USC loses assistant coach Tommie Robinson to Ed Orgeron and LSU
Louisiana State has hired assistant football coach Tommie Robinson away from USC, LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed Tuesday.
Robinson was among USC’s most effective recruiters. He is the first Trojans coach to leave the program in the off-season.
Robinson, 53, joins the staff of former USC interim coach Ed Orgeron, now LSU’s head coach. Robinson will coach running backs, as he did at USC during two separate one-season stints.
USC has seen departures or firings among its assistant coaching staff during every off-season since the 2008 season.
On national signing day last week, Trojans Coach Clay Helton mentioned USC’s coaching consistency as a selling point.
“I thought it was invaluable,” Helton said. “When you look at today’s realm of college football and you see all the coaching changes that happen, whether it’s head coaches, whether it’s position coaches, to look up and to have every full-time coach here with us and going into our next season I thought was really, really important.”
Robinson was one of the best recruiters on a staff that enjoyed a successful 2017 campaign. He secured commitments from top prospects such as Fontana Summit High running back Stephen Carr and linebacker Levi Jones of Texas. 247Sports named him the No. 2 recruiter in the nation.
USC has options to fill Robinson’s role. Johnny Nansen coached running backs for two seasons at USC before shifting over to handle the linebackers last season. His versatility gives Helton options as he looks to hire another assistant.
Robinsonwas USC’s running backs coach in 2013, the same season Orgeron filled in as the Trojans’ interim coach. After two seasons at Texas, Robinson returned to USC about a year ago.
Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand
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