For Robinson, already tapped as a shoo-in, early-round NFL draft pick before he played a college game, it could mean a bright future at one of the most lucrative positions in pro football. Whitworth, a second-round pick by Cincinnati in 2006, is one of eight NFL left tackles making at least $5 million in base salary in 2014.
The decision to start Robinson wasn't made by just popping in a tape of his high school game film.
But it was a sound indicator of his potential.
McNeese State offensive line coach Rob Sale recruits every cranny of North Louisiana, and when lays his eyes on an athlete like Robinson, he knows previous relationships, hometown ties or wishful thinking won't do him much good.
"When your Alabamas and LSUs are after him, you know you don't have much of a shot," said Sale, a fellow Monroe native who has known Robinson for several years. "You can see his athletic ability. I mean he's 6-foot-6, long arms, 325 pounds, can change direction and can bend. That's what you try to find, kids that can slide their feet and sink their butt at the same time. That's what Cam can do."
Even when the physical part is there, they still must translate to the college game, and the first part of that is understanding concepts and being able to handle mental anguish like failure, cramming schematics and crippling humidity.
That's known more commonly as spring and fall camp.
"It's very stressful. The mental aspect of it is what people don't talk about enough," Jones said. "It's very mentally challenging just to go through what Cam has gone through, especially never having played any games and not really knowing the offense that well just because he's been there for such a short time. It is very stressful, and you just never want to be the guy who makes the mistake that costs your team the game. At left tackle, that's a distinct possibility. You've seen it plenty of times.
"He's probably going through a lot of stress - not bad stress necessarily, just stress that he wants to play well and help his team."
One major advantage for Robinson was enrolling early, which provided an extra semester for Robinson to learn his way. Jones called it "half a redshirt." Mason, the other true freshman starting at left tackle at Michigan, also enrolled early.
"They say they're starting a true freshman, then I figured out (Robinson) was the No. 1 player in the country," West Virginia head coach Dana Holgersen deadpanned prior to last week's game. "And he was there all spring, so I really don't consider him much of a true freshman."
Sale played for Saban at LSU (2000-02) and spent five seasons as an offensive analyst and a weight room assistant at Alabama (2008-12). He witnessed the offseason crash courses for offensive linemen first-hand.
"It's already hard anywhere to play as a freshman, it hard especially at Alabama because you're going against different looks in spring camp and you're getting fall looks, Coach Saban and (defensive coordinator) Kirby (Smart) are throwing the kitchen sink at you," Sale said. "You're getting a lot of blitz and a lot of movement and it's so hard for the game to slow down for him along with the rules and concepts you're trying to do.
"To play in such close quarters and things happen so fast, you fully have to understand your rules and concepts of what's going on."
Prove yourself in fall camp, Sale said, and it's downhill from there. With the start last Saturday, Robinson passed the test. "Once they get through that, the game is so easy for them when they're really talented," Sale said. "Cam is going to have so much success in the games because he's getting the hardest things in practice and scrimmages from Coach Saban so the game is going to naturally slow down. Once all that slows down it's easy to play."
If it existed, the Young Players' Guide to Starting For Nick Saban would be divided into two chapters: Monday through Friday Saban, and Game-day Saban.
The first is tough so the second doesn't have to be.
"Nick, that personality of his, he's pushing you all week long because he wants the easy day to be Saturday," Whitworth said. "A lot of people don't realize that a lot of the reason many linemen struggle is that they can't handle the pressure. They can't handle all the things that go on the day of the game. All the blitzes, all the heat, being on the road and it's wild ... all those things that kind of make you don't do what you're good at. They make you hesitate.
"Nick is great at applying so much pressure to you during the week that on Saturday, honestly, you should just be able to go out and play confidently and know that you're prepared to play football."
In a reverse from the perception of toughness derived from an icy public persona, Saban does his best to show his young players some love.
At least a little love.
"He's great, he pushes you hard but he also instills a lot of confidence in you and lets you know that you're his guy and you can get the job done and that's why you're out there," Jones said. "He's definitely not all kisses and hearts, but he's a great coach to play for. For me personally, I just remember he really made me feel confident going out there, like I could really help the team win a game."
Starting a freshman at a key spot requires extra maintenance from Saban and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal outside of teaching. Freshman demeanors can be fragile, so managing confidence can be just as important.
