The big moment arrives for Corey Robinson

There was no light bulb moment for Corey Robinson.

The ground he had to cover was too wide to be crossed with the flip of a switch, South Carolina’s junior offensive lineman said.

“It was a process,” Robinson said. “It didn’t just happen overnight. It was never something that could happen overnight. It was definitely a process.”

The notion that one day Robinson didn’t get it and the next, just as if a light had been turned on, he did is quaint but for Robinson doesn’t do justice to the journey.

“I am grateful to God that he has brought me this far,” Robinson said. “There were times I didn’t think I would be in the position I am in right now, but I still have to keep myself humble and get better every day.”

Robinson, 6-foot-8, 341 pounds, returns to the Gamecocks’ marquee offensive line position, left tackle, after starting nine games there a year ago. It was the position he was recruited to play out of Havelock, N.C., but one that it felt like he would never fill at this time a year ago.

In fact, for two seasons, many people around the program didn’t think he’d get anywhere on the field in a meaningful situation.

“He’d be the first to tell you, when he came in here, he was overwhelmed, he wasn’t ready,” strength and conditioning coach Joe Connolly said. “It took him about two years to adapt to what we do.”

It’s not unusual for the transformation from high school star to college contributor to take a season, especially for offensive linemen. But when the process begins to bleed deep into the second year, that’s usually cause for concern.

“A lot of guys are lost their freshman year, but if they’ve got some ability, you try to hang with them if they try,” coach Steve Spurrier said.

And Robinson has ability.

“He’s got (NFL) Pro Bowl-type of ability,” Connolly said.

So South Carolina stuck with him.

Finally, it’s paying dividends.

“Now he is one of my favorite guys from a strength and conditioning standpoint and one of (offensive line coach Shawn) Elliott’s favorite guys from a football standpoint, just because he is so gifted,” Connolly said.

The Gamecocks redshirted Robinson in 2010 and then tried him at defensive tackle in 2011 before moving him back to the offensive line in spring 2012.

“Corey turned it on beginning of last year,” Spurrier said. “He decided he wanted to be a football player instead of just another guy out here on the scout team. He has turned it around.”

Robinson didn’t enter the program with “the right head,” Robinson said, although he added he never considered quitting the team.

“I guess I just changed my focus and kind of got in shape and bought into the program, started listening to coaches, so it became easier,” he said.

Robinson — who, according to Spurrier, “may be the biggest lineman I’ve ever coached at left tackle” — now will try to move from starter to special and tap into that “Pro Bowl ability” Connolly sees.

“He’s a big guy, and he can move,” Spurrier said. “He can play a lot better. We need to block better. We’re not a great blocking team right now.”

They are better than they were before Robinson’s emergence, though.

“It’s just amazing to see him coming from where he came from and looking where he is at now,” starting right tackle Brandon Shell said. “It’s really just crazy. When you see somebody like that, they usually stay like that, but he just picked it up. It’s awesome to see how he is now.”

This story was originally published August 14, 2013 at 10:05 PM.