ORLANDO, Fla. - When position coach Fran Brown left Georgia to take the head coaching job at Syracuse, Bulldogs commit Ellis Robinson started to let second thoughts creep in.
The situation at Miami was always interesting to him and the Hurricanes were trying hard to flip the five-star cornerback from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
But the Georgia coaches squashed that quickly. From coach Kirby Smart and other assistants to the quick hiring of Donte Williams as Robinson’s new position coach, the five-star steered clear of drama and stuck with the Dawgs.
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“At Miami, I really felt comfortable with those guys over there but at the end of the day I’ve been committed to Georgia ever since Feb. 1 and those guys kept showing me love throughout my whole process so that was the main reason I stayed committed to Georgia,” Robinson said at Under Armour All-America Game media day.”
The thought of flipping Miami definitely was considered, though, especially as in-home visits started and Brown darted off to Syracuse.
“It definitely did around the home visits when they were coming up to me, talking to me about everything, it really did come close to it but at the end of the day I decided to stick with Georgia,” Robinson said.
“(Brown’s departure) definitely affected me a little bit. It definitely had me a little confused and I wanted to take a step back from everything, how everything was going. I got the reassurance from all the guys at Georgia so that’s really what helped me stick with them.”
It was really Georgia and Miami down to the end but Brown even tried his hand at pulling off a recruiting stunner by getting Robinson, who came to IMG from New Rochelle (N.Y.) Iona Prep, to play for the Orange.
It was never seriously considered.
“Definitely did but I don’t know if I could do that,” Robinson said. “I couldn’t. It’s too cold. That’s upstate New York. That’s too cold.”
The message from Miami coach Mario Cristobal and his staff was clear: Come to Miami, the coaching situation is settled and you’ll get developed for the pros.
“It really was coming in there and getting developed with coach (Jahmile) Addae and everything,” Robinson said. “The main message was getting developed and getting prepared for the NFL really.”
With recruiting behind him - thankfully - Robinson has already been in Athens practicing for Georgia’s bowl game. It’s been a learning experience for sure.
“Bowl practice has been different,” Robinson said. “Way different than high school. The speed of the game, every aspect of the game is just different, faster, much stronger. It’s really eye-opening.”
