A Conversation With Alabama State's Eddie Robinson Jr.
Sports Renaissance Man had the opportunity to catch up with Alabama State head football coach Eddie Robinson Jr. this week.
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This week, Sports Renaissance Man had the opportunity to interview Alabama State head football coach Eddie Robinson Jr.
Read the full interview below.
The biggest reason your team had such a special season and went from 7 to 10 wins?
Robinson Jr: Well, I think it was definitely our offensive production. We went from 22 points per game to 40. So that’s probably the most obvious choice, and to have some explosive guys. Of course, you have to start with Andrew Body. He was the HBCU Player of the Year, so that was a big part of it. The offensive line played a lot better as well, but I just think, just overall, from an offensive standpoint, we executed at a high level, and we had some explosive guys.
How do you manage expectations from the fanbase now that you just won double-digit games the previous season?
Robinson Jr: Well, I don’t think you manage outside the room. You manage inside the room. And I think for us, you know, our expectation has been to win at a high level every year. So we expect it. We know the challenges that are involved to make it happen. You know, every win is a big deal. In college football, I tell my guys, half the teams in college football lost this weekend. So when you win, I don’t care who you’re playing. It’s something to appreciate and enjoy. And then on Sunday, you get back to work. So we have a motto about winning today. And so we just focus on winning each day, just getting like marginal gains, getting a little better every day at something. And I think if we keep having that approach, then at the end of the year, you look back and say, ‘Hey, this is what we accomplished.’ And for us, we focus on that. And then, you know, outside the building, the fans should expect to win a championship every year. I mean, that’s the expectation of what fans are. They’re fanatical. They’re supposed to expect to win, right? And it’s our job to deliver that.
What gets you most fired up about spring practice leading a program in 2026?
Robison Jr: I think you can be physical because you don’t play for another six months, and so the guys can really hit. Like, we can watch the guys tackle, and I’m trying to find the guys who are physical, who are tough, some violent guys, who can make people miss, and who can make tackles, who can make throws and catches under pressure. And we still kind of control it a little bit, but we won’t be this physical and violent once the season starts, OK. And so for right now, you can really kind of let them go and practice really hard and have some big collisions and contacts. And then, you knock on wood. You don’t want anybody to get hurt, but you know, to make a good omelet, you've got to break some eggs. So it’s just how it goes.
Does it change with the portal season and everything else? Do you change your install schedule here in this new age of college football? Or has it still been just about what it was when you first got there?
Robinson Jr: I think it’s about the same. I think without having a portal window this spring, it definitely helps us out just from a standpoint of, yeah, maybe a couple guys that you’re hoping to still bring into the program, you’re always recruiting. But at the same time, you’re not spending a whole lot of time concerned about, ‘Hey, this kid is having a great spring, will he try to take this tape and leave?’ You know, and I think that was the part that was just really crazy the last couple of years, when guys are going through spring, and I’m uncertain whether or not they’re going to stay. So now I can’t even really plan for next year because, yeah, I look really good at the defensive end spot, but I don’t know if two of those guys in their mind, they’re thinking that they’re going to leave, and they haven’t told me yet.
Your offense led the SWAC in scoring last season, but was last in total plays in the SWAC. Was that kind of efficiency mostly due to the consistent chunk plays your offense produced?
Robison Jr: Well, I think it was two things. So I’m always looking at the different stats, comparing year to year, comparing with the conference champ and the top-25 teams in FCS did the year before, and what makes a successful team just from a stats standpoint, because you want to try to mimic those things. So I think more specifically for us, I don’t think of the intention, like every play you’re trying to score, right? But we had some very explosive guys who were taking a normal play and making two guys miss and going 30, 40, and 50 yards, and sometimes scoring. So that’s a good problem to have. So I don’t think you ever scale back from how fast we can score. I think the other part of that equation was that we were horrible in third-down efficiency. We were close to last in the conference. We gave up more than 50% on third down and fourth down. And so what was happening was we were scoring really fast, but then we couldn’t get off the field on third down defensively to get the ball back to the offense. So it was, it was, the success on offense, and I think the lack of being productive in third-down efficiency on defense. And so we understand what we have to be better at. You can be better on third down. And, of course, you want to still be explosive. But we always have a mindset of tempo and controlling the clock and those types of things. But I think that third-down efficiency on defense will allow the offense to have more opportunities to score, and hopefully, we can be just as efficient as we were last year.
What’s the secret to improved third-down defensive efficiency?
