Remembering Coach Candy

Former TSU Baseball Coach Candy Robinson died at the age of 70. Robinson was a two-time SWAC Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2008.

Robinson lost his extensive battle with cancer last Tuesday morning.
Robinson led the Tigers to their only two NCAA appearances and also their only pair SWAC championships. Robinson coached at TSU for 19 years and his teams qualified for 12 championship tournament appearances. Nine of those were consecutive. In their 2004appearance in the NCAA tournament his team defeated the defending College World Series champion Rice Owls.

Robinson’s funeral was held at Brentwood Baptist Church where many of his former players paid their last respects.

“He was one of those kinds of coaches that worked really hard so that was the expectations that he had for the players,” said former player Marcus Newsome.

Newsome played in the TSU outfield 1988-91 for Robinson and coached alongside Robinson when he first took over as head coach in 1992.

“He was also a fun coach with a very humorous side. He liked challenging players in practice. He had a great arm. He had some type of rubber arm,” Newsome said.

In 1965, Robinson stood out as the ace pitcher for Grambling State University. He was named as an All-American that year and was signed by the Boston Red Sox where he played for several years.

“He raised the bar pretty high because of his own success so he expected you to do it just as hard as he did,” said Newsome.

After stepping down in 2008, Robinson took over as the head of Baseball Operations at TSU. He is survived by his wife Sara and their two daughters Ariel and Candace. The family has asked that donations be made to the American Cancer Society in the name of Candy Robinson Jr.