The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Running Backs
A longtime assistant coach at both the collegiate and professional levels, Tommie Robinson is in his second season as the Texas running backs coach.
Robinson has spent time with some of the most storied teams in college and the NFL. He was the passing game coordinator/running backs coach at USC in 2013 and previously served as an assistant with Miami (Fla.) and the Dallas Cowboys.
He helped Texas post some of its best rushing games in the second half of 2014 as the Longhorns overcame a 3-5 start to become bowl eligible. Behind Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray, UT posted 200-plus rushing yard games in wins over Texas Tech and then No. 24/25 West Virginia. Brown, who ended his career No. 9 on the Texas all-time rushing yards list (2,678), had a team-best 708 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. He earned second team All-Big 12 honors from the league coaches and went on to sign as a free agent with St. Louis following the 2015 NFL Draft. Gray was second on the team with 637 rushing yards and a team-high seven scores after missing the end of the 2013 campaign with an Achilles injury.
In 2013 at USC, Robinson led a running back unit that had four players gain more than 350 rushing yards, which helped the Trojans win six of their last seven games, including a dominating 45-20 win over Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Javorius ‘Buck’ Allen, the team’s leading rusher with 785 yards and 14 rushing scores (19th in the nation) earned All-Pac-12 honors. Tre Madden, who led the Pac-12 in rushing before getting injured, gained 703 yards on the season. In addition, first-year starting quarterback Cody Kessler ranked 26th nationally in passing efficiency (148.8 rating).
Robinson spent the previous three seasons (2010-12) coaching the running backs with the Arizona Cardinals. In 2011, he helped Beanie Wells become the first player in franchise history to run for at least 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wells also set a franchise single-game rushing record with 228 yards against the St. Louis Rams that season. The Cardinals’ rushing attack was hampered in 2012 by injuries and the 2010 offense was primarily pass-oriented.
Prior to his stint with Arizona, Robinson spent three seasons (2007-09) as the running backs coach at Miami (Fla.), helping the Hurricanes reach the 2008 Emerald Bowl and 2009 Champs Sports Bowl.
Robinson tutored one of the most talented running back trios in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2009. Graig Cooper, Damien Berry and Javarris James shared the carries, with Cooper logging a team-high 695 yards and Berry posting a 6.6 yards per carry average and eight rushing TDs.
Robinson also coached one of the best young running back tandems in the country in 2007. James, then a sophomore, and Cooper, a true freshman, combined for 1,354 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Cooper's 682 yards were the third most yards by a UM freshman and he ranked fourth nationally in rushing among true freshmen. He also earned freshman All-America honors from Sporting News. He followed up with a career-high 841 rushing yards in 2008, capturing team MVP honors.
Robinson spent the 2006 season as the running backs coach at the University of Memphis, following a four-year stint as an assistant at Georgia Tech (2002-05), where he coached under Chan Gailey, for whom he played at Troy State and worked under as an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys.
At Georgia Tech, Robinson coached wide receivers for one season before becoming the tight ends coach, where he tutored former NFL players John Paul Foschi and Darius Williams. During the 2002 season, Robinson worked with standout receivers Kerry Watkins and Will Glover, who both finished their careers among the top five receivers in Georgia Tech history. The Yellow Jackets played in three bowl games in that four-year stretch: 2002 Silicon Valley Classic, 2004 Humanitarian Bowl and 2004 Champs Sports Bowl.
At Memphis, he tutored running back Joseph Doss who went on to become the fifth-leading rusher in school history.
He spent the 2001 season as the running backs coach at Oklahoma State, where he worked with Tatum Bell who went on to a five-year NFL career.
Robinson was an offensive assistant with the Dallas Cowboys for three years (1998-2000), working with the wide receivers (including future Hall of Famer Michael Irvin) and special teams. Working under Gailey, the 1998 and 1999 Cowboys advanced to the NFL playoffs and the 1998 squad won the NFC East title.
