John Robinson’s legacy at USC is clear and enormous

Legendary USC football coach John Robinson died Monday at age 89 of complications from pneumonia. Robinson easily sits atop the Mount Rushmore of USC football head coaches (in other words, the top four). He joins program patriarch Howard Jones, Pete Carroll and John McKay as the best of the best USC has ever had.

What was John Robinson’s legacy at USC? How could one arrive at a concrete, detailed answer that adequately explains Robinson’s contribution to the rich history of Trojan football? “Win big” is a correct but general answer. “Winning the Rose Bowl” is a better answer, but still a relatively simple answer. Those are definitely parts of Robinson’s Trojan track record, and both are certainly major successes. But when we look at Robinson’s most profound and important legacy at USC more broadly, it’s not just the wins and the Rose Bowl victories.

It’s not just the 1978 national championship. It’s not just that three of Robinson’s first four teams at USC – 1976 to 1979 – finished in the top two of the polls after bowling.

It’s something more.

Here’s the best answer: Robinson continued USC’s John McKay-era excellence.

Stop and think of all the moments when a legendary, premier, best coach leaves a college team or an NFL team. How often does “The Guy Behind the Guy” find itself completely out of its depth, or at least unable to come anywhere close to the standard of the icon it replaced?

Who remembers who coached at Oklahoma after Barry Switzer? Who remembers who coached in Florida after Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer? Who remembers who coached at Alabama immediately after Bear Bryant died? Who coached the Green Bay Packers after Vince Lombardi?

It’s one of the most thankless jobs in sports: coaching a team right after a legend has left the stage. This succession plan usually fails. It may be that the coach is not good, but even good coaches sometimes stumble simply because replacing a legend creates unfulfilled expectations and creates a culture where it is difficult to compete in the eyes of the fan base.

John Robinson replaced John McKay, arguably the greatest USC football coach of all time (greater than Howard Jones and Pete Carroll), and thrived.

Jones’ succession in the 1940s and Carroll’s successor in the early 2010s failed. Robinson was able to follow McKay and keep USC as a powerhouse. This is what makes Robinson stand out in the history of college football and in the larger history of the coaching profession. Be “one guy after another” and still be great? This is an amazing legacy that John Robinson leaves behind at USC. It is a legacy that will never fade. Considering how difficult it was for the Trojans to replicate Pete Carroll’s successes in the Lincoln Riley era, a decade and a half after Pete’s last game at USC, that’s more understandable.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: John Robinson’s legacy at USC is clear and enormous