BOXTOROW Conversations: Alabama State Head Football Coach Eddie Robinson Jr.

big game on Sunday between North Carolina Central and Alabama state in the orange blossom classic in Miami Gardens Florida in his third season as the head football coach of Alabama state is Eddie Robinson Jr the Hornets last year were seven and four one six of their last seven ball games so this should be a big time football game as coach Robinson Jo us here on box toow what's going on Coach Robinson appreciate you coming on absolutely I appreciate you having me man and and love the work you do and appreciate all the all the attention and and media coverage you give to HBCU football yes sir I appreciate that very much we do hear at box to Road let me start here I gotta tell you you you've got I mean you've got a couple of guys coming in Andrew B course played quarterback for Texas Southern last year Rico doer at the linebacker position played for arkans saw Pine Bluff on last year um just talk about getting these two guys into your program who should make who who more than likely gonna make an immediately in a big impact yeah I mean we can start with Rico doer I mean it's the kid you know year before last when he was at Pine Bluff had about 17 tackles against us in the turkey day classic so we we were very familiar with him but interesting thing about him he's from Abbyville Alabama which is right up the road from us and so um it was good to get get him back in in the state of Alabama great kid works extremely hard never complains and and I'm excited to coach him of course he's replacing um Bubba Adams from last year who was allconference All-American guy and we feel like he can step right in and take the take the Reigns over and be a great player at that position and then Andrew B is just uh just a guy that's a leader on and off the field just a great personality um you know does everything right in the classroom in the community and he's the type of person that that you want to have no doubt let's go back to last year bit of a rough start you you you opened the season with the victory then had three straight losses before finishing the season uh six winning six of your last seven games um your thoughts first of all on last season and how perhaps the momentum from winning six of the last seven can carry over into 2024 yeah I think uh like you said we off to a rough start you know played some pretty good football but just had a couple turnovers just wasn't very efficient uh defense was playing well the whole time and uh you know had a had a tough loss here at home and overtime against alorn tough loss against Miles College you know team that we felt like we were better than but they they beat us on that day so you have to give them credit and uh then had a tough loss on the road against FAMU where we you know we had the ball with three minutes left down by four driving the score and they they made a play and made a pick six um the kid that was a play with a year linebacker so it was just one of those things that you had to regroup and and my defensive coordinator Ryan Lewis you he got up in front the meeting and said hey man I know we were talking of Championship you know we were talking of winning the swag and and all those type things celebration bowl and let's worry about just winning today let's let's just go out there and win Tuesday that's the best Tuesday practice we can and the biggest thing you know uh the kids came out with a great attitude mean they came out with a great attitude after that all corn loss um upbeat the homecoming was the next week against Bon cookman and I think that stretch was basically we kind of simplified everything and started talking about the right now so this year we' just carried it over uh put some signs in the building hey win today and on the way out we have a sign that said hey did we get better today so we make everything focus on a a day-by-day approach and then at the end of the season you know you'll get everything you deserve that the voice of Eddie Robinson Jr in his third season as the head football coach at Alabama State he joins us here on box to row um I mean man you've got you know all Americans all over the place I talked about doer you know you look at uh at Thomas your defensive end James Burgess your cornerback I mean speak to maybe perhaps how special this defense can be in 2024 yeah coach Lewis coach Williams and Coach Middleton our dline coach I mean those guys have really built something special and you I add my touch but it's it's mainly them doing all the heavy lifting and and I just put the icing on top and give the raah r speech and so uh but it's it's been fun watching those guys develop year to year and a lot of the same core guys you know Burgess is back again this his third year in our system Cunningham his guy that's a preseason allc conference guy you know played in the sh he's the guy that that can win play of the year I think Rico could be a play of the Year guys I think Burgess is another guy I think um Trey K Thomas is a guy that can have double digits sack you know janal Brown is a a fifth year guy who's just gotten better each year and I think he's he's U poised to have a great year so it's it's fun coaching those guys and they play extremely hard they care a lot about each other and you've got some good young guys in the mix and they're taking on the standard and the personality of the coordinator and of myself and so I'm I'm anxious to see can we get better than last year and that's that's the goal and then Burgess is a is on the preseason watch list for the Reese's Senior Bowl I mean how