinson is viewed as an energetic young coach who is strong in fundamental teachings of the linebacker position and also an asset on the recruiting trail.

As both player and coach, Robinson has experience in three New Year’s Six bowls and also has helped coach multiple future NFL Draft picks in his previous stops, most notably working with Robert Nkemdiche at Ole Miss in addition to several Gators stars.

Robinson is yet another quite young, voracious recruiter. He joins Macdonald and former Michigan RB Mike Hart on a staff that’s getting younger by the day.

From the Florida Gators official website:

Robinson’s position at Florida marks his first full-time coaching job, following graduate assistant stops at his alma mater, University of Georgia (2013-14), Ole Miss (2015-16) and Mississippi State (2017).

The Norcross, Ga. native, played for UF Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham at Georgia and was with him in 2017 at MSU. With that said, Robinson has been able to cultivate excellent relationships with Florida’s student-athletes due to his relative closeness in age and his understanding of Grantham’s defensive scheme.

With Robinson’s guide, Florida’s defense during the 2019 season was one of the best in the nation.

The Gators finished seventh nationally in scoring defense with an average of 15.5 points. They allowed just 23 offensive touchdowns over the course of the season, tying for the fourth-fewest in the FBS.

Additionally, Florida was one of just two FBS teams to hold five opponents without an offensive touchdown in 2019 — the second time in program history that a UF squad has accomplished such a feat (2009). Florida’s defense also shutout three opponents this season, marking the first time since 1988 that Florida has done so.

Unsurprisingly, Florida finished third nationally in red zone defense, allowing just 23 scores in 35 trips (65.7 percent). It also ranked third in the FBS in opponent red zone touchdown percentage at 40 percent.

Florida was also one of the best when it came to rushing the passer, as it ranked fifth nationally with 49 sacks. The Gators’ 49 sacks also led all SEC teams by a whopping 12 sacks.

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