Aggie football great Turbin inspires kids to “dream big”
Utah State football legend and current Indianapolis Colts running back Robert Turbin was in town this weekend, hosting his third annual Robert Turbin Football Academy youth football camp.
With a month-long break between Colts summer mini-camp and training camp, which will begin at the end of July, Turbin took some time return to Logan as well as to his hometown of Fremont, California to coach the youth and give back to the communities.
With the opportunity to learn from one of USU’s all-time greats, over 150 kids between the ages of 8-17 swarmed to the Stan Laub Indoor Training Center on Saturday.
“It’s really cool ‘cause I remember watching Robert play for Utah State when I was young, and now I’m out here and he’s coaching me,” said Hayden Reynolds, a 16-year-old participant in the camp.
The camp featured a morning section for kids ages 8-12, and an afternoon section for kids ages 13-17. Attendees participated in drills, learned different offensive and defensive strategies, and were split into teams for a flag football scrimmage coached by Turbin himself. At the conclusion of each camp, the staff awarded offensive and defensive MVP awards, as well as a leadership award.
Turbin said he sees this camp as a good way to influence young kids and to help them grow and develop as football players and as people.
“I just love to see the competitive nature out of the kids. It’s good to see them care and give their best effort and get better,” Turbin said. “That’s the most encouraging part of it.”
The 27-year-old running back played for Utah State from 2007-2011 and left his name littered across USU record books. He is the all-time touchdowns and scoring leader for the Aggies, and ranks top-5 in all-time rushing yardage and rushing attempts at USU.
Following his college career, Turbin was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, where he won a Super Bowl ring alongside college teammate Bobby Wagner. After a three-year run in Seattle, he had brief stints with the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys before eventually landing in Indianapolis where he became a major part of the team’s red zone offense.
Turbin said he hopes he can use his journey and his experiences to help kids realize their own potential.
“The theme of the camp is ‘dream big,’ and the message that I want to send is real simple: any goal that you have in mind, anything that you want to do in life, believe in yourself,” he said. “Know that you can accomplish anything. There’s no goal too high to attain.”
While Turbin likely still has several years left of his playing career, he said that he can certainly see a career for himself in football after his playing days are over.
“I could definitely see myself coaching at the high school level,” he said. “If you give kids vision and something to look forward to when they’re getting out of high school, I think it sets them up well for the rest of their life as they become an adult.”
While all of the kids who participated are high school-aged or younger, Turbin said he could “definitely” see a few future Aggies on the field.
USU fans wouldn’t mind seeing one of them become the next Robert Turbin.