Eddie Robinson, who led Grambling State University’s football team to 408 wins and only eight losing seasons in his 56 years as head coach, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.

Mr. Robinson, who retired in 1997, held the record for wins by a college football coach until he was surpassed, in 2003, by John Gagliardi of St. John’s University, in Minnesota, a Division III program. Mr. Robinson’s football squads sent more than 200 players to the National Football League, including seven first-round draft picks and Doug Williams, who as a Washington Redskin was the first black quarterback to play in, win, and be recognized as the most valuable player in a Super Bowl.

The enormous success of Mr. Robinson’s football program is widely credited with opening doors for black football players and also with lifting Grambling, formerly the tiny Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, out of obscurity. When Mr. Robinson took the helm, in 1941, he had to line the field himself as well as fix sandwiches for road trips because his players were not allowed to eat in many restaurants.

He was not bitter, however, according to the Associated Press, which quoted him as saying, “Blacks have had a hard time, but not many Americans haven’t.” —Paul Fain