Robert Turbin returns to Logan to help future Aggies

Robert Turbin coaches a young quarterback at his camp in the Stan Laub Indoor Training Center at Utah State University on Saturday, July 1, 2017.

The ball is snapped and players on offense and defense start moving all over within the red zone of the Stan Laub Indoor Training Center. Suddenly, a wide receiver breaks free on a crossing route and the young quarterback delivers the ball on target. The wide receiver makes a quick move to lose his defender, cuts down the sideline, and tip toes into the end zone before any defenders can remove a flag from his waist. Indianapolis Colts running back Robert Turbin celebrates on the sidelines and gives one high five after another.

{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”78c7bcde-5ef0-11e7-8d02-87dcbc8c92d6″}}

The play was one of many that took place at Utah State University on Saturday as part of Robert Turbin’s annual football camp. It was the third camp he has conducted on the USU campus since he turned pro.

The former Aggie running back saw some potential in his campers, perhaps even some future Aggies.

“I just love to see the competitive nature out of the kids,” Turbin said after the camp concluded Saturday afternoon. “They get to compete against each other, it’s good to see them care and want to get better as athletes. That’s the most encouraging part about it.”

He said the theme of the camp was to dream big. And it was a constant message throughout the camp.

“The message is real simple: any goal that you have in mind, anything you want to do in life, believe in yourself. Know that you can accomplish anything,” he said. “There is no goal too high to attain. Anything is possible, anything is achievable. That’s what I want to encourage in the kids when they’re here.”

Returning to Logan is special for Turbin. He had a successful career playing in Romney Stadium, but a few things have changed since he last wore an Aggie uniform.

“It’s great to see it grow. Every year it’s something new,” exclaimed Turbin. “It’s great to see it grow continuously. The guys that were here before I was here set the foundation for what we were able to have. We did the same thing for the next generation. We only want to see them have success.”

Setting a foundation for future success is what Turbin enjoys doing. It’s what he tried to do at his camp in Logan. After every play during the scrimmages, Turbin pulled the quarterback aside and provided personal coaching and encouragement to whomever was running the offense.

{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”7515e7aa-5ef0-11e7-972f-57039bf16096″}}

After his NFL days come to an end, Turbin sees perhaps a post-NFL career in coaching, but only at the high school level. He feels that’s where he can make the most impact on young lives.

“In my opinion, when you graduate high school you can really set a kid in the right direction. You can really lay down the foundation for the rest of their life,” Turbin explained. “If you give them vision, something they can look forward to as they are coming out of high school, I think it sets them up well for the rest of their life as they become an adult.”

He said college coaches have some similar opportunities, but there are a host of challenges that come with being a college or even professional coach, namely travel and lack of stability with the profession.

“When you’re leaving high school and going off for the rest of your life, you want to be able to set a foundation so they can succeed in anything when they leave high school. You want to be able to give them that belief and confidence. I’m more passionate about the high school level when it comes to coaching.”

{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”76f2a9a0-5ef0-11e7-ada5-93f580d4e42d”}}

Before he sets his sights on being a high school coach just yet, Turbin is still hungry to continue his current NFL career. Turbin is preparing for his second season with the Indianapolis Colts (his sixth overall) and said he’s feeling better than he’s ever felt.

“I’m blessed to still be in it. I continue to work hard and with that the results will come.”

Turbin was recently praised by Pro Football Focus for his <a href=”http://www.colts.com/news/article-1/Robert-Turbin%E2%80%99s-Pass-Blocking-Set-Him-Apart-In-2016/ff679664-f741-4b8e-bdc9-bee7ab97122a” target=”_blank”>effectiveness in pass blocking situations</a>. He also had his most successful season in finding the end zone. Turbin scored 7 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown for the Colts, who recently <a href=”http://www.colts.com/videos/videos/Mini-Camp—Wired-For-Sound-Robert-Turbin——–/4825556e-d0a5-43d6-95a2-3da2513b161d” target=”_blank”>wired him for sound</a> during their mini camp in June. The team concluded their Organized Training Activities just a few weeks ago but will be reporting for fall camp at the end of July.

At the conclusion of his camp Saturday afternoon, Turbin personally handed out various MVP awards to camp participants. That can be seen in the video below.

<iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/CB4rSUYBmI0″ frameborder=”0″ width=”560″ height=”315″></iframe>

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.