"With knowledge and experience also comes confidence," Saban said. "But there's really no way to create it without putting guys in certain situations."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1677710
The decision to start Robinson wasn't made by just popping in a tape of his high school game film.
But it was a sound indicator of his potential.
McNeese State offensive line coach Rob Sale recruits every cranny of North Louisiana, and when lays his eyes on an athlete like Robinson, he knows previous relationships, hometown ties or wishful thinking won't do him much good.
"When your Alabamas and LSUs are after him, you know you don't have much of a shot," said Sale, a fellow Monroe native who has known Robinson for several years. "You can see his athletic ability. I mean he's 6-foot-6, long arms, 325 pounds, can change direction and can bend. That's what you try to find, kids that can slide their feet and sink their butt at the same time. That's what Cam can do."
Even when the physical part is there, they still must translate to the college game, and the first part of that is understanding concepts and being able to handle mental anguish like failure, cramming schematics and crippling humidity.
That's known more commonly as spring and fall camp.
"It's very stressful. The mental aspect of it is what people don't talk about enough," Jones said. "It's very mentally challenging just to go through what Cam has gone through, especially never having played any games and not really knowing the offense that well just because he's been there for such a short time. It is very stressful, and you just never want to be the guy who makes the mistake that costs your team the game. At left tackle, that's a distinct possibility. You've seen it plenty of times.
"He's probably going through a lot of stress - not bad stress necessarily, just stress that he wants to play well and help his team."
One major advantage for Robinson was enrolling early, which provided an extra semester for Robinson to learn his way. Jones called it "half a redshirt." Mason, the other true freshman starting at left tackle at Michigan, also enrolled early.
"They say they're starting a true freshman, then I figured out (Robinson) was the No. 1 player in the country," West Virginia head coach Dana Holgersen deadpanned prior to last week's game. "And he was there all spring, so I really don't consider him much of a true freshman."
Sale played for Saban at LSU (2000-02) and spent five seasons as an offensive analyst and a weight room assistant at Alabama (2008-12). He witnessed the offseason crash courses for offensive linemen first-hand.
"It's already hard anywhere to play as a freshman, it hard especially at Alabama because you're going against different looks in spring camp and you're getting fall looks, Coach Saban and (defensive coordinator) Kirby (Smart) are throwing the kitchen sink at you," Sale said. "You're getting a lot of blitz and a lot of movement and it's so hard for the game to slow down for him along with the rules and concepts you're trying to do.
"To play in such close quarters and things happen so fast, you fully have to understand your rules and concepts of what's going on."
Prove yourself in fall camp, Sale said, and it's downhill from there. With the start last Saturday, Robinson passed the test. "Once they get through that, the game is so easy for them when they're really talented," Sale said. "Cam is going to have so much success in the games because he's getting the hardest things in practice and scrimmages from Coach Saban so the game is going to naturally slow down. Once all that slows down it's easy to play."
If it existed, the Young Players' Guide to Starting For Nick Saban would be divided into two chapters: Monday through Friday Saban, and Game-day Saban.
The first is tough so the second doesn't have to be.
"Nick, that personality of his, he's pushing you all week long because he wants the easy day to be Saturday," Whitworth said. "A lot of people don't realize that a lot of the reason many linemen struggle is that they can't handle the pressure. They can't handle all the things that go on the day of the game. All the blitzes, all the heat, being on the road and it's wild ... all those things that kind of make you don't do what you're good at. They make you hesitate.
"Nick is great at applying so much pressure to you during the week that on Saturday, honestly, you should just be able to go out and play confidently and know that you're prepared to play football."
In a reverse from the perception of toughness derived from an icy public persona, Saban does his best to show his young players some love.
At least a little love.
"He's great, he pushes you hard but he also instills a lot of confidence in you and lets you know that you're his guy and you can get the job done and that's why you're out there," Jones said. "He's definitely not all kisses and hearts, but he's a great coach to play for. For me personally, I just remember he really made me feel confident going out there, like I could really help the team win a game."
Starting a freshman at a key spot requires extra maintenance from Saban and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal outside of teaching. Freshman demeanors can be fragile, so managing confidence can be just as important.
"With knowledge and experience also comes confidence," Saban said. "But there's really no way to create it without putting guys in certain situations."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1677710
