Time Heals Robinson’s Body, Soul

John Robinson, deposed Ram coach, recently spent a month in Europe, touring Paris, Venice, Florence and northern Italy.

Chuck Knox, his replacement, flies to Buffalo today.

You tell me: Whose life is moving in the better direction?

If Robinson’s days aren’t completely without worry now, they at least are without the fumbles of Cleveland Gary, the interceptions of Jim Everett and all the connect-the-dot missed tackles that, like bread crumbs, directed him out of town.

That, as much as those long afternoons sipping Italian aperitifs, explains the look of peace and contentment on Robinson’s face, eight months removed from catastrophe.

“It’s been a great year for me,� Robinson said Thursday afternoon. “After what we went through last year, my wife and I felt it was time to take a break . . .

“Obviously, our team was a disaster last year. It wasn’t a lot of fun. Once I was separated from it, I clearly found that physically and mentally I needed the time off. If I’d taken another job somewhere else right away, I wouldn’t have done a good job with it.

“It was time for me--what’s the cliche?--to recharge my batteries or whatever. I enjoy life now.�

Last December, Robinson had the look and demeanor of a coach as sick as his 3-13 team. Bloated and haggard, with his face flushed a dangerous crimson, Robinson appeared to be a heart attack waiting to happen. He had to be treated for his rocketing blood pressure, although he now tries to laugh it off as a product of “the normal course of aging.�

As Georgia Frontiere prepared to punch the ejector button, Robinson fought to keep his seat. No coach wants an exit line of 10 consecutive losses--and, besides, he needed the money.

But, upon reflection in the rear view mirror, Robinson now sees his firing as inevitable, necessary and, yes, even healthy.

“I think the Rams needed change,� he says. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. I think everybody pretty much acknowledged that.�

Robinson included?

“Perhaps. Yeah. It’s hard to answer--I don’t think I stood around and said, ‘Boy, I wish I was out of here.’ I don’t think you’re aware of that.

“The era, or the time I had with the Rams--I came in and had an impact and went to playoffs and we won and all those things. And then, you know, I think it was time to change.�

It’s Knox’s headache now. The pounding begins Sunday, with the Rams’ duck-and-cover defense tackling, in a figurative sense, the defending AFC champions.

Knox has no glass jaw. He can take a punch. Because of that quality--and the task ahead--he has an admirer in Robinson.

If Mike Ditka is the right man for the Chicago Bears, Knox, in the estimation of his predecessor, is the right man for the Grit And Bear Its.

“I think it was good selection, obviously,� Robinson says of the Rams’ rehiring of Knox. “He’s a long-time, proven coach, a good guy. He has an affinity for this area. It’s a great choice, and he will start (to implement) change.

“Whenever you make change, there’s usually an immediate impact and he has proven, as everybody said, that he can, in fact, have an effect.�

The first has been the unification of all the Rams’ warring factions that became a pre-condition of Knox’s hiring. Finally, the buck stops somewhere at Rams Park. You can always find it inside the desk of the head coach.

“A great idea,� is how Robinson describes it. “Again, that’s what change brings you. That enhances the Rams’ opportunity to be successful . . .

“We had a different structure. Each section was autonomous from the other. Football autonomous from scouting, scouting was autonomous from management. We were all, like, different sections. That’s just how it was and how those decisions got made.

“And we won. We were successful for a while.

“And then we weren’t.�

Robinson concedes he made mistakes. One of the most crucial was failing to see the fool’s gold that was the 1989 season--the improbable run to the Super Bowl’s door on adrenaline and a hot quarterback.

“I think we confused ourselves in that period,� Robinson says. “That team overachieved and got to the NFC championship game. You go back and look through those weeks and you’ll see that we were struggling with injuries (but) just played extremely well. I think there’s no question that rebuilding the team was a big issue in that period.

“The fact that we got to the NFC championship game might have confused us. I think we felt, well, we can continue to play at this level instead of making the decision, ‘Hey, this team needs to be rebuilt and that ought to be our first priority.’ �

Another mistake was thinking that route--Everett over the top, again and again--was the correct course for the 1990s.

“One of the things that I regret,� he says, “is that we became too much of passing team. We began to ask (Everett) and the passing game to do too much. I think that’s generally fatal. You can’t hold up trying to ride that horse.

“If we would’ve had better defense or committed more of our energy toward defense in terms of the draft or such, we probably would’ve been better served.�

Those words are worth noting as Knox attempts to take on his 1992 schedule with a one-back offense and Everett firing it up 35, 40 times a game.

The one-back? Could be a passing fad--�It’s in vogue right now,� Robinson says with a shrug and a bit of advice: “If I were to go back into coaching, I would not make the mistake of building an offense around, or ask too much of, the quarterback.�

Robinson is starting to sound like a color analyst, which is good, because he’ll be in the booth this weekend for Prime Ticket for USC-San Diego State, with an eight-game contract for CBS kicking in Oct. 4.

And if he were to go back into coaching?

Robinson, as they say, is keeping his options open.

“When this season’s over, I might think about it,� he says. “I’m trying to go one year without setting my mind on anything. I want to see how this television thing works and what the real world is like before deciding if I want to go back.�

The unreal world now belongs to Knox. Knowing what he does, Robinson sends his best wishes.