Robinson was born in Jackson in East Feliciana Parish in South Louisiana, to the son of a sharecropper and a domestic worker.

He graduated in 1937 from McKinley Senior High School in the capital city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and briefly attended Southern University there.

Robinson began his coaching career at Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute (now Grambling State University).

In his first year the team went 3–5–1, but the following season—during which he recruited new players and dismissed those who did not live up to his expectations—the Tigers had a perfect 9–0 season, going unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon.

Robinson coached three AFL players who would later be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: the Kansas City Chiefs' Buck Buchanan; the Oakland Raiders' Willie Brown; and the San Diego Chargers' Charlie Joiner.

Robinson also coached James Harris, who with the AFL's Buffalo Bills became the first black quarterback in modern Pro Football history to start at that position in a season opener.

Some observers feared that the coach would become the target of white hatred, much as Henry Aaron had when he broke Babe Ruth's home run record.

Instead Robinson reported that he did not receive a single hate letter, even from the legion of southern fans who worshipped Bear Bryant.

When asked if his record was somehow tarnished by the fact that his team played most of its games against Division I-AA caliber competition, Robinson told Sports Illustrated: "I grew up in the South.

In 1979 the Black College All Star Bowl committee named its award for outstanding NFL rookies from HBCUs the "Eddie G. Robinson Trophy;" its inaugural winner was Doug Williams.

[12] The Los Angeles Football Classic Foundation's HBCU championship award was called the "Eddie G. Robinson Trophy" in 1988.

[19] The museum chronicles and celebrates the major accomplishments of the G-Men football program and former head coach Eddie Robinson.