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 with ...

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 tea ...

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 Universit ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, 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 learning. ...

, 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 campu ...

. 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 ...

. 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 vote ...

in 1955.

Early life

Robinson was born in

Sabattus, Maine Sabattus is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,044 at the 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New Engl ...

and attended Danvers High School the Dean Academy. 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 The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share t ...

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 system ...

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 eli ...

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 Reggie Brown may refer to: *Reggie Brown (American football coach) (1876–1961), American college football coach at Boston University from 1926–1929 *Reginald J. Brown (1940–2005), U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affa ...

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 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. 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 research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. 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 state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

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, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

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