Happy Birthday Coach Robinson

Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, owns a great history — and this year that history honors a milestone.

Grambling was home to legendary coach Eddie Robinson, who scored more than 400 wins and became the first college football coach — and only one of two — to do so. Robinson was born on Feb. 13, 1919, and the school celebrates his birthday centennial this year.

Happy Birthday Coach Robinson.

For a list of his birthday events this year, click here.

Coach Robinson spent his entire career at Grambling State, from 1941 to 1997, and won more than 400 victories during that time. More than 200 players under his command were sent into the National Football League, including four Hall of Famers. Alumnus Doug Williams was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXII.

The Eddie Robinson Museum at 126 Jones St. in the city of Grambling honors the man and coach. Exhibits include recreations of Robinson’s office, the football team’s locker and film rooms, a “Hall of Honors” displaying the team’s trophies, awards and accolades, and a room with pro football jerseys from notable Grambling alumni who played under Robinson.

The school’s other claim to fame is the exciting, vibrant Mighty Tiger Marching Band, which faces Southern University’s band every Thanksgiving in the annual Battle of the Bands contest in New Orleans.

Grambling State began in the 1870s as a school for independent African American property owners in Lincoln Parish. Eventually, the school morphed into the first all-black municipality in Louisiana, opening as an agricultural and industrial university in 1905 and then as an accredited institute of higher learning.

If you’re visiting the Grambling campus, be sure to visit the Charles Adams House, home of the founder and first president, and the Eddie Robinson Museum.