“Before Coach [Mike] Willis had reached out to me, I had no clue what Poughkeepsie, New York, was,” said Nate Robinson Jr., a sophomore safety from San Antonio, Texas, who is now the heartbeat of the Marist Red Foxes defense.
Robinson Jr. has made Poughkeepsie his home, ranking second in the country among all FCS football programs with 11 passes defended – almost two pass breakups per game, another number that would put him among the top ten in the nation.
Robinson Jr. is not only turning heads batting passes down, though. His three interceptions have each come at pivotal points in games, with one being in the endzone to keep the Red Foxes in the game against Bucknell, and the other two coming in the same contest against Wagner College. His two-interception performance earned him the FCS Stats Perform National Defensive Player of the Week. With Robinson Jr.’s elite play-making ability, his interception total will be climbing.
Interceptions are not a statistic that always translates, whether that is from season-to-season in the NFL, or making the jump from high school to college. For Robinson Jr., the numbers are staying the same.
In his senior year at Earl Warren High School, located in San Antonio, Robinson Jr. notched a strong five interceptions. That was good for nearly half a pick per game. Now, through eight games this year for Marist, he is just one shy of his career-high mark of four.
“Being at the free safety position, coaches and offenses can’t really remove me from the field,” said Robinson Jr. “Thank god the ball has been coming to me and I’ve been able to make plays for my guys.”
The free safety position used to be exactly what its title is – the player is free to roam, but is the last line of defense when it comes to making a play on the ball. In 2025, that is no longer the case at any level of football, and Robinson Jr. is proving that point exactly.
“For the majority of my life, I was a cornerback,” said Robinson Jr. when asked about the continuously evolving safety position. “Taking those skills I have learned, being in the slot, on the outside, has made this transition to safety seamless.”
At every level of football, safeties are moving all over the field. Derwin James Jr. of the Los Angeles Chargers has lined up in the slot and in the box more than he has been positioned up top, where safeties have been placed in the past.
Another prime example of the versatility and flexibility that is required from the modern-day safety is former Notre Dame standout and first-round pick Kyle Hamilton. The Baltimore Ravens superstar has earned his game-breaker title, and it all started with instincts.
Being a safety means possessing impeccable instincts, but it also means taking calculated risks. Little things like jumping a pass too early or playing the ball instead of the receiver can flip a game upside down, so having patience and playing smart is crucial to having success at the position.
“Intelligent” was the word Robinson Jr. used to describe his game when asked. “I kind of pride myself on thinking through the game, planning stuff out before we even get to Saturday,” he added.
It was not only Robinson Jr. who chose this word, though, as his head coach, Mike Willis, chose the exact same word on the first go-around to describe his playmaker.
“Yes, he plays with tremendous instincts, and yes, the decisions you make at his position are ultimately pre-snap judgments,” said Willis. “But, his intelligence and ability to distill complex information down to its absolute simplest form… It’s truly an art.”
Another thing about the corner-turned-safety is how often he is on the field. In a role where he is shifted all over the place, Robinson Jr. is very rarely on the sideline.
“He very, very rarely comes out of the game – which is unique in college football,” said Willis. “He’s not just making plays in the first half of games, but even on play 60, which is extremely impressive to me and speaks to how hard he has worked to be a top-conditioned athlete.”
An extremely important aspect of Robinson Jr.’s game is his leadership, as he is one of the few sophomores in all of college football to be a captain for their squad.
“When he was a freshman, he was the first freshman I had ever coached to receive a vote for captaincy,” said Willis. “Not a throwaway vote by his best friend… it was a sincere captain vote.”
Being the leader of the defense is a tall task, but Robinson Jr. has made it his second nature to communicate pre-snap with his teammates, and back them up when they need it.
“It’s been awesome,” Robinson Jr. said about his first-year captaincy. “I try day in and day out to lead by example with my play and vocally. I also feel like I kind of pride myself on creating other leaders.”
One could say Robinson Jr. plays beyond his years, but he also thinks like a veteran – someone who leads by example and always gives his 100%. Taking charge of a secondary that ranks top-three in the Pioneer Football League in takeaways is just a highlight of his well-rounded game, but priding himself on being an intelligent football player who looks to continue his dominance up top also speaks to his maturity, and, of course, skill level.
“It’s exactly what I signed up for,” said Robinson Jr. “And, you know, I’m excited and really, truly enjoy every single bit of being a part of this football team.”
Edited by Ryan Eichem and Ava Battinelli
Graphic by Ben Monrad
Photo by Marist Athletics
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