Robinson Jr: First of all, you've got to know it’s third down. It sounds like a simple thing. So what we’re doing now, we’re getting into spring, we’re doing situational football. And the kids know my favorite day of the week during the season is Thursday because we really focus on situational football. You focus on two-minute, you focus on third downs, you focus on red zones. So now it’s more specific, we’re not just running plays 1st and 10 from the 30. We’re looking at, hey, it’s 3rd and 3, it’s 3rd and 5, it’s 3rd and 7. And so it sounds like an easy deal, but everybody on the team, especially guys on the field, have to know, ‘Hey, it’s 3rd and 3.’ And so the way you’re going to play cornerback or linebacker at 3rd and 3 is different between 3rd and 9 or 3rd and 10. So once you know the down the distance, then you can start getting to what’s the formation, anticipating the play, what’s my responsibility, et cetera, et cetera. Third down is my favorite down. That’s the money down. But then you have to execute once you get them into 3rd and long, and then you have to get them off the field. And I think the trend in college football is now to go for it on fourth down. So now we’re really having that mentality of if it’s 3rd and 9, we know if it gets to a 4th and 2 or 3, most offensive coordinators are going to go for it. That’s what happened against us. So we’re kind of preparing the kids. So we’re doing a lot of third and fourth down type things now, so we can be in that mindset of we’re going to have to stop an offense on third and fourth down.
What’s next for Andrew Body’s development after such a dominant 2025 season?
Robinson Jr: Yeah, I tell him all the time. I mean, you can’t be a running quarterback. You have to be a quarterback who can run, and it’s a big difference. And so, and I tell them, you look at, you know, some of the guys, I go way back, not way back, but I played against them, so I don’t want to say I’m that old, but, you know, Johnny Five, you know, Donovan McNabb, you know, he was one of those guys who could run, but he ran on his terms. Even Mahomes, you know, Mahomes can run, but he’s not a running quarterback per se. And so I think for me, ultimately, you have to win in the pocket from the quarterback position, or you have to get out of the pocket, but eyes downfield to try to make explosive plays. But then, when you have to run, man, you can really punish the defense. So I think just going through that first, second, and third read, getting the ball out to the check down, like, be the point guard. And then when it’s time to take over, you take over when it’s necessary. But don’t force it. Let the game come to you.
Thinking back to Year 1 as the head football coach at Alabama State to now, going into Year 5, how have you evolved as a leader and coach?
Robinson Jr: Yeah, so I think now I say what needs to be said, and I do what needs to be done. And so I think a simple way to look at that is like we had a practice. It was raining that morning. It was really one of those early spring mornings. It was really, really cold, and it was raining hard, so the team is anticipating and the coaches that practice will be canceled. But with me looking at my trusty weather app, I understand that the weather is about to clear up at 6:30, so we’ll be perfectly fine. So I’m getting in the car in the mindset of it’s going to be a cold, wet, rainy day, ready to practice, and I think everybody else had the mindset of practice will be cancelled, right? So, going through the first 20 minutes, you know I usually take my notes on the things I need to correct at the end of practice. I had five things in the first 20 minutes. I was like this is going nowhere fast. This is about to be a wasted day, and I think in my first year, I probably would have asked another coach, ‘Hey man, how do you think this is going, man? What do you think we need to do to get it going?’ I would have asked permission to be the head football coach. Well, this year I brought everybody up to the 50. A couple of expletives. ‘Like, hey, we’re going to, this thing is horrible. We’re going to start this practice over. I don’t like this tempo. This is not championship tempo. Even though it’s in the spring and we don’t play for six months, this is not a good practice. So let’s get it changed right now.’ And then it went on to be a pretty good practice. So, you know, right now I’m going to be more, I’m going to trust my instinct. I’m going to go with my gut. And maybe I’m wrong sometimes, but as the head coach, you get the right to be wrong. So it’s like, it’s one of those things I’m going to trust what I feel and not always ask permission. I think my first year, I probably would have asked permission to kind of have that same type of, you know, response.
Do you have a take on the Titans’ new uniforms?
Robinson Jr: You know, I’m going to reach out to my guy, Keith Bullock, and talk with him. He came and talked to our team last year. You know, I started off as a Houston Oiler. I was on the team with, you know, Warren Moon and all those guys. Ernest Givins, you know, Haywood Jeffires, all those guys. I mean, I’m a true-blue Houston Oiler, right? So, part of me loves the Columbia blue and red. That’s like, it’s like, man. And so, but part of me still likes the old Titan logo. So, to answer your question, I do like it because it merges both aspects of it. I think it... kind of gives that connection because there is still a lot of Oilers fans in Texas who still follow the Titans because they still have that connection because all of the franchise records, you know, the Robert Braziles, the Earl Campbells, the Warren Moons, they’re still with the Titans franchise, even though they were Oilers. So I think I love the connection of the Columbia blue and red to kind of tie those old guys in and I still go back when I’m able to when we have the reunion days, I still go back to Nashville for the reunion days because for the Oilers, it’s still and my old Oiler friends they show up for that and my Titans guys, so I like it. I’m thumbs up with it.