LOS ANGELES — One of the perks of this job is a Tuesday afternoon talking sports with John Robinson, the “old fart” as he calls himself, still as giddy as a USC cheerleader.
He’s 40 pounds lighter, his knee is fixed and he’s mindful that his heart was “wounded” by an attack five years ago.
But that was 76-year-old John Robinson all by himself in an Arizona hotel room Saturday night, yelling at his TV and jumping up and down with fist pump after fist pump as USC crushed Notre Dame.
“I couldn’t go to sleep after that game,” he says. “It was USC at its best. I was convinced before the game that our guys could coach, but they didn’t have that big win. They do now.
“And let me tell you, there’s nothing better than those last few minutes when you have the lead like we did and you’re too strong for them. We just wore them down; people say maybe they quit. I just don’t care.
“I just love it when you can run the ball, the band is playing ‘Conquest’ and you’re just kicking their butts. It’s so good.”
There were so many of those fine Saturdays, and later Sundays, in the two decades Robinson coached football in Los Angeles. First, he was USC’s head coach, winning the national championship in 1978; then coached the Rams within one victory of the Super Bowl on two occasions before returning to USC.
“We had some good moments,” he says, amending that later to say, “Just the best 30 seconds. That’s how long the feeling lasts after winning a big game or doing something really special.
“I run into Ronnie Lott or Marcus Allen, you get that look, there’s a connection, and maybe it’s only 30 seconds but it’s like, ‘Yeah, we did it.’
“There aren’t many reunions that last all night; most go about 30 seconds before everyone moves on to talk about something else. But those 30 seconds are special.”
Blessed with the gift of gab, Robinson is now a USC fundraiser in addition to his duties as a weekend NFL broadcaster. He’s also the warm up act for Coach Lane Kiffin’s weekly appearance before the USC Quarterback Club.
“I don’t know him well, but I like what I see in Kiffin,” he says. “He kind of carries himself like (Alabama’s Nick) Saban. He’s really focused, really prepared and the best damn recruiter I have ever seen.
“I love what’s going on at USC. It could have gone so badly, but it started with the hiring of Pat Haden. What a fabulous move. It was like the past was gone and everyone was moving forward. But don’t let the nice guy fool you; he’s ... an incredible competitor.”
So what about it - any sympathy for UCLA as it continues to flounder?
“I’d get Terry Donahue and let him pick the next coach,” he says. “Somebody there needs to have an answer.
“I know Terry has a clearer picture of what the culture needs to be there than anyone. He’s a forward moving guy with a ton of life left in him. Like Haden, UCLA could use Donahue as a springboard, everyone saying, ’Let’s rally’ because of this guy.”
Robinson’s face lights up. “Maybe he returns as head coach and he hires me as running backs coach.
“If UCLA wants to be successful it will have to change the culture there, everyone on campus making the commitment. It can be done because it happened before. It’s having a plan. There’s a clear plan here; Haden has one. So does Kiffin and they are together on that plan.”
As Robinson embraces his new assignment, there is so much he has already experienced as a Los Angeles icon. So I mentioned a few names.
Rams owner Georgia Frontiere: “She was from Mars. We were never really trying to win there; we were trying to make money. But we did pretty good for not really trying.”
Mike Garrett: “We obviously had a falling out, but when I was fired I wasn’t coaching very good. In time, we got back together and when you look at his resume it was pretty damn good.”
Al Davis: “Al liked this running back and I was the backfield coach. I told him he wasn’t very good. Al just screamed at me, and kept screaming. When he traded him, he said, ‘This may be one of the best players the NFL has ever known, but I’m trading him because of you.’ “
Connie Britton: “I really liked her on ‘Friday Night Lights,’ but I loved the guy who played the coach. He did a great job.”
John McKay: “My hero. But I don’t think he or I should have left USC. Maybe Pete (Carroll) will find out the same thing, although I think he will be successful.”
Norv Turner: “Hey, Bill Belichick was reviled in Cleveland. John Madden went seven years without winning the big one, then he does and he’s in the Hall of Fame. Norv can get the job done, but he better hurry.”
The interview over far too soon, I’m telling Robinson he’s an L.A. treasure and he laughs. “Yeah, that’s what they have statues for, but here I am, a statue still walking around.”
And with a pretty good giddy-up to his step.
Sports, Pages 18 on 10/27/2011