John Robinson (American football coach)
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
July 25, 1935 Chicago, Illinois |
| Playing career | |
| 1955–1957 | Oregon |
| Position(s) | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1960–1971 | Oregon (assistant) |
| 1972–1974 | USC (OC) |
| 1975 | Oakland Raiders (RB) |
| 1976–1982 | USC |
| 1983–1991 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 1993–1997 | USC |
| 1999–2004 | UNLV |
| 2010 | San Marcos HS (CA) (DC) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2002–2003 | UNLV |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall |
132–77–4 (college) 79–74 (NFL) |
| Bowls | 8–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
|
1 National (1978) 5 Pac-8/Pac-10 (1976, 1978–1979, 1993, 1995) | |
| Awards | |
| Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (2003)[1] | |
|
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2009 (profile) | |
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 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.[2]
Biography
Early life and playing career
Robinson grew up in Daly City, California, where he attended elementary school with future Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, and graduated from Junípero Serra High School. He attended the University of Oregon, where he played end on Oregon's 1958 Rose Bowl team.
Coaching career
He 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' backfield 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, putting up a career record as a college head coach of 104–35–4, for a winning percentage of .741.
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.
Robinson was hired to coach football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1998. 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. Despite being relieved of duty as athletic director, his tenure ended on a disappointing note with the Rebels 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.[3]
Broadcasting
Robinson currently serves as a color analyst on NFL game broadcasts for the Sports USA Radio Network.
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 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
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 | |||
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under John Robinson who became NCAA head coaches:
- Keith Burns: Tulsa: (2000–2002)
- Garrick McGee: UAB (2012–2013)
- Mike Riley: Oregon State (1997–1998 & 2003-2014), Nebraska (2015–current)
- Mike Sanford: UNLV (2005–2009), Indiana State (2013–2016)
See also
References
- ↑ 2009 Kickoff Luncheon and Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Induction program
- ↑ http://www.lottimpacttrophy.com/
- ↑ "Robinson not resting on his laurels". SignOnSanDiego.com. May 25, 2010.