Merlin Robertson excelling under the coaching of Antonio Pierce
Short-term success can be crippling. Mindsets can shift, motivation often declines. As ASU’s freshman linebacker Merlin Robertson began navigating his way through his first week of college practices, he gained early victories.
The Southern California product who attended powerhouse Junipero Serra High School was garnering the majority of first-team reps at outside linebacker by his third practice. But Robertson grasps the suddenness of the situation. It’s just the beginning -- of his career, his freshman season and fall camp for that matter.
Depth charts rotate more than the weather and perspective of that keeps Robertson’s mindset and motivation even-keeled. After his Twitter timeline began to flood with encouragement and recognition of his work with the starters, Robertson wanted to set the record straight.
“The depth chart is always going to be changeable and it’s all on your progress,” Robertson said Thursday. “So it’s really all on me to just keep progressing, to keep knowing my stuff, to keep learning the new plays that are coming on and just keep on working.”
The freshman admitted he’s a little surprised he’s amassed so many first-team reps so quick. His position coach isn’t in the same boat.
ASU linebackers coach Antonio Pierce has been watching Robertson since the 6-foot-3, 256-pound linebacker was in eighth grade. He wished he could have coached Robertson from that age, too. Pierce tried to recruit Robertson to Long Beach Poly High School, where he was the head coach for four seasons, but the youngster ultimately chose Serra.
Instead, Pierce was forced to game plan for Robertson every year. He prefers the dynamic they have now.
“He’s a nasty individual, and I mean that in a very malicious way,” Pierce said after National Signing Day. “He’s going to move some walls in this building, he’s going to move some chairs. He has the identity we want our linebackers to have from this point forward”
Robertson’s first-team reps are a validation of what Pierce observed from afar just a few years ago.
“He’s earning the reps, he’s doing what he needs to do,” Pierce said. “Again, we’re a production based group -- the better you play, the more reps you get; the more eff ups you have, the less you’re going to play. For him, the arrow’s pointing up -- he just has to maintain consistency.
“Again, as a freshman, you’re going to have a down day, he needs to avoid that.”
Robertson looks confident during a defensive walkthrough. Coaches rarely tweak his positioning and his lack of confusion is very uncharacteristic impressive for a freshman. Robertson said he already has the playbook down, even calling the sometimes confusing 3-3-5 defense “an easy little scheme.”
Many expected Robertson to play middle linebacker for ASU, but he’s only taken snaps on the outside. All studied up on the playbook, he plays free, able to showcase his athleticism against ASU’s first-team offense.
“Well I think what he’s doing is showing his versatility,” Pierce said. “I think that’s what I saw seeing him for four years in high school. There’s an opportunity here for him right now to play a little faster on the outside as we lifted out the roster and that’s where he’s at right now.”
Robertson voiced his appreciation for Pierce. The opportunity to be guided by an NFL Pro Bowler who played the same position and went to high school in the same area is “real fun,” he said.
Going forward, Pierce is expecting much of the same from what’s he’s witnessed so far through five fall practices.
“It’s not going to stop, I’m not going to ease up on him, no different than now he’s up on Jay Jay (Wilson),” Pierce said. “That was the expectations from the (first) day we talked when we first started recruiting him, it’s been no different since.”
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