Marcus Aaron Robertson (born October 2, 1969) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

who is the

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. Robertson has spent the last 28 seasons in the NFL as a player, administrator and coach, and has coached defensive backs in the NFL for the last 12 seasons.

Playing career

College

Robertson played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

. During his four seasons as a cornerback at Iowa State, Robertson totaled 257 tackles, six interceptions and nine forced fumbles. He was inducted into the Iowa State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

NFL

Robertson was drafted by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in the fourth round of the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

. Robertson was named an NFL All-Pro in 1993 and played in 162 regular-season games (144 starts). He finished his career with 24 interceptions and 72 passes defensed.

Administrative career

Robertson spent four seasons (2003–2006) as the Titans’ director of player development. Robertson and his staff won the Winston and Shell Award in 2006 for their innovation and commitment to player development in the NFL.

Coaching career

Tennessee Titans

Robertson began his coaching career as the assistant secondary coach for the

from 2007 to 2008, and eventually the head secondary coach from 2009 to 2011. Robertson helped the team rank second in the NFL in average passing yards per completion (10.6) during that span.

Detroit Lions

On February 13, 2012, Robertson was hired by the

as their assistant secondary coach. Robertson had previously coached with former Lions head coach

Jim Schwartz James J. Schwartz (born June 2, 1966) is an American professional football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He was head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2009 to 2013. He was al ...

and former Lions defensive coordinator

Gunther Cunningham Gunther Cunningham (June 19, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an American football head coach. He served as the Kansas City Chiefs head coach for two seasons. He also had two stints as the Chiefs' defensive coordinator. He served as an assistant coac ...

when both were assistants with the Titans. Robertson was not retained by the Lions following the firing of Schwartz and the team's failure to make the playoffs in 2013.

Oakland Raiders

On February 3, 2014, Robertson was hired by the

as their assistant defensive backs coach under defensive backs coach Joe Woods and head coach Dennis Allen. On January 21, 2015, Robertson was promoted to defensive backs coach under new head coach

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

, during the off-season Robertson earned the endorsement of veteran player

Charles Woodson Charles Cameron Woodson (born October 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. He spent his first 14 seasons as ...

. The Raiders totaled the eighth-most interceptions (30) and the sixth-most passes defensed (163) in the NFL during Robertson’s two seasons leading Oakland’s defensive backs.

Denver Broncos

On January 16, 2017, Robertson was hired by the

as their defensive backs coach under head coach

Vance Joseph Vance Desmond Joseph (born September 20, 1972) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorad ...

, replacing former defensive backs coach Joe Woods, who was promoted to defensive coordinator.

Arizona Cardinals

On February 6, 2019, Robertson was hired by the

as their defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator

and head coach

Kliff Kingsbury Kliff Timothy Kingsbury (born August 9, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played c ...

New Orleans Saints

On February 15, 2023, Robertson was hired by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as the team's defensive backs coach.

Las Vegas Raiders

On February 11, 2025, the

hired Robertson to serve as their defensive backs coach.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bioDetroit Lions bioTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Marcus 1969 births Living people Players of American football from Pasadena, California American football safeties American football cornerbacks Arizona Cardinals coaches Denver Broncos coaches Detroit Lions coaches Houston Oilers players Iowa State Cyclones football players Oakland Raiders coaches Seattle Seahawks players Tennessee Oilers players Tennessee Titans players Tennessee Titans coaches Coaches of American football from California