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*Update 10/16/22 – On Saturday afternoon, Grambling’s “G” was found and placed back onto the football helmets prior to the game with Florida A&M. The G-men played hard but fell 20-16. The team is now 1-6 this season.
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The letter G has gone into hiding somewhere at Grambling State University.
A few weeks ago, the school’s new head football coach, Hue Jackson, said that the iconic “G” on the side of the north Louisiana Tigers’ helmets was taken off. He told the football team that they must improve enough to earn the right to wear that “G” on their helmets again.
Coach Jackson said that the “G” stands for “Greatness” and honors Grambling’s football legacy.
With the team struggling on the football field again in 2022, the letter “W” (as in “Wins”) has proved just as elusive.
Grambling’s football team is just 1-5 with its lone win coming over Northwestern State University in September.
Grambling State University’s legendary football program is popular all around the country. This year’s football schedule featured games in Shreveport, Dallas, Houston, and ends in late November in New Orleans against arch-rival Southern University.
This Saturday, Grambling will (at long last) play its first true home game at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium against Florida A&M. The FAMU Rattlers slither into Grambling with an impressive 4-2 record.
The big question around north Louisiana remains, “Will the elusive “G” show up on the Grambling football helmets prior to Saturday afternoon’s 1PM kickoff?”
Gee – this has become a real cliffhanger!
Grambling has built one of America’s greatest college football programs. That also means that the proud Grambling alumni base has become accustomed to winning a lot of football games.
Longtime head coach Eddie G. Robinson was instrumental in creating Grambling’s iconic legacy and reputation for winning a lot college football games.
Originally from Baton Rouge, a 22-year old Eddie Robinson headed into north Louisiana seeking the job of head football coach. Grambling’s long-time baseball coach, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, hired Eddie Robinson and handed the school’s football program to this eager young man.
Coach Rob literally built the school’s football team from the ground up. With no assistant coaches on board, he taped players’ ankles before games, mowed the football field himself, and even wrote post-game articles for the regional newspapers as his first team went 3-5-1 in 1941.
Coach Robinson was considered a disciplinarian and enforced strict team rules. The football team apparently responded well to his instructions as they went a perfect 9-0 during his second season in 1942.
After a two-year break for World War II, Coach Eddie Robinson’s Grambling State University football program soared. Grambling won the SWAC title 17 times and was crowned America’s top HBCU football team on nine different occasions.
Coach Robinson recruited talented football players to the school while the NFL’s talent scouts showed-up in droves.
More than 200 of Coach Rob’s Grambling players made it into the NFL. Four players (Willie Brown, Buck Buchanon, Willie Davis, and Charlie Joiner) are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame in Canton, Ohio.
For decades, Coach Rob’s larger-than-life personality kept Grambling on top of the small college football world.
Grambling’s football team and renowned marching band traveled around the country and even played in the first college football game in Japan in 1977 against Morgan State.
Coach Eddie Robinson’s Grambling teams won nearly 70% of their football games over his 55 years at the school. The beloved Coach Rob had just eight years in which his team posted a losing record.
Eddie Robinson’s career coaching record of 408-165-15 ranks him #3 on the all-time list.
He has more wins than #4 Bobby Bowden (377), #8 Bear Bryant (323) and #18 Nick Saban (269).
In 1997, Eddie Robinson stepped aside as Grambling’s head football coach after a couple of losing seasons at the age of 78. Coach Rob would pass away in 2007 due to Alzheimer’s disease.
In the 25 seasons since the retirement of Eddie Robinson, Grambling’s football program has cycled through several new head coaches.
Doug Williams (on two different occasions), Melvin Spears (three seasons), Rod Broadway (four), Broderick Fobbs (eight) produced a few great years, but the Grambling football program has struggled at times.
The latest Grambling football leader is former NFL head coach Hue Jackson. Now in his first season with the Grambling Tigers, the team has gone a paltry 1-5 in its first six games of 2022.
