Legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson’s widow, Doris, dies at 96

Eddie and Doris Robinson, 2004
Eddie and Doris Robinson, 2004
Eddie and Doris Robinson, 2004

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Doris Robinson, the widow of longtime Grambling State University football coach Eddie Robinson, died Wednesday after a brief illness, the north Louisiana university said in a news release. She was 96.

The statement said she died at 8 a.m. at Lincoln Medical Center in Ruston.

Doris and Eddie Robinson both graduated as English majors from Leland College in 1941, according to Grambling State.

They married the same year and moved to Grambling when Eddie Robinson became the head football coach at what was then called the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute.

He coached for 57 seasons, compiling a record of 408-165-15 and developing a reputation for sending players on to the National Football League.

“She will be greatly missed by the Grambling family, alumni, and others for the contributions that she made along with her husband, Coach Robinson, mentoring future professional football players and helping to bring racial awareness to a segregated South during his tenure at Grambling State University,” the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus said in a news release.

Eddie Robinson died in 2007 at age 88. Doris Robinson remained in the Grambling area.

The university’s interim athletic director, Obadiah Simmons, said she regularly attended Grambling football games and was a welcome presence at many other athletic events.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Robinson family. The entire GSU family mourns their loss,” University President Willie Larkin said in a statement.

Funeral arrangements were pending.