John Robinson, known for leading the USC football team to a national title in 1978, has died at the age of 89.
University officials said Robinson died in Baton Rouge, LA, after complications with pneumonia.
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Described by the program as “one of USC’s most popular and successful football coaches,” Robinson also led the Trojans to eight bowl games, winning 74.1% of his games and earning 5 Pac-10 titles during his two stints as head coach.
Known for his run-first offense, Robinson collected most of his awards during his first run at the helm between 1976 and 1982. In his first season, Robinson earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors after turning the program around from an 8-4. team ranked 17th in the country in an 11-1 schedule, ranked as the second-best team in all of College Football.
After a down year in 1977, Robinson and the Trojans rebounded in 1978 to win USC’s ninth national title and the program’s last championship of the 20th century. Robinson’s 12-1 season earned him the Pac-10 Coach of the Year award for the second time.
He followed up the national title with an undefeated season in 1979, tying only Stanford in conference play. After another second-place finish in the AP poll, College Football named Robinson its National Coach of the Year.
During his two stints at USC, Robinson coached 24 All-American first-teamers, 22 NFL first-rounders, two Heisman Trophy winners in Charles White and Marcus Allen and a Lombardi Award winner in Brad Budde.
After the 1982 season, Robinson left the Trojans to become head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. Much like his college days, Robinson turned the 2-7 Rams into a winning team in his freshman year, posting a 9-7 record en route to a playoff berth.
Robinson never won the Super Bowl during his time as Rams head coach, but he led LA to the conference championship twice. In their two NFC Championship games, Robinson and his team lost to eventual Super Bowl winners, the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 1989 San Francisco 49ers.
He finished his second stint at USC with a 37-21-2 record before leaving the program in 1997. UNLV hired him after an 0-11 season in 1998. Two seasons later, Robinson led the team to a bowl victory against Arkansas.
In his sixty or so years in football, Robinson cemented himself as one of the sport’s greatest minds, providing on-air analysis for game-day radio broadcasts. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2004, the College Football Hall of Fame and the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, the Las Vegas Bowl Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018.
He is survived by his wife Beverly, his four children, two stepchildren and ten grandchildren.
