SALISBURY — Livingstone assistant football coach Scotty Robinson made a promise to himself and is keeping it.

“I always told myself that the first opportunity I had to give something back I’d do it,” Robinson said. “Rowan County did a lot for me.”

Robinson, who starred at Salisbury High and was a force as a defensive end for East Carolina, is conducting a football camp at Salisbury High on May 30. He’s lined up so many sponsors — local businesses, churches and service organizations — that the camp is free of charge.

“I’ve been blown away by the number of people who wanted to contribute,” Robinson said. “We’re going to provide breakfast and lunch for the kids. This camp will be a place where kids can be safe, have fun and learn football fundamentals.”

Officially, it’s the first Beyond The Lights Football Camp. Registration is at 7 a.m. Pre-registration is advised as the camp is filling up fast. Go online to beyondthelightsfootball.eventbrite.com for information. The camp will start with instruction for girls and boys, ages 5-10,  followed by instruction for boys, ages 11-17.

“We’ll be doing drills just like they’d do in a combine,” Robinson said. “We’ll be recording it, so they’ll have film.”

Robinson will be assisted by former East Carolina teammates as well as Livingstone staffers such as receivers coach Carl James and defensive coordinator Rodney Hughey.

Robinson, who is 6-foot-4, was the tallest kid in his class in school and thought of himself as a basketball player. He transferred from Salisbury to Davie County and played basketball for the War Eagles as a sophomore.

“Davie is where the light switch went on and I started thinking I could so something,” Robinson said. “I grew up there. Coaches at Davie — Coach (Mike) Herndon is the one I remember most —  pushed me, tried to get the best out of me.”

In 2003, Robinson returned to Salisbury for his junior year. The Hornets’ new football coach was Joe Pinyan.

“I didn’t even know how to put on pads,” Robinson said. “Everything was an eye-opener, but that’s where playing football started for me.”

Robinson got a late start, but he had athletic ability and size that can’t be taught. By his senior season, he was All-Central Carolina Conference and All-Rowan County. But he was light for his height. Only one Division I school offered — East Carolina.

“I was a long shot to be recruited, but East Carolina saw potential,” Robinson said. “The ECU recruiter (Donnie Kirkpatrick) was a friend of coach Pinyan’s from when they went to Appalachian State. All the stars aligned for me to get a scholarship.”

After a redshirt year beefed him up, Robinson made the Conference USA All-Freshman team in 2006.

Injuries and coaching changes created growing pains, but then Robinson started and had five sacks as a senior. One sack — for a loss of 21 yards — came against Houston’s record-breaking QB Case Keenum in the Conference USA championship game.

“We went to bowls,” Robinson said. “I played in that Hawaii Bowl where (ECU back) Chris Johnson set records against Boise State. That was cool.”

By his senior season, Robinson was a strapping 270 pounds.

“We had a talented defensive line with guys like C.J. Wilson, Jay Ross and Linval Joseph,” Robinson said. “All four of us had pro opportunities. That was unheard of for Conference USA.”

Robinson performed well at East Carolina’s pro day prior to the 2010 draft in everything except the 40-yard dash.

“There was a lot of talk about me moving inside in the pros,” Robinson said. “But I’d gotten too big and didn’t run the times I wanted.”

He got looks in the camps of the Cleveland Browns and then the Kansas City Chiefs, but no contact. He had a chance with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canada, but there was a passport issue, and then his first child, a daughter, was born.

“When my daughter was born, I told myself I’d go back to football the next year,” Robinson said.

He played Arena Football, but that brand of football can make a defensive player old before his time.

“I did enjoy playing football for a living,” Robinson said. “But the defense doesn’t have a chance in Arena with all the restrictions they put on you. And that surface they play on is tough on your body.”

Life after football was coming at Robinson fast. Fortunately, he was prepared for it.

“I was not the best student coming out of high school, but East Carolina did a good job of instilling in you that you were a student first and a football player second,” Robinson said. “They gave me every opportunity to succeed academically, and that was from coach (Skip) Holtz on down.

“They made sure you did your academic work whether you wanted to do it or not. If you didn’t do the work in the classroom, they’d take the football field away until you did.”

Robinson earned a communications degree.

When he returned to Rowan County to settle down, Pinyan gave him a chance as a volunteer assistant coach.

“You could say my playing days started with Coach Pinyan, and so did my coaching days,” Robinson said.

Livingstone actually hired Robinson to work in its admissions office. His  job was to recruit students. Livingstone AD Andre Springs knew who Robinson was and told him he’d like to get him on the football staff if anything opened up.

That call came eventually — Robinson had just gotten married and was on his honeymoon when Springs offered him the job of coaching defensive linemen. Since then Robinson has learned a lot from Hughey about defensive gameplans, and Robinson also has become the coordinator for Livingstone’s recruiting efforts.

That’s a role that suits him. Just about everyone in the area knows Robinson and respects him.

“(Head coach) Daryl Williams has brought a lot of stability to Livingstone’s program, and I’m very content with my job,” Robinson said. “I love living and working in Rowan County.”

Robinson, who now has two children with a third on the way, plans to show some of that love with his camp on May 30.

“We want this camp to be an annual thing,” Robinson said. “Something to make kid’s lives a little better.”