John Robinson (American football coach)

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John Robinson
LSU Tigers football
Position:Senior consultant
Personal information
Born: (1935-07-25) July 25, 1935 (age 86)
Chicago, Illinois
Career information
College:Oregon
Career history
As a coach:
As an administrator:
  • UNLV (2002–2003)
    Athletic director
  • LSU (2019–present)
    Senior consultant
Career highlights and awards
As head coach:
  • National champion (1978)
  • 5× Pac-8/Pac-10 (1976, 1978–1979, 1993, 1995)
  • 4× Rose Bowl champion (1976, 1978, 1979, 1995)
  • Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (2003)

As assistant coach:

  • 3× National champion (1972, 1974, 2019)
  • 2× Rose Bowl champion (1972, 1974)
Head coaching record
Regular season:75–68 (.524) (NFL)
132–77–4 (.629) (college)
Postseason:4–6 (.400)
Career:79–74 (.516) (NFL)
140–78–4 (.640) (college)
Coaching stats at PFR

John Alexander Robinson (born July 25, 1935) is a former American football player and coach best known for his two stints as head coach of the University of Southern California (USC) football team (1976–1982, 1993–1997) and for his tenure as head coach of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams (1983–1991). Robinson's USC teams won four Rose Bowls and captured a share of the national championship in the 1978 season. Robinson is one of the few college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school. In 2009, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He is currently a consultant to Ed Orgeron at Louisiana State University.

Early life and playing career[]

Robinson was born in Chicago, Illinois, moved to Provo, Utah at six, and then to Daly City, California at nine, where he attended Catholic parochial school with future Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, graduating in 1950, and Junípero Serra High School graduating in 1954.[1][2][3] He attended the University of Oregon, where he played end on Oregon's 1958 Rose Bowl team.

Coaching career[]

Early career[]

Robinson began his coaching career at the University of Oregon, his alma mater, where he served as an assistant coach under Len Casanova and Jerry Frei from 1960 to 1971. He served as USC's offensive coordinator in 1972 under John McKay, who had been an assistant coach at Oregon when Robinson played there, then served a stint as the Oakland Raiders' running backs coach in 1975, rejoining Madden, who was by then Oakland's head coach. Robinson coached at USC from 1976 to 1982 and again from 1993 to 1997.

Los Angeles Rams[]

Robinson is considered one of the more successful coaches in Rams history, twice leading the team to the NFC title game. Both of those contests ended in defeat against eventual Super Bowl champions, the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. Robinson's tenure as Rams coach was made more difficult by the fact that the Rams played in the same division as the 49ers, the dominant team of the 1980s (the only time he won the NFC West title during his tenure was 1985), but he was also the coach who drafted running back Eric Dickerson. His 79 victories are the most in Rams franchise history.

Later career[]

Robinson was hired to coach football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1999. After a 2–0 start, the second win coming at Baylor where the Rebels won despite entering the game's final play down by three points and not possessing the ball, Robinson's first UNLV team finished only 3–8. The Rebels rebounded to win eight games in 2000. In 2002, Robinson was chosen as the university's athletic director, but he stepped down from that position a year later to concentrate on the coaching position. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.[4] Despite being relieved of duty as athletic director, he resigned after going 2–9 in his final season in 2004.

In 2010, Robinson returned to coaching as defensive coordinator at San Marcos High School in San Marcos, California. He had never before coached at the high school level.[5]

In July 2019, Robinson joined the Louisiana State University football program as senior consultant to Head Coach Ed Orgeron.[6]

Outside of coaching[]

Robinson began a three decade long association with Sports USA Radio Network in 1998, and as of January 2018 serves as a color analyst for the network.[7] He is a Board Member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, and is awarded annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.[8]

His son, David Robinson, is a defensive coordinator for the Fullerton College Hornets football program. He had played on Fullerton's 1983 national title team. David worked for his father as an assistant coach, working in six bowl games, most notably the 1995 Cotton Bowl and 1996 Rose Bowl.[9]

Robinson currently resides in Encinitas, California.

Head coaching record[]

College[]

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
USC Trojans (Pacific-8/Pacific-10 Conference) (1976–1982)
1976 USC 11–1 7–0 1st W Rose 2 2
1977 USC 8–4 5–2 T–2nd W Astro-Bluebonnet 12 13
1978 USC 12–1 6–1 1st W Rose 1 2
1979 USC 11–0–1 6–0–1 1st W Rose 2 2
1980 USC 8–2–1 4–2–1 3rd 12 11
1981 USC 9–3 5–2 T–2nd L Fiesta 13 14
1982 USC 8–3 5–2 T–3rd 15
USC Trojans (Pacific-10 Conference) (1993–1997)
1993 USC 8–5 6–2 T–1st W Freedom 25
1994 USC 8–3–1 6–2 T–2nd W Cotton† 15 13
1995 USC 9–2–1 6–1–1 T–1st W Rose 11 12
1996 USC 6–6 3–5 T–5th
1997 USC 6–5 4–4 T–5th
USC: 104–35–4 63–23–3
UNLV Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (1999–2004)
1999 UNLV 3–8 1–6 8th
2000 UNLV 8–5 4–3 3rd W Las Vegas
2001 UNLV 4–7 3–4 T–5th
2002 UNLV 5–7 3–4 T–5th
2003 UNLV 6–6 2–5 T–7th
2004 UNLV 2–9 1–6 8th
UNLV: 28–42 14–28
Total: 132–77–4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

NFL[]

Team Year Regular season Post season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
LA 1983 9 7 0 .563 2nd in NFC West 1 1 .500 Lost to Washington Redskins in Divisional Game.
LA 1984 10 6 0 .625 2nd in NFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to New York Giants in Wild Card Game.
LA 1985 11 5 0 .688 1st in NFC West 1 1 .500 Lost to Chicago Bears in NFC Championship.
LA 1986 10 6 0 .625 2nd in NFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Washington Redskins in Wild Card Game.
LA 1987 6 9 0 .400 3rd in NFC West – – – –
LA 1988 10 6 0 .625 2nd in NFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Minnesota Vikings in Wild Card Game.
LA 1989 11 5 0 .688 2nd in NFC West 2 1 .667 Lost to San Francisco 49ers in NFC Championship.
LA 1990 5 11 0 .313 3rd in NFC West – – – –
LA 1991 3 13 0 .188 4th in NFC West – – – –
LA Total 75 68 0 .524 4 6 .400
Total 75 68 0 .524 4 6 .400

See also[]

  • Legends Poll

References[]

  1. ^ "History". Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. ^ "Double Dip For Daly City". si.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  3. ^ Junipero Serra High School Football Records
  4. ^ 2009 Kickoff Luncheon and Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Induction program
  5. ^ "Robinson not resting on his laurels". SignOnSanDiego.com. May 25, 2010.
  6. ^ John Robinson senior consultant for LSU Football, August 1, 2019
  7. ^ "ANALYSTS - Sports USA". SportsUSAMedia. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  8. ^ "Board of Directors - Lott IMPACT Trophy - Honoring College Football's Defensive Best". LottimpactTrophy.org. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  9. ^ David Robinson, coaching bio, Fullerton College Athletics

External links[]

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