Per USA Today:
Eddie Robinson was more than one of the winningest college football coaches of all time.
He was the embodiment of the American dream.
This is a loss for the sport of Football overall, as Robinson was an incredible Coach and human being. His legacy will continue unabated as players and Coaches he mentored continue successful careers throughout the nation. The Washington Redskins have Eddie Robinson to thank for Doug Williams, a Grambling product, who would take MVP honors in our Super Bowl XXII victory over the Denver Broncos. Said Williams of Robinson:
He was the embodiment of the American dream.
The son of a domestic worker and a Louisiana sharecropper, he rose to the top of his profession, winning 408 games in 55 years, all at Grambling State in Louisiana.
Robinson died Tuesday night at Lincoln Hospital in Ruston, La., after being admitted earlier in the day. He was 88 years old. Robinson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease shortly after he retired in 1997.
He is survived by his wife Doris, son Eddie Jr., and daughter Lillian Robinson.
It's tough... We all know it's coming. But that's Eddie Robinson. Eddie Robinson is not supposed to go. But when you look back at it, there's lot of joy in it too. I don't think [any] of us have to worry about where he's going to be from now on. He is a gate keeper...
He wasn't just about football... He was about human beings. That says a lot about Eddie Robinson. The work Coach has done is not so much about the football field and the number of players he put in the NFL. It's about the people he didn't send to the NFL.