The USC Trojans by Travers Steven;

Author:Travers, Steven;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 634245
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing

19

THE TRADITION OF TROY

* * *

The smooth transition from King John McKay to Prince Robinson leads to the completion of college football’s most dominant two-decade run

John Robinson had in fact been groomed for the job. McKay’s departure to pro doldrums in Tampa Bay was shocking to his players and the alumni, but it had been discussed and was being worked on for some time. Robinson had come into the program in 1972, but in 1975 he was sent to Oakland where he was given an unusual job, that of de facto assistant head coach of the Raiders.

There are rumors that McKay got into it with an influential alum, but Robinson’s hiring, at least on the surface, had all the appearance of an event that had been planned well ahead of time. Many felt Dave Levy was the deserving heir apparent, but the telegenic Robinson was chosen, possibly because of his public relations skills as much as his football expertise.

Robinson grew up in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City. His childhood pal was John Madden. Madden had gone to Jefferson High, Robinson to Serra, a Catholic school in San Mateo that is legendary for producing famous sports figures, among them Angel shortstop Jim Fregosi, Oriole pitcher Wally Bunker, USC wide receiver Lynn Swann, Patriot quarterback Tom Brady, and Giants’ superstar Barry Bonds.

Madden played at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His teammate was Ted Tollner, who coached at USC from 1983 to 1986. The team suffered a terrible tragedy when their plane crashed on a road trip, but Madden and Tollner survived. Madden spent the rest of his life avoiding airplanes at almost any cost.

Robinson went to McKay’s alma mater, Oregon. He met McKay when he played under him from 1954 to 1957. After that, he got into coaching.

“I was very interested in coaching, even as a player,” Robinson said. “I asked John McKay a lot of questions.”

Robinson was an assistant coach at Oregon from 1960 to 1971. His star rose, leading him to USC, where he became McKay’s offensive coordinator from 1972 to 1974. Being associated with the 1972 and 1974 national champions gave him imprimatur in that era, similar to Norm Chow in the 2000s.

An “arrangement” was made, whereby Robinson was “sent” to Oakland to tutor under his pal Madden for a year or so. The 1975 Raiders were a talented squad with Kenny Stabler, Clarence Davis, and Fred Biletnikoff, but they suffered a disappointing season. The previous year they had looked to be Super Bowl–bound, but Pittsburgh knocked them out in the AFC title game. The ’75 Raiders made it to the AFC championship contest, but lost in freezing conditions on Pittsburgh’s artificial turf against the famed “Steel Curtain” Steeler defense.

The following year they did attain, as their venerable broadcaster Bill King liked to call it, the “Promised Land,” but Robinson was not part of it.

After McKay’s resignation, Robinson was brought in. It was a seemingly seamless transition for a guy groomed for the job in Los Angeles and Oakland.

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