What Happened to Former Michigan Star Denard Robinson?
In college, Denard Robinson was a standout player on the football field. Robinson was the star player for the University of Michigan, and he was the talk of college football. After an impressive college career, Robinson had the opportunity to play in the NFL.
He began his NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Though he had a lot of success in college, he was an afterthought in the NFL and did not spend much time in the NFL playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Denard Robinson was a star at Michigan
In high school, Michigan originally recruited Robinson as a defensive back. But Robinson wanted to play quarterback at the collegiate level, and that’s what he did. Michigan ended up recruiting Robinson as a quarterback, and he committed there. Robinson attended Michigan from 2009 to 2012.
As a sophomore, he became the starting quarterback. Robinson used his speed to his advantage at the quarterback position. During the 2010 season, Robinson had an impressive performance in Michigan’s home opener against UConn. Robinson finished the game with 383 yards of total offense, including 186 passing yards and 197 rushing yards.
His performance that game broke Michigan’s single-game record for total offense. He went on to have a memorable sophomore season at Michigan. At the end of the 2010 season, Robinson finished with 2570 passing yards and 18 touchdowns and 1702 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns. He was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-American honors. Robinson had a breakout season in 2010 and became one of the top players in college football.
During his junior year, Robinson continued to put up impressive numbers. He finished the season with 2173 passing yards and 20 touchdowns and 1176 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Robinson could get the job done in the air and on the ground. After his career at Michigan, Robinson said he would be open to playing any position in the NFL.
Robinson’s short career in Jacksonville
The Jaguars selected Robinson in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. In his first start as a running back, he rushed for 127 yards against the Cleveland Browns during the 2014 season. That season, he rushed for 582 yards and four touchdowns. Robinson never became a major threat on offense playing for the Jaguars.
He had a short NFL career, spending only four seasons in Jacksonville. During that time, he rushed for 1,058 yards and had 47 receptions for 310 yards and a total of five touchdowns.
After his short NFL career, Robinson signed with the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season as a backup running back. Robinson appeared in seven games and rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown before the league ceased operations in April of 2019.
What is Denard Robinson doing now?
After his playing career, Robinson remained in football. In July 2019, he became an offensive analyst and assistant to special teams coordinator Steven Sylvester at Jacksonville University. Robinson was only there for one year as the school discontinued the football program after the 2019 season.
It didn’t take Robinson long to find another job in football. He returned to the Jaguars in 2020, who hired him as an offensive quality control coach to help the offense prepare for upcoming games.
Two years later, the University of Michigan announced Robinson’s return to the football program. The now-32-year-old serves as an Assistant Director of Player Personnel, according to the Wolverines’ official website. He worked with Director of Player Personnel Tom Gamble, who’d worked in several roles in the NFL before joining Michigan’s football staff.
Robinson is active on social media, sharing photos of his young son, Denard Robinson Jr., on Instagram.
Stats courtesy of Sports Reference.
