Legendary coach touched many lives

• By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Apr 5, 2007

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Eddie Robinson often reached his arm around coaches in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. This is how his impact extended beyond Grambling. This is how Robinson lived and defined himself.

“He really made you feel like you were part of something special, because of the respect he had for the conference,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said. “He’d bend over backward to help you in any way he could.”

Sometimes, that meant late-night jaunts for his beloved ice cream while coaches roomed together during the old SWAC media caravan. That, as former SU coach Otis Washington remembered, could lead to a long night of telling jokes and talking football.

“Good football coach and great person,” Washington said. “You can’t separate the two.”

Sometimes, that meant calling a rival conference coach to offer some advice or go over a tough loss.

“He’d call and critique losses with you. … He never, never, ever lost sight of the fact he was your friend to the end,” said Marino Casem, who coached against Robinson while at Alabama State, Alcorn State and Southern. “He backed you against other teams when you went outside of the conference. He was the first one to come to your aid when you were down. When you beat him, he was the first to compliment you and sincerely mean it.”

Robinson, who died Tuesday night at 88, left a strong legacy as an ambassador for college football, the SWAC, Grambling and even American values because of the way he went about being himself.

“Eddie Robinson lit up whatever room he was in,” said Doug Williams, Robinson’s former star quarterback and eventual successor. “I don’t care who else was in there.”

Charisma, grace, humility were all Robinson traits, ideals he tried to instill in his players.

“He believed in going out, showcasing your talent, but carrying yourself in a certain manner,” Williams said.

Robinson was already a legend when Richardson arrived at SU in 1993. But far from lording that status over a newcomer and a rival, Robinson was one of the first to welcome Richardson and offer pointers.

“Even though he had accomplished so much, he would make you feel like he’d known you for years,” Richardson said. “He made you feel the warmth.”

The same welcome was there in 1963, when Casem began at Alabama State — a career that eventually landed him in the College Football Hall of Fame.