exciting is that yeah that's big and so you know last couple years with Keenan Isaac you know he was with the Bucks and then recently got let go but got picked up by the Carolina Panthers and Mikey Victor's another kid that was with the Patriots and we're hoping that he can he can make a name for himself and stay there go with a different team so and so um you know for us is it's just exciting to have those guys um and now Burgess is following in the same footsteps of those guys so they all talk I mean it's and it's it's big when you see other people in the room and then you see him going on to the next level and that's your dream and both of those guys had extreme high levels of work ethic and I think that's what Burgess has now and so he's he's kind of bit the apple and he realizes I'm close I'm right there and and so I think he has the the talent the size and and the and just the confidence that he can be that type of player uh did you feel like this offense uh because you were able to get a guy like a body coming out of you know out of the conference in Texas Southern was is he your do you feel like he's your your quarterback away from getting to that next level from an offensive standpoint yeah I mean we we all know how big the quarterback position is you know from from Little League all the way to the NFL the quarterback is the guy that can make everything go uh but I think uh him and and we got another kid that transferred in Jonah O'Brien both of those guys have been competing and pushing each other extremely hard and so it's just been fun to watch both of those guys go back and forth uh similar skill sets but uh body I think the things that he can do with his legs and just the way he moves and controls everything uh it it truly can be special and I think the biggest thing for us from last year to this year I feel like we have more Playmakers I think it's the same guys but they were all true freshman last year so now you're coming into that second year they're kind of figuring it out and I think now we can have a five or eight yard pass turned into a 40 and 50 yard run so we have to be more explosive on offense you know people say oh man he just want to play special teams and defense but no we we want to score points I mean I want to I want to have a offense that can go up and down the field and make big plays and make the defense uh panic and and stress them out but at the same time have a physical running game and so we're trying to get that right balance but the quarterback position has a lot to do with it Eddie Robinson Jr the head football coach at Alabama State joining us for a couple of more moments here on box to row I I don't know I mean I guess people aren't really sleeping on Marcus Harris the second because he was an all conf a preseason allconference guy um he may not have been your more featured back last year but this kid is 233 pounds he's gonna put a hurting on some defensive players this year yeah I mean he from and he came here like that so I mean I we have a great weight program but after he signed him you know he sent us a picture and he was doing 225 30 times in high school I was like man so it's like a great kid great family uh you know his dad comes and Cooks catfish for us you know after the home games and stuff and uh probably some of the best cat I ever had I'm not exaggerating he's out of Jackson Mississippi I said man you should have a restaurant but but um they're a great family and but this kid here can really have a big year and uh I think you know he he catches the ball well out the back field so we just need to get him more touches also dcoin kiny is the guy that transferred from Clark Atlanta uh him and OD DOA played together in high school so both of those kids are from Abbyville Alabama and they they're back in the state so it's going to be fun man I like the running game that we have uh the guys up front are really moving the ball we've been having a lot of physical practices and so um I think to me football is all about blocking and tackling and if you can run downhill and be physical and stop your opponent from doing the same thing then you have a chance to be really good couple of more thoughts actually let me let me ask you about Central I I I want to get your thoughts couple of years removed um from being HBCU national champs um this is man this is a this is this may be to start the season I don't know if you can get a much better matchup than the Hornets and the Eagles your thoughts on some of the challenges that North Carolina Central Prison yeah I mean they have a a veteran quarterback not not a lot of experience um because he was playing behind all american guy but he's been there three four years so he knows the offense like the coach and so he'll be able to distribute the you they have some Playmakers tall kid 88 who can make plays down the field a really good running back who's a a run and catch option and so uh a lot of respect for the defensive coordinator I remember when he was at North Carolina entt and he was there with our offensive coordinator uh they both coached there together when they were winning championships and he was the dline coach and and just a lot of respect for him I mean he has those guys that going to play extremely hard and uh as a defensive guy I have to respect that and so um have All-American at the not no guard position who will be tough to block so it's a great opponent I think both teams are going to find out what they're good at and uh our our weaknesses will be exposed but I think it'll help both teams to to get better as a year go on somebody's going to