Melvin Robertson (born May 25, 1928) is a former

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 wi ...

coach. He was considered one of the top defensive minds in football during the 1970s and 80s. "Mad Dog" Robertson began his coaching career as an assistant under Bradley Mills at Odessa High School, before joining Bill Yeoman's staff at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

as defensive backs coach in 1965. In 1972

Emory Bellard Emory Dilworth Bellard (December 17, 1927 – February 10, 2011) was a college football coach. He was head coach at Texas A&M University from 1972 to 1978 and at Mississippi State University from 1979 until 1985. Bellard died on February 10, 2011 ...

, who had just been named

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

, hired Robertson as defensive coordinator. A&M was ranked No. 1 in total defense in 1975 under Robertson, who was known for his

blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

packages. Robertson followed Bellard to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

in 1979. "Melvin's got a great reputation in pro football, college football and high school football here in Texas as one of the top defensive coaches in the country," said former University of Houston Head Football Coach John Jenkins. Robertson is retired and lives in

Grapevine, Texas Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region betwee ...

References

1928 births Living people American football defensive backs Houston Cougars football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players High school football coaches in Texas Players of American football from Grapevine, Texas {{1960s-collegefootball-coach-stub