By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

As a part of Grant Teaff's final recruiting class in 1992, Adrian Robinson was a two-way all-state pick out of Edna, Texas, who was brought in to be Baylor's quarterback for the future.

But when Chuck Reedy replaced Teaff as the head coach the next year, Robinson reluctantly made the switch to safety, always thinking that he would come back to the position he loved.

"I played safety as a very frustrated quarterback," Robinson said. "With (Baylor's) all-decade team, Coach Teaff said one of the biggest mistakes of the `90s was not leaving me at quarterback. And I concur completely."

Ultimately, though, it was that move to defense that helped Robinson earn consensus All-Southwest Conference honors twice, All-America honors as a senior in 1995 and eventually a spot in the 2014 class for the Baylor Hall of Fame.

"There have been very things that I've worked harder for in my life than to be in the Baylor Hall of Fame," said the 40-year-old Robinson. "I may not have always done the right thing, but my heart was always committed to Baylor and committed to Christianity. And I worked my butt off to prove that I was going to be one of the best people to ever put on the Baylor green and gold. Anybody that knew me, who saw me practice, knew that was my mission. And I enjoyed every second of my Baylor experience."

Named the Class 3A Player of the Year in 1991, Robinson earned all-state honors at both quarterback and safety at Edna High School. He threw for 1,049 yards and rushed for 1,771 in leading his team to the state semifinals, but also had a phenomenal 14 interceptions.

As a true freshman at Baylor, Robinson was a likely redshirt, but he was mistakenly "thrown in there" during a 49-7 blowout of SMU.

"Coach Teaff thought I was Tony Moore, who was J.J. Joe's backup, and he said, `Tony, get in the game,''' Robinson said. "And I was like, `My name's not Tony, but I want to be in the game so bad, I'll be Tony.' I remember Robert Strait and David Leaks looking at me, thinking, `What are you doing in here?' But two plays later, before they could get me out of the game, I was in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. And then I ran another one in later on."

The next week, Robinson threw what turned out to be his only pass of his career, connecting with Marvin Callies for a 46-yard TD in a 41-20 win at TCU. "I jokingly say I still hold the NCAA record for QBR," Robinson said of his 816.4 rating, based on attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns and interceptions. In a rather inauspicious debut in the secondary, Robinson remembers giving up all four first-half touchdown passes as the Bears fell behind Trent Dilfer and 25th-ranked Fresno State, 33-14, in the 1993 season opener.

"I remember Chris Lewis and a lot of the junior and senior leadership looking at me like, `Look, if you don't get this right . . .''' he said. "We came back and won, 42-39. . . . That was my most humbling college experience. I was not nearly as good as I thought I was. I never saw anything like that in the rest of my college career, so I guess it served its purpose."

Robinson recovered from that first-game humiliation to intercept four passes and rank among the conference leaders. But he still didn't see himself as a defensive back. "I was back home in Edna training, and I read something in Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine about preseason all-conference safety Adrian Robinson returning to the defense. And I was like, `I am not a defensive back, I'm a quarterback,''' he said.

Trooper Taylor, one of the Baylor assistant coaches, "had to come to my dorm room at the Quad and convince me not to transfer."

That junior year, though, turned out to be a turning point for Robinson and the Bears. He intercepted three passes in the first five games, returning two for touchdowns, before suffering a knee injury that slowed him the rest of that season. "When I sat down and watched film with the defensive front and saw the way the linebackers fit, I understood the dynamics of defense," he said. "Every part had to match, otherwise you couldn't look good as a defensive back. Once I watched enough film and saw how everything fit, it was like elementary. (Baylor assistant coach Bob Cope) always told me, `Trust what you see.' I lost three different girlfriends, because they thought I was cheating on them, since I was watching so much film late at night. So getting elected to the Hall of Fame, trust me, it was at a price." Robinson earned consensus All-SWC honors that year and helped the Bears win a share of the conference championship and a berth in the Alamo Bowl.

"Twenty years later, nobody really remembers that it was a five-way or four-way tie," he said. "History says Baylor won the Southwest Conference championship, and I have the ring to prove it."

A repeat All-SWC pick as a senior, when he had four interceptions, Robinson added All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and was taken by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Baylor's defense produced four draft picks that year, including first-rounder Daryl Gardener.

"People always ask me why I went in the seventh round," he said. "Any scout worth his salt would say, `Anybody could play safety behind that front seven.' Everybody knows about Tyrone Smith and some of those other guys. But what y'all don't know is there's a guy named Phillip Kent, (an outside linebacker) who would destroy any No. 2 receiver. It could be a fast, quick little slot guy, or it could be a bona-fide tight end from Texas or A&M, and Phillip would destroy them. That's why I told Phillip I want him to be at my table."

Robinson's pro career was cut short by a neck injury that he suffered during the '96 training camp with the Colts. He later signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, but a physical exam determined that he had two herniated discs in his neck, forcing him to give it up.

"I was sold out on Jesus, so I took it as a sign that God wants bigger and better things for me elsewhere," Robinson said.

Jumping right into the coaching ranks, Robinson was the secondary coach at Southwest Texas for one year before joining former Baylor teammate Jason Young as a corporate ropes-course facilitator with One World Learning.

"Jason was extremely instrumental in my development as a man," Robinson said. "He helped me transition from being that old football player/NFL guy to a vessel for God to use."

Returning to coaching, Robinson led his Bloomington boys' basketball teams to back-to-back state tournament appearances.

"I took a bunch of short, little Hispanic kids and almost won a state championship," he said. "That broke my heart."

Robinson credits his "basketball genius" to his girlfriend at the time, WNBA Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets, who's now the head coach at USC.

"We were running the Comets offense, and she would come to our practices in the morning. It was awesome," he said.

Trying to get something of a "normal life," Robinson is now a physical education teacher at a junior high in Sugar Land, Texas, and makes about four or five appearances a year as a professional speaker or life coach. But he spends weekends on a 180-acre ranch in Edna that he inherited from his great-grandmother.

Watching Baylor's rise to prominence under head coach Art Briles, Robinson said he desperately wants a T-shirt that says simply, "It's a Beautiful Time to be a Baylor Bear."

"It's amazing to enjoy life as a fan of Baylor now," he said. "All my life, I've been a Baylor Bear. When I say I love that place, I don't think there is any other university that can offer what Baylor offers."

Robinson will return to campus for Homecoming weekend (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) to be recognized with a class that includes football's Richard Stevens, former track All-Americans Jeremy Wariner and Yulanda Nelson and baseball's Jon Topolski and Ted Uhlaender.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Banquet, which will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at the Ferrell Center, costs $50 per person. Table sponsorships are also available at $750 (individual) and $1,000 (corporate). Contact Tammy Hardin in the "B" Association office at 254-710-3045 or tammy_hardin@baylor.edu.