Former USC coach Robinson certain ’78 squad could contend for trophy
John Robinson, who coached Southern California’s football team to a share of the national championship in 1978, said that team was good enough to compete today for one of college football’s most famous trophies.
That would be the Amway Coaches Poll Trophy — topped with its distinctive Waterford Crystal football — that is awarded in conjunction with American Football Coaches Association every year to the winner of the College Football Playoff.
Robinson will be making an appearance with the trophy Saturday before USC’s game against Western Michigan at Memorial Coliseum. And he’ll gladly tell you about his 1978 team that predated the birth of the trophy by eight years.
Of the 10 best college football teams all time, he said, USC’s ’78 squad “was one of them.” The roster included two eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers: running back Marcus Allen and defensive back Ronnie Lott.
“We had good players in a lot of positions,” Robinson said, noting quarterback Paul McDonald led most of the national categories for efficiency. “I think we’d have done very well because we had a great offensive line. It might have been one of the best lines ever.”
Yet the Trojans won only a share of the national championship. They finished the season ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll, which at the time was administered by United Press Interna- tional. USA TODAY Sports took over the poll in 1991.
Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll — despite the fact USC beat Alabama 24-14 in Birmingham, Ala.
USC finished with a 12-1 record, tainted by a 20-7 loss to Arizona State. Alabama was 11-1.
“Everybody out here was angry,” Robinson told USA TODAY Sports of the split vote. “We just beat the hell out of (Alabama) down there.
“I was happy, though. I didn’t give a goddamn. You said I was national champion, that was OK.”
Robinson said he likes today’s system, with the national cham- pionship and ownership of the Amway Coaches Poll Trophy — valued at $30,000 — out of the hands of pollsters and determined by the four-team College Football Playoff.
“I think it’s really a good thing, and I think it’s well done,” Robinson said. “It has the same kind of impact at least from what I gather what the Super Bowl does. It probably isn’t as big financially, but America is tuned in on that day, and that’s great.”
Now, about that trophy. Would he accept a replica on behalf of the ’78 team?
“That works,” he said.