They didn\u2019t have to come back. They could\u2019ve just left after last year when things were at a low. But instead, they\u2019ve decided to stick around for one last rodeo.<\/p>\n
South Carolina\u2019s defensive line room has received a huge boost this offseason. Not only are veterans like Tonka Hemingway<\/a><\/strong>, Boogie Huntley<\/a><\/strong> and TJ Sanders<\/a><\/strong> all coming back, but Pitt transfer DeAndre Jules<\/a><\/strong> joins the group as another guy with a plethora of experience under his belt.<\/p>\n And if there\u2019s anyone that knows what it\u2019s like to be in their shoes, it\u2019s their defensive line coach Travian Robertson. When Robertson was a player at South Carolina, he stayed for five years and had a solid season as a fifth-year senior. So he gets it better than most. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited they came back, but I felt great about it because the relationship I built with them in the time that I was here,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cAnd so just to have all Tonka, Boogie and TJ back this year, it\u2019s going to be huge for our defense, huge for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n [GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When Robertson learned the news that he\u2019d getting back the core of his defensive line from a year ago, the feeling was pure excitement. <\/p>\n \u201cLike I said, just to have those guys back and have more depth where they can teach. Their whole job this year is just leave this place better than what they found it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are great players, great kids, we love them. But our time always come to an end. So I\u2019m just telling them to enjoy this year and we\u2019ll revisit everything towards the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n When looking back at last season, it\u2019s hard to imagine how much different South Carolina\u2019s d-line would look if Hemingway, Huntley and Sanders didn\u2019t return. With Sanders, he led the group with 43 tackles and 4.5 sacks. And Robertson said a lot of that came down to his background as an athlete.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was known as a basketball player, so he has a great ability to move real good,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cSo now it\u2019s just getting stronger. I just told him his job is now to be a professional, perfect his craft. Going through the spring, being a leader. With him, perfecting what he already does good, now just master it.\u201d<\/p>\n [On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Huntley and Hemingway, who have both been around the program since before Shane Beamer became the head coach. For Hemingway, he could\u2019ve tried to turn pro or transfer elsewhere. But instead, he\u2019ll stay home for one more year and look to solidify himself as a great player.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been good, it\u2019s been a blessing. When Tonka announced that he was coming back for another year, it\u2019s been good having him back,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cTonka don\u2019t talk much, but he leads by example. So just having him here, we just told Tonka to just go out there and play ball and lead these guys this year. We already know what he can do, know how physical he can play, we know how athletic Tonka is. But now, it\u2019s just leaving this place better than he found it.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Travian Robertson talks what it means to bring back veteran core of defensive line<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They didn\u2019t have to come back. They could\u2019ve just left after last year when things…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46880,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46843\/revisions\/46880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n