Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson was part of an era where football was regionalized and segregated much more than it is today. He was so good at Grambling state that he won nine national black college titles, and he won his conference 17 times. He retired with 408 wins, and he was more impactful for his school than Nick Saban or Bear Bryant. Yes, we know more about Alabama, but Grambling State is still standing likely because of the success that Eddie had.
I never said Bear and Nick were bad
Now is not the time to "at" me and claim that I know nothing about football.
Eddie Robinson won over 400 games at a university where he built the program from scratch. He was so good that every other team in the old SWAC wanted a piece of Grambling State, and he won nine national titles among black colleges. Remember that these exams were not allowed to play other schools, and he simply took control of the football arena where he was allowed to play.
Eddie mentored others
The coaching tree for Eddie Robinson has its roots in all of black college football, and there are dozens of men who came up with Robinson. He was the man who recruited Doug Williams, and that man went on to be the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl. As you can see, Eddie Robinson has had a massive impact not only on football of black culture, but he has had a massive impact on the NFL.
He gave Doug Williams the chance he needed to play football, and Williams is still involved in football to this day.
He never cashed in
There was so little mention of Eddie Robinson in the press in his golden years simply because he was black, but there was never a time in the modern day when he was trying to cash in on his success.
He did his job, and he did it well. I can respect that because I imagine he did not want to be the highest paid public employee in the state. I think that it would have seemed a bit too much for him to take all the money the school had to run the football program. He inspired Doug Williams to come back and coach the football program, and he always lobbied to give the team the best resources possible.
He made the activity better
He made way for the battle of the bands that happens today in black college football because he made them relevant. We see the bands from FAMU and Grambling and Southern doing amazing shows because the football teams had a place in the public discourse. All of that can be traced back to Eddie Robinson and his love for Grambling State.
