Reports: Texas RB coach Tommie Robinson will return to USC

Texas Longhorns running backs coach Tommie Robinson will reportedly return to the USC Trojans, according to multiple reports coming out of California on Monday and confirmed by the Austin American-Statesman.

The final offensive assistant from Charlie Strong's first staff in Austin coached the running backs at USC for one season prior to taking the same position in Austin in early 2014. Robinson is an Alabama native and a 30-year coaching veteran who has made stops with the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Hurricanes.

His original two-year contract at Texas was set to expire this month, so there had been plenty of rumors about his future in Austin, but he had managed to survive the terminations of two other offensive coaches last month when head coach Charlie Strong fired quarterbacks coach/assistant head coach for the offense Shawn Watson and offensive line coach Joe Wickline.

After the 2014 season, Strong terminated tight ends coach Bruce Chambers and wide receivers coach Les Koenning.

Losing Robinson might not be a major blow for the Longhorns, as he's been a bit of a disappointment on the recruiting trail -- running backs coaches are typically asked to shoulder a tremendous load as ace recruiters for many coaching staffs and Robinson hasn't been that in Austin, though he's done a commendable job as a position coach.

Since Robinson hasn't been an outstanding recruiter, the impact of his departure on the running backs currently targeted by the remaining staff will likely be negligible, though Strong would be well served by finding a replacement before National Signing Day. And, in fact, before next weekend, when Texas will host Katy running back Kyle Porter and George Ranch running back Darius Anderson.

In the long run, the Horns could use another ace recruiter on the staff to complement guys like tight ends coach Jeff Traylor, linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Jean-Mary, and defensive backs coach Chris Vaughn.

Hiring another high school coach would make tremendous sense for the Longhorn after Traylor's unequivocal success on the recruiting trail with the 2017 class, but a name is know is that of Claude Mathis. Currently set to enter his second year as the running backs coach for Chad Morris at SMU, Mathis is a longtime Texas high school football coach who most recently sent several DeSoto players to Texas and was known to be friendly to the Longhorns program after starting his high school coaching career in Austin, spending time at Anderson and LBJ.