The Eddie Robinson Award is an annual honor in college football, presented to the top head coach in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The award was established by The Sports Network in 1987 and managed by Stats Perform as of December 2024. It is determined through casting votes by information directors and selected sports writers within the division. The award is named after Eddie Gay Robinson Sr., a legendary College Football Hall of Fame (1997) coach. Robinson coached football from 1941 to 1997 and basketball from 1943 to 1956 for the Grambling State Tigers.
List of Eddie Robinson Award winners year by year
The Eddie Robinson Award was first awarded in 1987 and the winner was Mark Duffner from Holy Cross. Brent Vigen from Montana State is the latest recipient of the award, as of December 2024. The award ceremony takes place the night before the NCAA Division I Football Championship, alongside the Walter Payton and the Buck Buchanan Awards.
| Year | Winner | School |
| 1987 | Mark Duffner | Holy Cross |
| 1988 | Bill Russo | Lafayette |
| 1989 | Erk Russell | Georgia Southern |
| 1990 | Gene McDowell | UCF |
| 1991 | Chris Ault | Nevada |
| 1992 | Charlie Taaffe | The Citadel |
| 1993 | Dan Allen | Boston University |
| 1994 | Jim Tressel | Youngstown State |
| 1995 | Houston Nutt | Murray State |
| 1996 | Darren Barbier | Nicholls State |
| 1997 | Andy Talley | Villanova |
| 1998 | Paul Johnson | Georgia Southern |
| 1999 | Mickey Matthews | James Madison |
| 2000 | Joe Glenn | Montana |
| 2001 | Pete Lembo | Lehigh |
| 2002 | Tommy Tate | McNeese State |
| 2003 | Mike Ayers | Wofford |
| 2004 | Jerry Kill | Southern Illinois |
| 2005 | Sean McDonnell | New Hampshire |
| 2006 | Jerry Moore | Appalachian State |
| 2007 | Mark Farley | Northern Iowa |
| 2008 | Mickey Matthews | James Madison |
| 2009 | Henry Frazier III | Prairie View A&M |
| 2010 | Tony Samuel | Southeast Missouri State |
| 2011 | Rob Ambrose | Towson |
| 2011 | Rob Ambrose | Towson |
| 2013 | Craig Bohl | North Dakota State |
| 2014 | Sean McDonnell | New Hampshire |
| 2015 | Joe Moglia | Coastal Carolina |
| 2016 | K. C. Keeler | Sam Houston State |
| 2017 | Will Healy | Austin Peay |
| 2018 | Dan Hawkins | UC Davis |
| 2019 | Troy Taylor | Sacramento State |
| 2020 | Scott Wachenheim | VMI |
| 2021 | Deion Sanders | Jackson State |
| 2022 | John Stiegelmeier | South Dakota State |
| 2023 | Jimmy Rogers | South Dakota State |
| 2024 | Brent Vigen | Montana State |
FAQs on Eddie Robinson Award Winners
A. Eddie Robinson won 17 championships.
A. The Eddie Robinson Award is an annual honor in college football given to the top head coach, as per Sportswriters.net.
A. Eddie Robinson sent more than 200 players to the NFL, as per Entertainment.howstuffworks.com.
A. Eddie Robinson retired in 1997.
A. Eddie Robinson had 408 wins at Grambling, based on the College Football Hall of Fame's Instagram account.
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