Robby Discher spent three seasons as the Illinois football program's special teams coordinator/tight ends coach from 2023-25.

During his three seasons in Champaign, Discher helped the Illini to 24 victories, two bowl wins, and back-to-back seasons with 9+ wins for the first time in program history. Discher's special teams units combined for nine All-Big Ten honors from 2023-25. 

In the last two seasons (2024-25), Discher helped the Illini win 19 games, the program's most ever in a two-year span. The winningest two-year run in program history included 15 Power-4 wins (the fourth-most in the Big Ten), six ranked wins, and two bowl victories over SEC opponents in the 2024 Citrus Bowl vs. #14 South Carolina and 2025 Music City Bowl vs. #23 Tennessee. 

Under Discher’s guidance, the Fighting Illini special teams units ranked #16 and #30 in the nation by ESPN's special teams efficiency metric in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Discher helped Illinois to a 10-3 record in 2024, tying the program's single-season wins record, and a final ranking of #16 in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll. Illinois followed with nine more wins in 2025 and a final ranking of #25 in the Coaches Poll. 

Discher helped coach punt returner Hank Beatty into one of the best in the nation in 2024 and 2025. Beatty led the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally in punt return average (14.1 yards/return) and was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team and earned Phil Steele All-America Honorable Mention status in 2024. In 2025, Beatty ranked 19th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten in punt return yards (213), while averaging 16.4 yards per punt return.

Beatty, kicker David Olano, and long snapper Lane Hansen each earned back-to-back All-Big Ten honors in 2024 and 2025. Along with kicker Caleb Griffin and returner Isaiah Williams, who were All-Big Ten honorees in 2023, Illinois had three straight seasons of All-Big Ten kickers and All-Big Ten returners under Discher. 

In Discher's first season in Champaign in 2023, PFF ranked Illinois’ overall special teams unit as the seventh-best in the nation. Illinois led the nation in blocked kicks/punts (7) and had three more blocked kicks/punts than any other team in the nation during the regular season. Discher's tight ends group caught four touchdown passes, including three by starter Tip Reiman, who was a third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Reiman became the second-highest drafted tight end in Illinois history when the Arizona Cardinals selected him with the No. 82 overall pick.

Discher came to Illinois from Tulane, where he helped the Green Wave to AAC and Cotton Bowl championships as special teams coordinator in 2022. Discher's one season at Tulane was one of the best in program history, as the Green Wave finished 12-2 and ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Tulane's special teams ranked in the top 30 in six major categories, including punt return defense (3rd, 1.1), blocked kicks (19th, 3), yards per kick return (20th, 22.9), kickoff touchbacks (23rd, 47), yards per punt return (28th, 9.9), and kick return defense (29th, 17.6). Discher had individuals rank in the top 10 in the nation in both kickoff and punt returns, as Lawrence Keys III averaged 27.1 yards per kickoff return to rank eighth in the nation and Jha'Quan Jackson averaged 10.1 yards per punt return to rank 10th in the nation. Tulane's return units combined to outgain their opponents by 478 yards in 2022, with the kick units going +260 yards (754-494) and the punt units posting a margin of +218 yards (227-9) on the season.

Discher arrived at Tulane following a season as the special teams quality control coach for the 14-1 National Champion Georgia Bulldogs in 2021. Georgia ranked first in the SEC and top 25 nationally in punting, averaging 46.8 yards per punt. 

Discher was the special teams coordinator and a defensive assistant at Louisiana in 2020. The Ragin' Cajuns finished the season ranked No. 15 in the final AP Poll with help from the No. 2 special teams unit in the nation, according to Phil Steele's Special Teams Efficiency metric. Louisiana finished with a record of 10-1, including a 31-24 win over UTSA in the First Responder Bowl, extending their winning streak to seven games. Discher was named to the American Football Coaches Association's 35 under 35 list while on staff at Louisiana.

Prior to joining the Louisiana staff, Discher spent four seasons as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Toledo. From 2016-19, Toledo averaged more than eight wins per season, including an 11-3 season in 2017 that featured a victory in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game over Akron. 

Toledo's special teams unit earned nation-wide praise during Discher's tenure, including a No. 1 national ranking in efficiency from Phil Steele in 2018 and No. 2 ranking from ESPN. Toledo led the MAC in return touchdowns that season, taking three punts and one kickoff back for scores, as Discher was nominated for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach. He was also named Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by Phil Steele following Toledo's 2018 campaign, after the Rockets led the nation in blocked punts with six.

Discher helped Toledo lead the MAC in punt return average and kickoff coverage in 2017, averaging 15.2 yards per return and 42.5 yards allowed per kickoff. In back-to-back seasons from 2017-18, Toledo ranked in the top 25 nationally in both punt return average and kickoff touchbacks, with the Rockets leading the MAC in the latter category both years.  

Before his arrival at Illinois, Discher coached three NFL tight ends: Blake Jarwin (Oklahoma State), Mike Roberts (Toledo), and Reggie Gilliam (Toledo).

Prior to his time at Toledo, Discher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State from 2014-15. Discher handled a variety of duties, including coaching wide receivers and tight ends and serving as special teams coordinator. Oklahoma State's special teams helped the Cowboys secure one of its biggest wins of the 2014 season, a 38-35 overtime win at No. 18 Oklahoma in which Oklahoma State returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 35-35.

Discher was named the 2014 FootballScoop Special Teams Coordinator of the Year, becoming FootballScoop's first graduate assistant winner of any Coach of the Year award. Deservedly so, Discher's unit tied for the national lead with six kicks or punts blocked in 2014.

From 2010-13, Discher was at Sam Houston State, where he began as a graduate assistant and eventually was named special teams coordinator. At Sam Houston, Discher was part of teams that won Southland Conference championships in 2011 and 2012. The Bearkats made it to the FCS Playoffs three times in Discher's tenure, advancing to the FCS Championship Game in 2011 and 2012.

A Kansas City, Missouri, native, Discher attended William Jewell (Mo.) College, where he played wide receiver for the Cardinals from 2006-08. He began his coaching career at Kearney (Mo.) High School in 2009, coaching quarterbacks and linebackers for the Class 4 state champions. 

Discher earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from William Jewell in 2009 and added a master's degree in exercise science from Sam Houston State in 2012.

Discher and the former Erin Wilson were married in July 2017. He has two stepchildren, Connor and Sydney. The couple has a daughter, Quinn, who was born in February 2018.

Coaching Career