First-year Robinson head coach Scott Vossler talks to the Rams during a recent scrimmage. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
The Robinson football program, a proud, two-time Virginia state champion, has been reduced to a head-coaching turnstile in recent seasons.
Mark Bendorf, who coached the Rams for 14 seasons, guiding them to three state final appearances and a pair of titles (1997, 2001), retired following the 2010 season. After Bendorf’s retirement, Trey Taylor lasted two seasons as head coach, guiding Robinson to a 9-13 record and a pair of first-round playoff exits. Former principal Dan Meier served as interim head coach during the 2013 campaign, leading the Rams to an 8-4 mark, including a playoff win over Patriot High School.
Following Meier’s one-year stint, Scott Vossler became Robinson’s third head coach in as many seasons, and fourth in the last five years. While those numbers might seem mind-boggling for one of the area’s top programs, the hiring of Vossler, a 29-year-old Ohio native, might actually bring a level of continuity. Vossler spent the previous three seasons as a Robinson assistant, and was the team’s defensive coordinator in 2013.
“The fact that I’ve been here for three years really helps,” Vossler said. “All these guys that are seniors were freshmen my first year here. That helps me [know] where they’ve been and what they’ve dealt with, and it also, I think, helps them have some familiar faces that are around.”
Vossler said he wants to return the Rams to prominence.
“I think we’ve got to get better at what we want to do,” he said, “but I also think all of us coaches, administration and all the players feel an obligation to the people that played here and coached here before to get things back to where they had it.”
ONE PLAYER who is very familiar with Vossler is linebacker Nick Roth, who enters his third season as a varsity starter. Roth, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior, has put on 30 pounds since his sophomore year and is expected to be one of the Rams’ top players in their 4-3 defensive scheme.
“[Vossler] knows all the players really well,” Roth said. “He’s a young head coach. He connects with the players a little better than the other coaches have.”
Vossler said he expects the defense’s back seven to be strong. The secondary has three standouts in senior cornerbacks Demarcus Byrdsong (5-10, 160) and Navarus Grant (6-1, 180), and safety Marcus Denham (5-10, 160).
“We’re going to work real hard to try to keep the tradition strong and build off what those people left us. We owe it to the school and we owe it to guys like Mark Bendorf and all those great players that were here to right the ship, so that’s going to be our mindset all season.”
--- Robinson football coach Scott Vossler
Offensively, senior quarterback Jack Rowlett (6-1, 185) returns for his third varsity season under center, and second running the wing-T.
“He’s going to carry us, hopefully,” Vossler said. “The thing that I love about Jack, and I think you notice when he plays, is how competitive he is. If we put Jack in and told him he had to kick off right before the game, he’d tell me he could put it in the end zone. He’s very confident, he’s very competitive, he just wants to go out there and win.”
Rowlett, a standout lacrosse player who will play at the University of North Carolina, said he’s much more confident now than he was as a sophomore.
“I’ve been through the meat grinder of the Concorde District,” he said. “I’ve seen a bunch of teams and seen a bunch of good players. I won’t be fazed and I know what to expect.”
Denham is the Rams’ top returning running back.
Senior right tackle Josh Blaz (6-2, 250) and senior center Nick Rupert (6-3, 215) are two of the Rams’ top offensive linemen.
ROBINSON will travel to face Robert E. Lee at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28. It’s the first of three consecutive road games to open the season for the Rams, including meetings with Woodson and Lake Braddock. Robinson’s first home game is Sept. 19 against Mount Vernon.
“We’re going to work real hard to try to keep the tradition strong and build off what those people left us,” Vossler said. “We owe it to the school and we owe it to guys like Mark Bendorf and all those great players that were here to right the ship, so that’s going to be our mindset all season.”