Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama football sent shockwaves throughout the sport when the seven-time national champion head coach elected to hang up the headset after 17 years in Tuscaloosa.
The aftermath left plenty of questions regarding the remaining Crimson Tide coaches under Saban’s tutelage. Kalen DeBoer, who took the job from the national championship runner-up Washington Huskies, hired his own staff other than a few returning members. A big name that elected to coach elsewhere was Travaris Robinson, known for his prowess as a recruiter and secondary coach.
Robinson spent the last two seasons as Alabama’s cornerbacks coach before taking the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach position at Georgia under former Saban assistant Kirby Smart.
Robinson stepped into the void left by his mentor Will Muschamp, who moved to a defensive analyst role at UGA this offseason. Muschamp also spent time under Saban at LSU and the Miami Dolphins. Robinson coached under Muschamp, a Georgia graduate, at Florida (2011-14), Auburn (2015) and South Carolina (2016-20).
Muschamp’s blessing and the way Smart operates the Georgia program, similar to what Saban did in Tuscaloosa, made the difference for Robinson.
“I was excited about that call,” Robinson said recently during a fall camp press conference. “When coach Saban retired, coach Smart called me, and coach Muschamp and him got on the phone and told me exactly what it was going to be. I was excited to do it. I wanted to be a part of the same type of culture, the same type of environment, and I thought it was the best thing for me to do.”
With Saban at the helm and Smart as defensive coordinator, the Tide won three national championships before Smart’s departure to his alma mater in 2016.
It was clear Georgia’s new head coach had learned a thing or two by the 2017 season when the Bulldogs found themselves pitted against Bama for a national championship. While Saban and company pulled off the overtime win, Georgia’s time ultimately came in 2021 and 2022 with back-to-back titles.
The Bulldogs have lost two games over the last three seasons, with both losses coming at the hands of Saban and company.
“You can tell they did a good job of learning from coach Saban in doing those things,” Robinson said. “I think as I got here at the University of Georgia I saw that coach Smart was able to take some of the things we did at Alabama and expound upon those things. From an effort (standpoint), how we practice, the energy, the different things we do, I think it’s very important, and he does a great job of doing that.”
The connection between the two programs didn’t end with Saban’s retirement. One of the new-found rivalries in the SEC will have a new chapter on Sept. 28 when Georgia visits Tuscaloosa for DeBoer’s first conference matchup.
