Robinson Back at Start-Finish Line : College football: USC coach begins again at Anaheim, where his end came as Ram coach.

Fifteen months after leaving Anaheim Stadium as departing coach of the Rams, John Robinson reappeared in Orange County on Thursday, emerging from the dark mouth of Sleeping Beauty’s castle into the bright sunshine at Disneyland, reborn as the coach of the USC Trojans.

Robinson made his grand entrance as part of a press conference to introduce the participants in the Disneyland Pigskin Classic IV--North Carolina and USC.

Although the game won’t be played for nearly six months--Sunday, Aug. 29, to be exact--the Disney people had enough performers on hand to stage the halftime show.

There were a marching band, cheerleaders and, weaving through the confetti, the usual cast of Disney characters--everybody from Mickey to Minnie to Goofy.

But all the goofiness aside, this year’s game, a kickoff to college football ‘93, will provide an interesting peek into Tomorrowland for the Trojans.

Robinson is doing some remodeling of the system of his predecessor, Larry Smith, and the Disneyland Classic will offer a first look at the new look.

USC will run a basic 4-3 defense and the I-formation.

“We are going to be going backwards and forwards,” said Robinson, who is faced with the task of rebuilding the Trojans’ winning tradition. “We will be going back to the principles of (Coach) John McKay, who was the prime mover of the modern era at USC.

“The trend in football has been away from the I-formation to one back, to four wide receivers, but the I is coming back,” Robinson said.

So is Robinson, who coached the Trojans from 1976 to 1982 before leaving for nine years with the Rams and one year as a TV analyst.

USC was 6-5-1 last year. North Carolina, under Coach Mack Brown, was 9-3.

Whereas there is instant recognition for Robinson in his return to his old job, Brown, although heading into his sixth year at Chapel Hill, has had to fight for the spotlight. It’s not easy operating on a campus dominated in the public mind by Dean Smith and the basketball program.

Brown still remembers the time he pulled into a North Carolina service station.

The attendant admired his championship ring, earned as an assistant under Barry Switzer at Oklahoma.

“We’ll never get one of those here,” said the attendant, not knowing who he was talking to, “as long as we have Mack Brown.”

Maybe Brown’s problem is that he has things backward. Aren’t you supposed to win the championship first, then go to Disneyland?