Edward North "Robbie" Robinson (October 15, 1873 – March 10, 1945) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univer ...

, Brown University,

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifi ...

, and Tufts College—now known as

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

, and co-head football coach at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

. He also coached for the

Providence Steam Roller The Providence Steam Rollers (also referred to as the Providence Steam Roller, the Providence Steamroller and the Providence Steamrollers) were a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football Leagu ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

in 1955.

Early life

Robinson was born in Sabattus, Maine and attended

Danvers High School Danvers High School (DHS) is a public high school in Danvers, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Danvers Public Schools school district. Demographics Student enrolment for the 2017-2018 School year (Grades 9-12) was 941. The school ...

the

Dean Academy The Dean Academy (formerly Whitecross School) is a Mixed-sex education, mixed secondary school located in Lydney in the English county of Gloucestershire. Location The school is located on the edge of Lydney, a small river-side town in the Roy ...

. He played halfback for the

Brown Bears football : ''For information on all Brown University sports, see Brown Bears'' The Brown Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Brown University located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The team competes in the NCAA Divi ...

team and was a pitcher and right field for the Brown Bears baseball team. Robinson was selected by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the syste ...

in 1895 as a Third Team All-American. He graduated from Brown in 1896 and earned a degree from the

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an el ...

in 1898.

Coaching

Football

Robinson began his coaching career at Nebraska. He compiled a 11-4-1 record over two seasons and led Nebraska to its ever first conference championship. He then coached at his alma mater from 1898 to 1901. He coached at the University of Maine in 1902 and at

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

in 1903. He returned to Brown in 1904 and remained there until 1907. After one year as the head coach at Tufts, he returned to Brown for his third stint as head coach. In 1923 he turned down the opportunity to become the head coach of the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

team. Robinson and his assistant Reggie Brown were let go after the 1925 season, ending his 24 year tenure as Brown’s head coach. On April 2, 1926, athletic director

George V. Brown George Vincent Brown (21 October 1880 – 17 October 1937) of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, was an American sports official. He championed the development of various sports and sporting events in the United States, most notably the Boston Marathon a ...

hired Robinson and Brown to coach the Boston University football team. They served as co-head coaches of BU until 1930, when they were replaced by

Hilary Mahaney Hilary F. Mahaney Sr. (February 17, 1902 – August 30, 1969) was an American college football player and coach and jurist. He played end for Holy Cross from 1921 to 1924, served as the head football coach at Boston University from 1930 to 1931, ...

. In 1931, Robinson coached the Providence Steam Roller of the National Football League. Under Robinson, the Steam Roller finished the 1931 season 4–4–3 record.

Baseball

In 1901, Robinson was hired to coach baseball at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The following year he led the Phillips Exeter baseball team to a championship. He was retained by Phillips Exeter for the following season and given the additional role as head football coach.

Later life

A longtime resident of

Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the renowned beaches of Glo ...

, Robinson spent his later years in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

's Brighton neighborhood and was in charge of football for the Boston Parks Department. He died on March 10, 1945 at Corey Hill Hospital in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Eddie N. 1873 births 1945 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks Boston University School of Law alumni Boston University Terriers football coaches Brown Bears baseball players Brown Bears football coaches Brown Bears football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Dean College alumni High school baseball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in New Hampshire Maine Black Bears football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches People from Androscoggin County, Maine People from Danvers, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Providence Steam Roller coaches Tufts Jumbos football coaches Yale Bulldogs baseball coaches