have to lose the game of course um but I don't think that this game is going to be uh the defining uh game of either season but uh we want to get off to a great start but I I like having a good opponent uh just because it it kind of sets the tone of where you are like last year we played Southern at home uh good opponent we won 107 and uh you know it really it really let us know what we were about um so but we want to we want to get up to a good start and have a great season and we know this game is a big part of it I I just love the match up and whenever you have the the M playing the swag you you always have that that rivalry with the two conferences of what teams are going to do the better job of beating the other one and of course FAMU got a tough win against norfol so the swack is up one to zero this year so we just want to try to keep it going two last thoughts I you you played you know maybe an old school kind of guy uh you know the nil and the transfer portal are really what they are I noticed that of course Alabama state has an nil partnership which is great because you gotta play kind of on this level you went out and got two guys within the conference that we mentioned body and doer uh your thoughts I mean are you are you a big you know nil or and and transfer portal guy even though though you you kind of have to make it work yeah so i' I've been saying for the last 20 30 years that college football players should get paid for what they do I mean if you're GNA play you know 12 regular season games a a conference Championship game and then a playoff game and another you're almost at 16 at that point you should get paid so whether it's nil whether it's from the schools however you want to mix it up I think it's great that that the college football players are getting getting the the money that they are getting they they truly truly deserv it I'm 100% for it I think for our level um for what we can do um it won't be as much but I think um what we're offering is more of a relationship uh we're going to be that that coach that's going to be with you for the long term and I think that HBCU football experience like I tell people if you went to Jackson State all corn fam youon once you start going to classic games long after you're you're not at your school like right right now if Jackson State's playing Southern if I'm in Bat rules with Jackson I'm going to the game just because I'm a fan of HBCU football if I can go to the Florida classic I'm going to go check it out and it doesn't matter if my HBCU is playing in it or not and I think that's what we offer it's just a lifelong commitment it's kind of like being in a fraternity of sorority so it's it's a it's a it's a difference and so I think that's what we have to offer and and we do you know do it on a small scale with the nil it's not like the bigger schools but but I I love it at the level that we are at and uh I think we can be really good at it and we can compete and get the players here and and put them going to the next level they'll do great great in school great in life and that's what we're trying to do last thought what do you remember most about those days playing a good player playing in the National Football League in that in that uh playing in the Super Bowl uh with the with the uh oil with the Oilers yeah was Oilers at the time and in playing with Steve mcmah yeah I mean starting off with the Oilers and then uh Jacksonville then with the Titans it's it's just been it was a great experience I tell all my guys you know NFL is a great way to make a living and I was fortunate and blessed you know I worked super hard but for me to make it 11 years um you know you got to say that that God was out there blessing you also so I put a lot of work into it and I I got a lot of um a lot a lot of good stuff that came back to me but yeah just just being on those teams and and that that NFL locker room uh winning playoff games and winning playoff games on the road was always a big high of course losing them is is something that you never forget is always a part of you and I know the documentary came out with Steve McNair recently so a lot of guys have been going be like hey man what it like playing with Steve and and I had the privilege to play against him in college you know he was a freshman I was a senior and and then I played with them in the NFL and then also played against him when I was Jacksonville so it kind of saw it from both sides super competitive guy love the swag you know had a swack tattoo on his arm so when you say I'm swack and that's what weed to say you walk through the locky what's up swack how's it going swack and I think that's how we refer to ourselves in the NFL so when when people say hey man what do you mean by I'm swack well first of all I've been saying it for the last 30 years years y'all just heard me say it on TV one time so it's something that that's been going on and so it was it was just a great a great you know way that that all kind of happened but I truly do love HBCU football and I love coaching in this conference and I think I'm really blessed to to have the opportunity to fall in in behind all these other great coaches that got us to this point Eddie Robinson Jr again in his third season as the head football coach at Alabama State joining us here on box too the Hornets are going to face North Carolina Central in the orange blossom Classic on Sunday in Miami Garden Florida Coach Robinson and all as always we appreciate the time good luck to you and the Hornets absolutely and appreciate you covering us as much as you do you do a great job thank you