Source: Courtesy of Robinson Family
Edward Robinson, the beloved track and field coach for powerhouse high schools such as Ross S. Sterling and Phyllis Wheatley passed away on April 30. He was 71.
He had just celebrated his 71st birthday the day before his passing.
Robinson, a Houston native, graduated from Wheatley in 1968 and went on to earn a Bachelors’s degree from Lamar University in 1972 and a Master’s degree from Texas Southern University in 1978. A two-sport athlete in football and track and field, he was a junior college All-American in the Pole Vault and after graduating from Lamar, was drafted in the 1973 NFL Draft by the then St. Louis Cardinals.
His calling and passion was for coaching. Among the notable athletes Robinson coached during his 30-plus year tenure at HISD include Clyde Drexler, Meledy Smith-Price, Easter Gabriel as well John Washington and Johnny Thomas, the latter two winning the Super Bowl during their time with the New York Giants and Washington Football Team respectively.
At Sterling, Robinson had several athletes participate in the Olympic Trials, earned a national championship, seven district and six regional titles, three state runner-ups and four 5A state titles. As the school’s defensive coordinator, he led HISD’s No. 1 defensive unit in 1976 before later switching to coach wide receivers and winning the 1986 district title. When he returned to his alma mater of Wheatley, he won the school’s first district title in 38 years following the 1992 season.
Among Robinson’s more notable works off the field was the unveiling of the Martin Luther King statue located in McGregor Park in 2014 and his active participation as a member of the Fifth Ward Church of Christ.
He is survived by his wife Sandra, daughters Joy Mouton and Brenia Willer, sons Jiovonnie and Gjared Robinson, grandsons Christion, Phillip Braylon, three sisters, Brendalynn, Sharon, and Jacquelyn; two brothers, Roosevelt and Donald.
Edward G. Robinson, Beloved Sterling & Wheatley HS Coach, Passes Away At 71 was originally published on myhoustonmajic.com
