Father Knows Best

Mark Robinson grew up in Los Angeles with the dream of being a football coach, making a deal with his wife that when he returned from World War II he would pursue his passion.

Shot down over Germany, however, he was listed as missing in action for three months, lost in a prison camp in Nuremberg. Released by the advancing U.S. Army, he returned home to an anxious wife, who had named their first child Mark Junior, because she believed she had seen the last of her husband.

“She was pregnant again in about a week after I got home,” Robinson says, “and she wanted to know what I was going to do to support the family. I had a license to fly, but she said I would never fly an airplane again as long as I was married to her, so I said I would fall back on our earlier agreement and go into coaching.

“She said, forget it, they don’t make any money. I suggested being a sportswriter, but she said they don’t make money either. (Editor’s note: She’s correct.) She agreed I could go be a sports broadcaster going to school at night so long as I went to law school during the day. When I was done, she said, I could pick between the two.

“Well, I knew broadcasting school was only about a year and law school four, so I knew I’d have it made after one year. I got this sports job at KHGA, but then she tells me we had this deal: I had to finish both schools before making a decision. So I said to hell with it, and became an attorney.”

Robinson and his wife went on to have eight kids, and around the dinner table each Sunday after playing a mandatory game of 20 questions, the talk turned to football and how, “I could have been the next Knute Rockne, the next head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, if only your mother had let me.”

Although a father knows best, two of his sons obviously paid no attention because they are now working with the Orange County law firm of Robinson, Calcagnie and Robinson. No idea who Calcagnie is.

Forced to sing the Notre Dame fight song almost before learning how to speak, the old man sounded as if he was steering his kids toward a career in sports. As a group, the youngsters learned to tune out their father’s football prattle, or so he thought.

“My son Greg was going to graduate from the University of Pacific and get married,” says the elder Robinson. “On the way up to the school I was asking my wife how he planned to support his new wife. She told me to keep my big mouth shut, but when we got to school I cornered Greg and told him, ‘Your mother and I would like to know how you are going to support your bride.’ ”

Greg stalled, arranging a dinner later that night for his family, his future wife, Laura, and her family. “Laura tells us she’s going to be a teacher and Greg is going to pursue his master’s degree in political science,” the elder Robinson says. “I say, ‘That sounds to me like you’re going to support him,’ and then she holds her hands outstretched to me and says, ‘We have decided together we’re going to live your life for you--your son is going to be a coach.’ ”

He won’t admit it, but the old man probably went home that night and began drawing up plays, just in case they were needed.

“I was going to law school,” Greg says, “but after all those talks, I got the subliminal message from my dad.”

Greg Robinson, 48, without question a chip off the old block, has been coaching for 25 years, and is now the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, packing a resume that should make him one of the leading candidates to become a head coach in the NFL soon.

“Just between you and me, because I wouldn’t want him to feel bad, I would have been an offensive coach,” dad says by telephone from his Los Angeles home. “You know, he’s a very good coach. But I just hate it when he runs that blasted prevent defense. Can’t stand that.”

Greg Robinson, why sure, that name sounds familiar.

“UCLA called him to L.A. along with his wife to make the announcement he was going to be the football coach,” his dad, a 30-year season ticket holder to USC and UCLA games, recalls three years later. “But for the first time in history the chancellor stepped in and said, I want Bob Toledo. Greg and his wife were there for the announcement, and then this happens. I’m not sure many people know this, but the chancellor was head of the University of California at Riverside when Toledo was a young coach there and they had to give up football and it’s been on this guy’s mind all these years to take care of him.”

Greg Robinson had eight years of previous experience at UCLA, and was just beginning his tour of duty in Denver when UCLA beckoned.

“I was really under the impression I was pretty darn close to getting the job,” he said. “They talked to me about Bob Toledo being the offensive coordinator, but I said I would probably bring in Walt Harris, because I didn’t know Bob and I knew Walt really well.”

Harris has received plaudits this year for turning around the University of Pittsburgh program.

“Maybe if I had said I would hire Bob as my offensive coordinator it would have been different. I would have loved that job, but you know what, I’m so much a better coach now. I have weathered some problems, grown up and have so much more experience. Who knows, maybe someone will hire Bob Toledo to coach some whatever university, and there will another chance. . . .”

Greg Robinson, why sure, doesn’t he look familiar?

He certainly does if you were driving around Wilshire and Norton or Wilshire and Western a little more than 30 years ago. He was the kid standing there every day after school pestering the passing cars to stop and buy the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

“I made three cents a paper,” he recalls. “On a good day I could sell 66 to 68 and with a few tips make $2.70.”

Greg Robinson, why sure, he would have been the ideal choice to be head coach of Los Angeles’ NFL expansion team if only it hadn’t gone to Houston.

“It would have been the cat’s pajamas, as they say, for Greg to come home like that,” says Laura, his wife. “It would have been especially nice at a time like this with such hard times going on for the family.”

The Robinson clan, while bedeviled by misfortune, has found a peaceful respite in the exploits of their own.

“We all live vicariously through Greg,” says Jeff, 3 1/2 years younger than Greg and one of those Robinson attorneys. “Three of our sisters have passed away--one from cancer, one from an embolism and one from heart failure. It’s been very tough, no rhyme or reason, and I think it contributed to my mom’s situation--she has Alzheimer’s. Now the old man has cancer. . . . Maybe the reason we all revel so much in Greg’s success is it is an escape for all of us.

