Travian Robertson

Travian Robertson is in his second season as the Gamecocks’ defensive line coach. He was named to the post on May 1, 2023.

In his first season back in Columbia, the Carolina alum led a defensive line that surrendered 149.4 rushing yards per game, the fewest since 2017 and the second fewest since 2012. Both T.J. Sanders and Alex Huntley were recognized as SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week during the 2023 campaign. Sanders led the team with 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks from his defensive tackle position.

Robertson spent the 2022 season at Tulane, where he helped head coach Willie Fritz and the Green Wave to a 12-2 record overall, including a win over Southern California in the 2023 Cotton Bowl. The Green Wave went 7-1 in the American Athletic Conference, defeated UCF in the conference championship game for their first-ever AAC football title, and finished the season ranked ninth in both the AP and Coaches’ polls. Tulane allowed 22.2 points and 360.4 yards per game, surrendering just 3.9 yards per rush. Defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins and defensive end Darius Hodges both earned second-team all-AAC honors.

Robertson came to Tulane after serving as a defensive line coach at Georgia State, where he worked under former Gamecock assistant and interim head coach Shawn Elliott for three years. During that three-year stint, the Panthers collected 94 sacks (2.4 per game), including a school-record 38 sacks in 2021.

The Panthers earned back-to-back-to-back bowl berths in his three seasons, and under Robertson’s tutelage, defensive linemen Dontae Wilson and Hardrick Willis earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Willis also became the Panthers’ career sack leader.

In 2021, GSU ranked 15th nationally in tackles for loss at 7.1 per game. The team was second in the Sun Belt Conference and 23rd nationally in sacks, averaging 2.92 per contest.

In 2020, Robertson helped the GSU defense rank No. 8 in FBS with 21 turnovers forced while allowing a program-record 3.86 yards per rush. The Panthers’ average of 136.6 rushing yards allowed per game was the second-best mark in school history, while boasting four of the program’s top 11 single-game performances against the run.

A former graduate assistant on the Georgia State staff, Robertson returned to Atlanta in June 2019 after one season as the defensive line coach at Albany State. He helped the Rams to a 7-4 record, including the SIAC East title, in 2018.

Robertson originally served on Elliott’s staff in 2017 as a graduate assistant working with the defensive line. The Panthers posted a 7-5 record, capped by the program’s first bowl victory over Western Kentucky in the AutoNation Cure Bowl. The GSU defense set school records for fewest points allowed per game, fewest rushing yards allowed per game (136.4) and fewest yards per rushing attempt (4.13) as well as most sacks in a game (7) and season (24.0).

Robertson was an outstanding defensive lineman himself, lettering four years at South Carolina from 2007-11, where he earned Southeastern Conference All-Academic honors and served as team captain in 2011.

He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft and played for the Falcons as well as the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins over four seasons.

Born Dec. 9, 1988, Robertson is a native of Laurinburg, N.C. He and his wife Kettiany, who ran track at South Carolina, have three sons: Travian Jr., Trenton and Tristan.