Eddie Robinson

Every morning, 7 o'clock, coach Eddie Robinson or one of his assistants walks the hallways of Grambling State University's football dormitory ringing a cowbell. It has been a Grambling tradition since World War II. But Robinson, who started the tradition, said that times have changed, and that although he hates to admit it, his graduation rate is down a bit lately. This means that at age 76, he can't let up on his players at all. "If he gets up and he gets to breakfast, he'll be up for an 8 o'clock class," Robinson said.

Grambling coach Eddie Robinson was sitting in a hotel room, waiting to walk up the street and watch the Sugar Bowl, talking about how his friend Bear Bryant once told him that he should keep coaching as long as he could. That conversation, one of many that college football's two most prolific winners would have, occurred when Bryant was late in his career at Alabama. If he had to retire, "he didn't think he'd make another year," Robinson said. "He just didn't believe he'd make it long.

The world watched as the coaching career of legendary Eddie Robinson wound down over the last two years. Amid all the adoration and controversy, Ed Davis witnessed firsthand the methods and magic of college football's all-time winningest coach. Davis, a 1996 Coatesville graduate, played for Grambling and Robinson the last two years. He was a 5-foot-7, 165-pound sophomore tailback in Robinson's wing-T offense this season, rushing for 354 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries and earning honors as most improved.

Eddie Robinson, college football's winningest coach, has Alzheimer's, his wife said. "He's pretty bad," Doris Robinson said yesterday. "He gets a little bit worse every day. He comes to the table for breakfast, but after that he wants to go right to bed. " During his 57 years at Grambling, a career which spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement, Robinson compiled a record of 408-165-15. His teams had only nine losing seasons and won 16 conference titles and nine national black college championships.

Michael Miller, who at one time was considered heir to the big playmaking legacy of Raghib "Rocket" Ismail at Notre Dame, surrendered to Texas authorities yesterday after being named in an indictment charging him with organized criminal activity. Miller was charged with two other Texas men in connection with an alleged scheme that forged stolen checks to purchase about $50,000 in retail merchandise and airline tickets, said detective Rodney Glendening of the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department.

The San Antonio Spurs, reeling from a 3-15 start, fired coach Bob Hill yesterday, hours before David Robinson was to join the lineup for the first time this season, against Phoenix. Spurs general manager Gregg Popovich replaced Hill, who led the team to 121 victories in the last two seasons. With Robinson out with a sore back, the Spurs started 2-10, the worst start in franchise history. The Chicago Bulls suspended Dennis Rodman for two games for cursing during a live TV interview in Toronto on Sunday.

Eddie Robinson will get one more year as football coach at Grambling, a chance to add to his 405 career victories and to erase the sting of consecutive losing seasons. University president Raymond Hicks yesterday ended a week of rumors that Robinson, 77, college football's winningest coach, was being forced out. After Louisiana's governor and the state's board of regents came to Robinson's defense, the popular coach was asked to stay on. "I'm the coach again!" Robinson shouted to his wife as he addressed a news conference.

When Dave Robinson played the game at Penn State, college football only vaguely resembled the game played on Saturdays now. But both are games that the former all-American loves dearly. "Football is a living sport," Robinson said. "It's gone through some tremendous transitions. I remember back to 1960, when players went both ways and Alabama refused to play us in the Liberty Bowl because we had black players. It was a different world altogether. But both of those worlds are special to me. " Robinson, as a defensive end and tight end, was a pretty special part of the first world.

Notre Dame's first season on NBC is over, but college football makes one more appearance tomorrow on the network before its Fiesta and Orange Bowl telecasts. NBC is carrying the Bayou Classic matching Grambling State and Southern University (Channel 3, 2:30 p.m.). It's the first time a major network has aired a football game between two black schools. Neither Division I-AA team is strong this season. Grambling, under 72-year- old coaching legend Eddie Robinson, is 5-5. One of those losses was a 60-14 trouncing by Alabama State.

Once upon a time, it was said that Grambling State didn't rebuild, it merely reloaded. That isn't necessarily true anymore. Grambling, the nation's most famous predominantly black-college football program, is entering its 46th season under legendary coach Eddie Robinson. And though the Tigers (1-0) aren't exactly rebuilding after going 5-6 a year ago for their first losing finish since 1959, there isn't as much ammunition as there once was. "People still respect the Grambling name.

