C.J. Robbins

Biography

NOTABLE: - The 2026 season will be his first coaching the defensive line at Minnesota, but it will be his fourth season with the Gophers - Coached rush ends at Minnesota in 2025 and was a graduate assistant at Minnesota from 2020-21 - Helped mentor former Gopher and Super Bowl champion Boye Mafe and former Gopher and NFL player Thomas Rush - Has coached defensive line, rush ends, linebackers and special teams - Three-year starter at Northwestern C.J. Robbins joined the University of Minnesota football program in February 2025 as Rush Ends Coach. He was named Defensive Line Coach in December 2025. In 2025, Robbins coached Karter Menz (6.5 sacks) and Jaxon Howard (4.0 sacks) and worked with Anthony Smith (12.5 sacks). That trio combined for 23 of Minnesota’s 39 sacks and added a combined 32 tackles for loss. Robbins came to Minnesota from Central Michigan where he had a brief stint leading the defensive line. Robbins spent the 2023-2024 seasons at Kent state. In 2023 he coached the rush ends and was also the co-special teams coordinator as well as the defensive recruiting coordinator. Prior to the 2024 season, Robbins was moved to linebackers coach and was promoted to special teams coordinator and the assistant head coach. In 2022, he coached the outside linebackers at the University of South Dakota Robbins was a graduate assistant at Minnesota during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In his first stint with the Gophers he helped mentor Boye Mafe (7.5 sacks) and Thomas Rush (5.5 sacks