Florida linebackers coach Christian Robinson has an interesting take on what his role is as a coach. He doesn’t just want his players to learn what their specific responsibilities are on a given play-call. If that’s all his players learn, he’s failed them.
Instead, Robinson takes a more holistic approach to his job. He wants his players to know what the entire defense is trying to accomplish on a given play in detail. This way, the players can teach each other in ways that might hit home differently than when Robinson instructs them. It also allows them to adjust on the fly when the offense throws them a wrinkle.
In-game adjustments have to be made in seconds, so it’s imperative that the players have the knowledge they need to communicate effectively with each other and enough respect for each other to listen.
He learned his big-picture approach to coaching from his father, Ken Robinson, a player for South Carolina in the 1980s and a current high school coach.
“My Dad told me the best thing you could do as a coach is to create other coaches,” Robinson said.
He believes he has several players that fit that player-coach mold in his room, none more so than redshirt senior Ventrell Miller. Miller started 21 games the last two seasons and led the team with 88 tackles in 2020. He also added 7.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks.
His biggest contribution to the team, though, doesn’t show up in box scores. He’s a true field general. He knows the intricacies of the defense and can usually be seen pointing and yelling instructions at his teammates prior to the play. He also pushes everyone on the team to be better, and, because he works hard himself, they respect him and follow his lead.
“Ventrell is an ultimate leader,” cornerback Jaydon Hill said. “He’s that guy, that Alpha male. He really wants the best out of everybody, and that goes from scholarship players to walk-ons. He really just wants the best for everybody. He is very passionate about the game. He really works hard. That’s one thing about Ventrell. He gets that nose muddy for the team. He’s going to do whatever he’s got to do.”
Robinson said Miller is exactly the type of player he tries to develop, and Miller makes his job easier.
“With Ventrell, a lot of the things he’s gone through personally and a lot of things he’s gone through learning the system and being a part of what we did, I no longer have to take on every single little task because, as a leader and wanting to be a player-driven team, he’s able to take those tasks for me in the room and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing,’” he said.
“When things start to slip with a guy, I don’t have to be the one who always has to do it, so it makes my life easier. But on the field, you hear a guy taking charge and really controlling what goes on out there, and that’s always been the dream for him and any player that comes in our room.”
Miller understands that the coaches are counting on him to do much more than make 10 tackles per game, cover tight ends and force the occasional fumble. He doesn’t feel any added pressure by being labeled as an extension of the coaching staff. In fact, he relishes this role.
“It’s a big role, a big role to play, but I embrace it,” Miller said. “I like that Coach believes in me that much to put the load on me. So, just going out there, looking forward to doing everything that I can to help the team win.”
A year ago, Miller may have been the only coach on the field at the linebacker spot. Mohamoud Diabate was trying to learn a different position in a short period of time, so he wasn’t in a position to tell other linebackers what to do. Amari Burney was in and out of the lineup after he experienced some early-season struggles.
Now, Diabate is looked at as one of the team’s leaders, and Burney has continued to impress his coach with how quickly he picks up new concepts and corrections.
“He’s a guy that takes in information really well,” Robinson said. “You say something one time, and you say it so exact that he does exactly that. And then you’re like, ‘OK, maybe I didn’t mean it exactly that way.’ He does exactly what you tell him to do, and that makes my job so easy.”
Burney brings a rather interesting leadership dynamic to the defense. He played safety as a freshman, so he’ll often lend advice to the safeties, one of the youngest and most inexperienced groups on the team.
“When a young DB gets out there, and they might not know what to say, he’s getting on them,” Robinson said. “Sometimes, position groups get on each other. What ultimately you want is a group [of] older guys [that] talk to every position. ‘Hey, what is this going to do in a game? That might not help us. Hey, you showing over here, that might not be what we need to do when the offense doesn’t know what we’re doing.’”
Because of the increased leadership the linebackers are showing and the diversity of skillsets they have at the position, Robinson said you’ll see more than three of them on the field at times this season. The Gators have typically played just two linebackers most of the time over the past two years. But, with Diabate and Jeremiah Moon cross-training at BUCK and linebacker, that figures to change in certain situations this fall.
Robinson’s thorough approach to coaching also makes the players more versatile and interchangeable. They don’t have to bring Diabate in to do one thing and then replace him with Burney when they want to do something else.
“The biggest thing that we try to do is show them what the overall goal of what we’re doing on a specific play or personnel is,” Robinson said. “I tell my guys, ‘Hey, if you’re just wanting to know this one formation and what I’ve got to do,’ that will only last you for one play. And guess what? The offense isn’t going to line up in exactly what you want them to do.
“Learning that, if I understand concepts and I understand what we’re trying to do together, that that will allow [me] to know multiple spots and know what’s going on. And that ultimately gets to know what our whole team is. ‘Hey, I’ve got to know what we’re doing in our mission and to put the team before all.’ That’s been a big thing, and it’s not a cheesy deal. It’s a real thing. If we do that collectively, we can go where we want to go.”
Fortunately, the players will have several coaches on the field with them to reinforce that message.
“To have multiple coaches, that makes the room better,” Robinson said. “That makes the team better. We have to be a coach-driven team in order to get where we want to go in December.”