“He lives for this stuff. I’ve had my dad call me at 10:30 on a Sunday night and want to break down the game. It’s great that he is involved in it as much as he is. What with some of the tough times that he’s had, I’m convinced it’s helped to keep him going.”

It has been only a few days since Robinson’s defense forced a fumble, which was returned in overtime to beat Seattle, and his dad has almost memorized all the good words Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren had for his boy in the newspapers.

“You should call Holmgren,” he says.

It has been a good journey for Greg Robinson, taking over a Bronco defense five years ago ranked last in the NFL, and moving it as high as No. 4. The last two years his defense dominated postseason play, culminating in consecutive Super Bowl victories.

Unfortunately, it’s an NFL oddity, but coaches who go all the way to the Super Bowl have a tough time becoming head coaches, because league owners are unwilling to wait until the end of January to begin rebuilding their teams. So despite winning two Super Bowls, Robinson never even had the opportunity to interview for a top job.

This year injuries depleted Denver, Robinson’s defense ranks seventh in the league and has kept the battered Broncos in position to win most of their games. But who wants to hire a coach off a 5-9 team? You can’t win when you win, and you certainly lose when you lose.

“My time will come,” he says.

In the meantime, the telephone rings and it’s the old man with a suggestion for a blitz or a way to shut down the running game.

“It’s kind of funny,” says the elder Robinson, “because we get into these discussions about football and when he disagrees with me, his wife will remind him, ‘Your dad is the head coach in this family.’ ”

And one day soon, proud as he can be, he’s going to have a son working as a head coach in the NFL. With dad’s help, of course.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NFL PLAYOF PICTURE

AFC

WHO’S IN:

x-Indianapolis: 12-2

y-Jacksonville: 13-1

Tennessee: 11-3

CONTENDING

FOR THREE

SPOTS:

y-Kansas City: 9-5

Buffalo: 9-5

Miami: 9-5

Seattle: 8-6

Baltimore: 7-7

Oakland: 7-7

NFC

WHO’S IN:

x-St. Louis: 12-2

CONTENDING

FOR FIVE

SPOTS:

y-Tampa Bay: 9-5

y-Washington: 8-6

Detroit: 8-6

Minnesota: 8-6

N.Y. Giants: 7-7

TODAY

Dallas: 7-7

Carolina: 7-7

Green Bay: 7-7

x-clinched division

y-leads division

DALLAS at

NEW ORLEANS

Noon, Ch. 11

Cowboys one game behind first-place Washington in NFC East and in tiebreaker trouble in wild-card standings.

SATURDAY

DENVER at DETROIT

1:15 p.m., Ch. 2

Lions lead wild-card brigade and trail first-place Buccaneers by a game in NFC Central.

SUNDAY

Most significant games of the day:

BUFFALO at

NEW ENGLAND

JACKSONVILLE at

TENNESSEE

MINNESOTA at

N.Y. GIANTS

KANSAS CITY at

SEATTLE

GREEN BAY at

TAMPA BAY

NFL Playoff Possibilities

What teams need in order to clinch a playoff berth entering Week 16:

* AFC EAST: Indianapolis--Has clinched AFC East division title and a first-round bye; Miami--Can clinch AFC playoff berth with a win AND a Seattle loss or tie; Buffalo--Can clinch AFC playoff berth with a win AND EITHER a Miami loss or Seattle loss or tie.

* AFC CENTRAL: Jacksonville--Has clinched playoff berth. Can clinch AFC Central division title and a first-round bye with a win or tie. Can clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win and an Indianapolis loss or tie; Tennessee--Has clinched a playoff berth.

Note: Eventual AFC Central champion has clinched a first-round bye.

* AFC WEST: Kansas City--Can clinch AFC West division title with a win.

* NFC EAST: Washington--Can clinch NFC East title with a win AND a Dallas loss or tie. Can clinch NFC playoff berth with EITHER a win OR a Green Bay loss; a Carolina loss; and either a N.Y. Giant loss or a Dallas loss.

* NFC CENTRAL: Tampa Bay--Can clinch NFC Central division title with a win AND a Detroit loss or tie and a Minnesota loss or tie. Can clinch a first-round bye with a win AND a Detroit loss or tie; a Minnesota loss or tie; and a Washington loss or tie. Can clinch an NFC playoff berth with a win OR a Carolina loss or tie and either a Minnesota loss and Detroit loss or a N.Y. Giant loss or tie and a Dallas loss or tie; Detroit--Can clinch NFC playoff berth with EITHER a win AND EITHER a Green Bay loss or tie OR a Carolina loss or tie; a N.Y. Giant loss or tie; and a Dallas loss or tie OR a Green Bay loss; an Arizona loss or tie; a Carolina loss and either a N.Y. Giant loss or Dallas loss; Minnesota--Can clinch an NFC playoff berth with a win AND EITHER a Green Bay loss or tie OR a Carolina loss or tie and a Dallas loss or tie.

* NFC WEST: St. Louis--Has clinched NFC West title, a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Note: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, New England, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego and San Francisco have been eliminated from playoff contention.