John Robinson’s legacy at USC is clear and immense

Legendary USC football coach John Robinson died on Monday at age 89 due to complications from pneumonia. Robinson is easily on 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 would one arrive at a specific, detailed answer that adequately explains Robinson’s contribution to the rich history of Trojan football? “Winning big” is a correct answer, but it is general. “Winning the Rose Bowl” is a better answer, but still a relatively simple one. Those are certainly parts of Robinson’s Trojan track record, and they both rate as huge accomplishments to be sure. But when we get to Robinson’s most profound and important legacy at USC in a larger sense, it’s not just the win and the Rose Bowl wins.

It’s not just the 1978 national championship. It’s not just that three of Robinson’s first four teams at USC — 1976 through 1979 — finished in the top two of the post-bowl polls.

It is something more.

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

Stop and think of all the times an iconic, elite, best-of-the-best coach leaves a college or NFL team. How many times is “guy after guy” completely in over his head or at least unable to come close to the standard set by the icon he 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 right 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 leaves the scene. Most of the time, this succession plan goes badly. It may well be that the coach is not good, but even good coaches stumble sometimes, simply because replacing a legend creates impossible expectations and a culture where it is difficult to measure up in the eyes of a fan base.

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

Jones’ replacements in the 1940s and Carroll’s successors in the early 2010s fell flat. Robinson was able to follow McKay and maintain USC as a powerhouse. It sets Robinson apart in college football history and in the larger history of the coaching profession. To be “the guy after the guy” and still be awesome? It’s a great legacy John Robinson is leaving at USC. It is a legacy that will never disappear. If anything, this is easier to appreciate given how difficult it has been 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.

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