Robinson began his coaching career at Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute (now Grambling State University). He applied for the job and was hired by the school's president and
baseball coach,
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones. In his first year the team went 3–5–1, but the following season—during which he recruited new players and dismissed those who did not live up to his expectations—the Tigers had a perfect 9–0 season, going unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon. Robinson returned to the field in 1945, and remained at the school, which became Grambling College in 1946 and Grambling State University in 1973, until his retirement in 1997. He retired as the career leader in wins (408) for a college football head coach before ultimately being surpassed by
John Gagliardi (489) and
Joe Paterno (409). More than 200 of his players went on to play in the
National Football League,
American Football League, and
Canadian Football League. Robinson coached three AFL players who would later be inducted to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame: the
Kansas City Chiefs'
Buck Buchanan; the
Oakland Raiders'
Willie Brown; and the
San Diego Chargers'
Charlie Joiner. Robinson also coached
James Harris, who with the AFL's
Buffalo Bills became the first black quarterback in modern Pro Football history to start at that position in a season opener. He also coached
Packers defensive end and Hall of Famer
Willie Davis and the
Super Bowl XXII MVP,
Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who would ultimately succeed Robinson as Grambling's head coach in 1998. During his coaching career, Robinson compiled 45 winning seasons, including winning or sharing 17
Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and nine
black college football national championships. He was winless in his three NCAA playoff appearances. Enormous publicity attended Robinson's record-breaking win with Grambling State in 1985. Some observers feared that the coach would become the target of white hatred, much as
Henry Aaron had when he broke
Babe Ruth's home run record. Instead Robinson reported that he did not receive a single hate letter, even from the legion of southern fans who worshipped
Bear Bryant. When asked if his record was somehow tarnished by the fact that his team played most of its games against Division I-AA caliber competition, Robinson told Sports Illustrated: "I grew up in the South. I was told where to attend elementary school, where to attend junior high school, where to attend high school. When I became a coach, I was told who I could recruit, who I could play, where I could play and when I could play. I did what I could within the system." He added that his philosophy had always been "whatever league you're in, whatever level, win there." Eddie Robinson held several jobs other than football coach, including teaching at
Grambling High School, and coaching the girls
basketball team during World War II. His girls team lost the state championship by 1 point. He also coached boys basketball, baseball, directed the band, and was in charge of the cheerleaders—with a budget of $46. In the days of segregation, Robinson had the pick of most of the good black high school football players in Louisiana, usually dividing them with
Southern–a major reason why the game between the two schools was a major in-state rivalry long before it was moved to
New Orleans as the
Bayou Classic in 1974. He was able to maintain his success for much of the time after integration, recording just one losing season between 1960 and 1990. However, after three consecutive losing seasons in the mid-1990s, pressure mounted for the now 78-year old coach to resign. Fellow college coach Joe Paterno is quoted in the Grambling State press guide as saying, "Nobody has ever done or ever will do what Eddie Robinson has done for the game... Our profession will never, ever be able to repay Eddie Robinson for what he has done for the country and the profession of football." In 1997 news escaped that Grambling was planning to dismiss him in mid-season. Public outcry—including condemnation from
Louisiana elected officials like then-Gov.
Mike Foster—led Grambling to retain Robinson's services through the remainder of the season. Robinson developed
Alzheimer's disease after his retirement. He died on April 3, 2007, at Lincoln General Hospital in Ruston, Louisiana, after having been admitted earlier in the day. Robinson and his wife, Doris, who died at the age of ninety-six in September 2015, had two children; Eddie, Jr. and Lillian Rose Robinson. ==Awards and honors==