A university president, a museum president and the son of a legend stood Monday afternoon in front of a brick building, its walls accented by photos illustrating the classic moments of their small town's largest figure. The three men talked of competing emotions - happiness for the memory of Eddie Robinson, sadness for Joe Paterno, both. Robinson, who won 408 games in 55 years at Grambling State, again ascended atop the Division I football coaches all-time wins list on Monday morning.

Penn football coach Al Bagnoli, who led the Quakers to their second straight undefeated Ivy League championship, has been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. The award is for the top coach in the FCS. Bagnoli is one of 20 finalists. This is the fourth time since 2002 that Bagnoli has been named a finalist. He finished ninth in 2002, eighth in 2003 and 10th in 2009. Bagnoli became the Quakers' winningest coach this season, earning his 125th victory to break a 116-year-old school record.

Legendary Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson will lie in state today on the grounds of the Louisiana capitol in Baton Rouge. When Robinson died last week at 88, state officials immediately made plans for him to lie in state, an honor more often bestowed on political leaders. All former Grambling players have been invited to a players-only service at the capitol today and then to carry Robinson's casket to Memorial Hall for public viewing. Robinson's body will be brought to Grambling for a wake tomorrow evening and burial Wednesday.

The Eddie Robinson story isn't just about a great football coach; it's about a great American. Mr. Robinson died Tuesday night at age 88. He had long suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Eulogies are flowing, most centering on the 408 victories he achieved as coach of the Grambling University Tigers and the more than 200 players he coached who went on to careers in the NFL. It's hard not to talk about the football. Four of Robinson's players are in the NFL Hall of Fame: Willie Brown, Buck Buchanan, Willie Davis and Charlie Joiner.

Eddie Robinson, college football's winningest coach, has Alzheimer's, his wife said. "He's pretty bad," Doris Robinson said yesterday. "He gets a little bit worse every day. He comes to the table for breakfast, but after that he wants to go right to bed. " During his 57 years at Grambling, a career which spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement, Robinson compiled a record of 408-165-15. His teams had only nine losing seasons and won 16 conference titles and nine national black college championships.

The old ways had gotten, well, old. Tradition is important at Grambling State, but today's football players want to know their future has at least a chance to be as bright as their school's glorious past. "I'm not sure if I would have been here if Doug Williams weren't here," said Eric Stewart, the Tigers' freshman quarterback from Jersey City, N.J. "I'm his guy. Doug Williams is the reason I'm at Grambling. "There's still a lot of prestige associated with Grambling football, but I admit I don't know all the history.

When Dave Robinson played the game at Penn State, college football only vaguely resembled the game played on Saturdays now. But both are games that the former all-American loves dearly. "Football is a living sport," Robinson said. "It's gone through some tremendous transitions. I remember back to 1960, when players went both ways and Alabama refused to play us in the Liberty Bowl because we had black players. It was a different world altogether. But both of those worlds are special to me. " Robinson, as a defensive end and tight end, was a pretty special part of the first world.

The world watched as the coaching career of legendary Eddie Robinson wound down over the last two years. Amid all the adoration and controversy, Ed Davis witnessed firsthand the methods and magic of college football's all-time winningest coach. Davis, a 1996 Coatesville graduate, played for Grambling and Robinson the last two years. He was a 5-foot-7, 165-pound sophomore tailback in Robinson's wing-T offense this season, rushing for 354 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries and earning honors as most improved.

Doug Williams, one of Eddie Robinson's finest quarterbacks before going on to NFL stardom, will succeed his former mentor as the second Grambling coach in history. "I got the call and it's not me," Lee Fobbs, one of three candidates for the job, said yesterday. "They said it's Doug, and I certainly wish him the best of luck. I hope he wins every game. " Grambling officials scheduled a news conference for tomorrow to announce Robinson's successor. "He's not giving any interviews until the news conference Thursday," said a secretary in the Morehouse College football office in Atlanta, where Williams was the coach this year.

You could not tell from Eddie Robinson's eyes or from the way he strode quietly to his Louisiana Superdome sideline yesterday, but it was the last time he would walk onto a field as head coach of Grambling State University. The memories of 55 seasons and 587 games coached did not slow Robinson's pregame steps, and no tears dimmed his eyes as they had only two weeks ago at his last home game. Maybe later Robinson, 78, would tell Doris, his wife of 56 years, what was going through his mind as he walked out of active coaching and into legend.