South Carolina’s defensive tackle room is shaping up as one of the most loaded spots on the roster, and Travian Robertson sounds plenty comfortable with where it stands heading into 2026.
The Gamecocks had some real work to do after losing Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine from last year’s group, but they answered it with a mix of portal help and blue-chip prep talent. Kelby Collins, Jordan Thomas and Tomiwa Durojaiye came in through the transfer route, while Aiden Harris and Noah Clark arrived as four-star high school signees. They’re joining returners like Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy and Troy Pikes, giving Robertson a room that looks deep, experienced and much more layered than what South Carolina has been able to roll out in recent years.
Shane Beamer already made it clear in the spring that the staff was “really excited about” the defensive tackle group for 2026, and Robertson echoed that optimism Thursday at Birdies with Beamer. His main message wasn’t just about talent. It was about building the kind of bond that lets all that talent actually work together.
“Felt it went good. It's a lot of talent in that room,” Robertson said.
“The message that I'm preaching to them now, what I always go about from my previous years with all the coaching guys, is just we have to be close. We have to be together.
We've got to be connected, and so we're building that now because we got a few guys transferred in, and they got to work right away.
“Now, we're just getting to know each other so we can have a good chemistry on the field. It's good having depth, having good guys in the room.
Something we haven't had for years in that position. So this is the time to have this depth with the year we have coming up.”
That depth is exactly what Robertson keeps circling back to. He likes the body of work already in the room, and he doesn’t sound like a coach trying to talk himself into a unit. He sounds like someone who sees a group with enough pieces to feel confident right now.
“With the guys we have in our room, you have no choice but to feel good,” Robertson said. “I'd be lying to you if I was saying that I am nervous or worried.
We have some good guys. Obviously, we got to get together and put the work in, just like everybody else that's going to play this year.
Just right now, for where we're at, I feel really good about the guys in my room.”
There’s also a familiar feel to the way Robertson describes this group. He pointed to South Carolina’s 2024 defensive tackle room as a useful comparison, especially because of the veteran presence that helped stabilize things.
“All of them are different, but the similarities that I do see is that we have some vets,” he said. “In this game, when you have some older guys that are more experienced, you have a better chance to succeed.
That year, we had a lot of vets, a lot of guys that played a lot of football, a lot of experience. Right now, people come from all over, but they all play the game.
The good thing is we have some experience.”
Brownlow-Dindy and Pikes, in particular, finished 2025 strong and have momentum to carry into the new season. Robertson said both of them showed “why they came here” late last year, a sign that the room isn’t just deep on paper - it has players who already started flashing what they can become.
And then there’s Noah Clark, the true freshman who turned heads in spring practice and was named co-newcomer of the spring alongside Durojaiye. At 6-foot-5 and 345 pounds, Clark already has the kind of frame that makes people stop and look twice. Robertson thinks the production will follow.
“Noah is focused. Just seeing him, like coach Beamer was just talking about, having freshmen coming in.
He doesn't see himself as a freshman,” Robertson said. “He's mature.
I just asked him because we have this little break that we're about to have before we report. I asked all the guys where they were going, and he said, 'Coach, I'm staying here.
I want to stay here.'
“He has a mindset right now that he has a goal, and he just wants to reach his goals. He's mature.
The vets, they love him. Everybody on the team loves him.
He's a great person, great personality. I really believe he's going to make a huge impact as a true freshman.”
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