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With the Arizona Cardinals introducing seven more assistant coaches on Wednesday, we wanted to give you a look at their backgrounds.
Starting with new defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson.
Those of you who remember the early 2000’s Cardinals will remember Robertson in his final NFL year as a part of the Seattle Seahawks, however he was a star with the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans early in his career.
From the team:
Robertson comes to the Cardinals from Denver where he worked the past two seasons as defensive backs coach (2017-18). The 49-year old Robertson has spent the last 28 seasons in the NFL as a player, coach, and administrator and has coached defensive backs for the past 12 seasons with Tennessee (2007-11), Detroit (2012-13), Oakland (2014-16) and Denver. In 2018, Robertson helped the Broncos tie for 5th in the NFL in interceptions (17) after helping Denver rank 4th in the NFL in pass defense (200.6 ypg) in 2017. He also helped cornerback Aqib Talib earn his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection in 2017.
Prior to joining the Broncos, Robertson spent two seasons (2015-16) as the Raiders defensive backs coach after working as the assistant defensive backs coach in Oakland in 2014. During his two seasons as defensive backs coach, the Raiders ranked 8th in the NFL with 30 interceptions and 6th in the league with 163 passes defensed. Oakland safeties Charles Woodson (2015) and Reggie Nelson (2016) were each selected to the Pro Bowl. Robertson served as Detroit’s secondary coach in 2013 after being promoted from assistant secondary coach in 2012. He began his coaching career with the Titans as assistant secondary coach for two seasons (2007-08) before being promoted to secondary coach from 2009-11. In 2008, the Titans had three first-time Pro Bowl selections (Cortland Finnegan, Chris Hope, Michael Griffin).
Robertson played in the NFL for 12 years with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1991-00) and the Seattle Seahawks (2001-02) after entering the league with Houston as a fourth-round selection in the 1991 NFL Draft from Iowa State. Robertson was selected as a first-team All-Pro at free safety in 1993 and 1997. He finished his career having appeared in 162 regular season games (144 starts), collecting 24 interceptions and 72 passes defensed. Following his playing days, Robertson spent four seasons (2003-06) as the Titans director of player development before starting his coaching career. He was inducted into the Iowa State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.