Eddie Robinson coached Grambling State University for 55 years. He won 408 games, lost 165, and tied 15. The 408 games won set a record for a college football coach. Among other achievements were these: 17 championships in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, 9 Black College National Championships, a streak of 27 consecutive winning seasons 1960-86.
Robinson made Grambling a household name in college football circles. He produced more than 200 professional players. Among the most famous were Willie Davis, Charlie Joiner, Buck Buchanan, Willie Brown, Tank Younger, Doug Williams, and Ernie Ladd. In 1971, 43 Grambling players were in training camps, a pro football record that still stands.
“He wasn’t just about football,” said Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive Doug Williams, an All-America quarterback at Grambling and MVP of Super Bowl XXII. “He was about human beings.”
Robinson was involved in almost every aspect of his team. He’d go through the dorm at 6 a.m., ringing a bell to wake his players for breakfast. At practice he’d demonstrate proper drops for quarterbacks and correct patterns for receivers.
“When you love a profession, when you’re doing something that you love every day, it differs from when you’re just doing something,” he said.
Then came Oct. 5, 1985. The Tigers beat Praire View 27-7. This was No. 324, putting him on top. Under Robinson, Grambling played games in New Orleans Superdome, drawing 76,000 spectators; Yankee Stadium in New York drawing 64,000: the Meadowlands, the Los Angeles Coliseum, Houston Astrodome, and Chicago’s Soldier Field. In 1976 Grambling played Morgan State in Tokyo; this was the first time a regular season college game had been played on foreign soil.
Robinson received more awards than any other coach in history. Grambling named its new stadium after him. Both Grambling and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, named streets for him. Sports Illustrated had Eddie Robinson on its cover in 1985. The National Football Foundation gave him its award for Contribution to Amateur Football in 1992 and named him to College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. He is in another dozen halls of fame.
Robinson served as president of the American Football Coaches Association and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He talked about his career: “I’m proud that most of our players graduate. We begin each meeting with a talk about the importance of education. The most important thing in football is the boy who plays the game. You can’t coach ’em unless you love ’em.”