He went to the Cowboys after a brief three-month stop as the running backs coach at UNLV in the spring of 1998. Before that, he coached running backs at Utah State for two years (1992-93), helping the Aggies advance to the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl II, their first bowl appearance in 32 years and only fourth in school history to that point. He coached Abu Wilson and Tai Gordon who were second team All-Big West Conference picks in 1992. Profail Grier was a first team all-league running back in 1993.
Robinson went on to coach wide receivers for four years (1994-97) at TCU, helping the Horned Frogs in reaching the 1994 Independence Bowl. He coached John Washington, who was an All-Southwest Conference pick in 1995 and went on to play in the NFL for New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, and Jimmy Oliver, who played for the San Diego Chargers and Cowboys, as well as the Ottawa Roughriders in the CFL. In addition, Jason Tucker was one of his pupils and played professionally for two years (1999-00) for Dallas and seven (2002-08) for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. Robinson also aided in the development of running back LaDainian Tomlinson who was a freshman during the 1997 season and went on to a long Pro Bowl career.
He began his college coaching career as a restricted earnings coach at Troy State in the spring of 1991 and then moved on to become a graduate assistant that fall at Arkansas when the the Razorbacks advanced to the Independence Bowl.
Robinson started coaching at the high school level, guiding Woodham High in Pensacola (Fla.) in 1986 and 1987 and Central High in Phenix City (Ala.), his alma mater, from 1988 to 1990.
During his various college stops, he also served minority coaching internships with the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins.
He was a four-year letterwinner, three-year starter at strong safety and team captain as a senior at Troy State, where he was a member of the 1984 Division II national championship team. Robinson played his final two seasons under Gailey and received his bachelor's degree in criminal justice at Troy State in 1985.
He and his wife, Lartonyar, have two sons, Dantrell and Trey, and a daughter Tawanda.
TOMMIE ROBINSON AT-A-GLANCE | |
| Hometown | Phenix City, Ala. |
| High school | Central (Phenix City, Ala.) |
| College | Troy State '85 |
| Year in coaching | 30th |
| Wife | Lartonyar |
| Children | Dantrell, Trey, Tawanda |
COACHING ASSIGNMENTS | ||
| 2014- | Running Backs | Texas |
| 2013 | Passing Game Coordinator/Running Backs | USC |
| 2010-12 | Running Backs | Arizona Cardinals |
| 2007-09 | Running Backs | Miami (Fla.) |
| 2006 | Running Backs | Memphis |
| 2003-05 | Tight Ends | Georgia Tech |
| 2002 | Wide Receivers | Georiga Tech |
| 2001 | Running Backs | Oklahoma State |
| 1998-2000 | Offensive Assistant/WRs/Special Teams | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1994-97 | Wide Receivers | TCU |
| 1992-93 | Running Backs | Utah State |
| 1991 | Graduate Assistant | Arkansas |
| 1991 (spring) | Restricted Earnings Coach | Troy State |
| 1988-90 | Assistant Coach | Central HS (Phenix, Ala.) |
| 1986-87 | Assistant Coach | Woodham HS (Pensacola, Fla.) |
COLLEGE BOWL/NFL POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE | ||
| 2014 | Texas Bowl | Texas |
| 2013 | Las Vegas Bowl | USC |
| 2009 | Champs Sports Bowl | Miami (Fla.) |
| 2008 | Emerald Bowl | Miami (Fla.) |
| 2004 | Champs Sports Bowl | Georgia Tech |
| 2003 | Humanitarian Bowl | Georgia Tech |
| 2002 | Silicon Valley Classic | Georgia Tech |
| 2000 | Playoffs | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1999 | Playoffs | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1998 | Playoffs | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1994 | Independence Bowl | TCU |
| 1993 | Las Vegas II Bowl | Utah State |
| 1991 | Independence Bowl | Arkansas |
