Coach Broke Ground and Records

"If a boy can't tackle, we show him how," Robinson wrote about society's general expectations of a student-athlete. "I sometimes wondered if anybody cared enough to teach him to read."

Robinson made sure players valued education and discipline. He carried players' updated grades in his briefcase. He required players to wear suit coats and ties to interviews with reporters. In an old office, Robinson once found an assortment of earrings in his desk; he didn't allow his players to wear jewelry.

He remained committed to academics even in his mid-70s, when he rang cowbells at 6:30 a.m. to make sure players rose from bed, ate breakfast and attended class. If a player missed class, Robinson would force him to run up and down bleachers repeatedly or would take away his meal card for the day.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote in Robinson's 1999 autobiography, "Never Before, Never Again," that Robinson "developed minds before he developed muscles. The breakthroughs provided by the work of Coach Robinson might have been less dramatic than the day Jackie Robinson donned the Dodger uniform. However, they were no less meaningful. Two men named Robinson changed American life forever."

In the same book, New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner called Robinson the "greatest American I have ever known." And Muhammad Ali credited Robinson for "turning boys into men," calling him a "credit to his sport as well as a credit to humanity."

Robinson enjoyed competitive excellence throughout his career. In 1942, Robinson was 23 when he coached a team that was undefeated and unscored upon.

In 1985, Robinson passed Paul "Bear" Bryant as the winningest college football coach when Grambling beat Prairie View A&M, 27-7. What Robinson said he cherished most about that team was that 20 players made the honor roll. (Coach John Gagliardi of St. John's, Minn., passed Robinson in 2003 and has 443 wins.)

At age 75 in 1994, Robinson led the Tigers to a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and was named the league's coach of the year. On his last team, Robinson savored the fact that he coached nine sons of his former players.

But Robinson always felt that family came first. He had said he didn't manage to coach for 60 years, but he was hoping to celebrate a 75th anniversary with wife Doris in 2016.

"People talk about the record I've compiled at Grambling, but the real record is the fact that for over 50 years, I've had one job and one wife," Robinson said. "I don't believe anyone can out-American me."

Robinson is survived by his wife, son Eddie Robinson Jr., daughter Lillian Rose Robinson, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

"Our love and admiration for Eddie were unyielding, as was Eddie's for his immediate family and his extended Grambling family," Doris Robinson said in a statement yesterday. "Eddie was the consummate husband, father, teacher, leader, role model, and, most of all, the greatest of Americans. Words cannot express the loneliness that I will feel without my beloved Eddie. However, I realize, and the immediate family realizes, the greatness that Eddie contributed to our society. He will forever fill our hearts, minds and souls."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.