After quickly rising through the ranks, LSU’s cornerback coach Robert Steeples is ready to make a difference

Robert Steeples claimed he learned a lot from coaching at the professional level. Steeples now has many different techniques and knowledge that he can bring to LSU’s defensive back room. But there was one thing that really stuck out to Steeples.

“I would say what I learned at (coaching at an NFL) level is I still got a lot left in the tank. I can go back and play,” Steeples said with a hearty laugh, probably only half joking, on the Jordy Culotta Show.

Joking aside, though, Steeples, after only coaching for a relatively short amount of time, still brings a wide variety of experiences to help the students he coaches. The former cornerback played college football Missouri and Memphis before joining the then St. Louis Rams in 2013 as an undrafted free agent. He proceeded to have a journeyman career, being on the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys before retiring in 2015.

He did not let his uneventful career stop his goals, however. Steeples began coaching at De Smet Jesuit School back in St. Louis, Missouri in 2016. In an impressive turnaround, he took the program from 2-8 in his first season to a combined 29-4 record over the next three seasons.

His stunnung coaching did not go unnoticed and in 2020, Steeples was hired as the assistant special teams coach for the Minnesota Vikings. When he was offered such a massive step up from high school coaching, Steeples knew he had been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I knew it was a blessing, I think, as soon as I got the opportunity as a coach,” Robert Steeples said. “At the end of the day when you get an opportunity like that, all I could really have was an immense amount of gratitude.”

Steeples would coach for the Minnesota Vikings until the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season, until Brian Kelly came knocking. Kelly and Steeples had interacted before when Steeples was coaching high school and Kelly visited his school for recruiting.

Steeples knew from that point on he liked the way Kelly coached and ran his team. Not only did Kelly present himself well, but Kelly had a player’s overall growth in mind when recruiting. Steeples said that in the same vein, when working with his players and recruiting, he is more interested in helping achieve all their goals, not just success on the football field.

“I want to educate you because the goal isn't to get a kid to sign here. The goal is to get them, as Coach Kelly would say, graduate champions,” Steeples said. “There is a selfish aspect to it for me, as well…I want to know the weight of your aspirations. I want to know your goals because that's what's going to get me out of the bed every morning.”

Speaking about the players that Steeples is currently in charge of, he spoke with a lot of excitement and motivation. Steeples is adamant that his players don’t only improve their play but also imrpove their already impressive knowledge of the game.

“We've got some intelligent guys, guys that have really studied the game,” Steeples said. “So you know whether Mekhi (Garner) or Jarrick (Bernard-Converse) or Sevyn (Banks) or (Damarius) Mcghee or Ray (Jones), you know, or Colby (Richardson), whoever it is, when they come in, I want to pick off their brain too and and not just start them at ground one but build on their previous years of development.”

This philosophy has not only given him credit from his players, but also fellow coaches, many of which have called him out by name when speaking with Jordy Culotta.

Regardless of his unprecedented rise to success, Steeples is still trying to take things one day at a time. Steeples says that right now, his entire focus is on LSU and the Tigers.

“My end goal is to perform at my full potential,” Steeples said. “Whether that's working a high school job for that stipend amount. I had a blast doing it and I gave my best and I feel like I didn't waste my time. It was worthwhile. That's the same thing I want out of this experience at LSU. I want to be here as long as as they allow me to be here, as long as God blessed me to be here. I just want to do my best.”