After a rather difficult early season road loss at Jackson State to Deion Sanders’ team, Coach Hue Jackson decided it was time for this team to earn that big Grambling letter “G” on their helmets. In the late 1980’s, Coach Eddie Robinson apparently did the same thing to get his players to work harder in practice.
The 2022 version of the removal of the iconic “G” from the Grambling helmets has not worked.
Grambling has now lost three consecutive games since Coach Hue Jackson removed the “G”. The north Louisiana Tigers came close to victory last weekend but dropped a 37-31 double overtime decision at Alabama A&M.
For the past year, there has been a lingering cloud hanging over the Grambling football program.
After last year’s coach (Broderick Fobbs) was fired after a disappointing 4-7 season, the 2021 Grambling football team sent a letter of complaint dated December 7, 2021 to the University of Louisiana system president. The letter specifically expressed concerns about Grambling’s current president, Rick Gallot.
The football team’s formal complaint mentioned player mistreatment, lack of institutional control, possible misappropriation of funds, and the lack of financial support for Grambling athletics.
One of the complaints included Grambling’s fundraising program called “Bring it Home”. The football team believed the money was intended to help strengthen the football program. The complaint letter alleged that the University’s president may have diverted funds to other uses.
In addition, the football team expressed significant concerns about safety. Since 2017, four people have been killed and another 15 wounded on the Grambling campus. The team alleged that the University president promised action but has failed to deliver a strategic plan.
The Grambling athletics weight room has issues includes broken weights and outdated equipment. The football stadium itself (named for Eddie Robinson) had become outdated and dilapidated. The team mentioned that the high turnover in the Athletics Director’s office had also contributed to the football team’s recent decline.
The letter concluded by pointing a finger directly at the Grambling State University president, Rick Gallot.
For his part, Gallot is an attorney who later became a member of the Louisiana state House of Representatives and the state Senate. He is a Grambling alumnus (B.A in History) and earned a law degree from the school’s arch-rival, Southern University.
The Grambling football team’s letter to the University of Louisiana system president voiced support for the previous football coach, Broderick Fobbs. Coach Fobbs was generally successful in his eight years at Grambling. His teams posted winning records every year from 2014-2019. In 2020, Grambling went 0-4 (a COVID-shortened season) and lost seven games in 2021.
The now-departed Coach Fobbs is currently coaching high school football just a few miles down I-20 at Ruston High School.
Meanwhile, the new Grambling football coach, Hue Jackson, took the “G” off the helmets of the Tigers’ football team after Week #3.
With the football team now at 1-5 in 2022 and heading into the team’s first true home game of the season this Saturday, the tension continues to grow surrounding the Grambling football program and its fragile relationship with the school’s administration.
Supporters of the Grambling men’s sports programs refer to them as the “G-Men”.
I think this college football team has displayed a number of “G” traits.
G – as in Gumption for standing up for themselves at the end of last season to ask for Louisiana’s highest education authority to conduct a review of certain matters at the school.
G – as in Grit for enduring the firing of a beloved football coach from last season (Broderick Fobbs) but showing a willingness to adapt under new coach Hue Jackson. Coach Jackson’s last stint as a head coach was for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. His teams went 3-36-1. (By the way, the NFL Browns’ helmet never had a logo on it, so he couldn’t take it off!)
G – as in Grace. It’s time for Coach Jackson to show some grace! The football team has received your message – loud and clear. Everyone in the Grambling family could use a little bit of that fatherly, calming influence that Coach Eddie Robinson was known for. It’s time to bring some healing to this football program.
This stunt has been noticed by the national media, and the publicity hasn’t been of the positive variety for Grambling. Potential high school recruits have noticed. This negative story could affect recruiting in several other sports at Grambling, too.
With the recent advent of the NCAA transfer portal system, an increasing amount of college athletes are opting to transfer to other schools. Some want more playing time, while others may desire a change of scenery.
With or without the iconic “G” on the football team’s helmets this Saturday, the Men of Grambling will continue to fight to win for their school, their coach, and loyal fans.
I am hopeful that Grambling will end this unproductive Gimmick on Saturday afternoon.