Former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson, who created a football powerhouse at the small, black college in northern Louisiana that turned out hundreds of NFL players, has died. He was 88.

The soft-spoken coach spent nearly 60 years at Grambling State University, where he set a standard for victories with 408 and nearly every season saw his top players drafted by NFL teams.

Robinson’s career spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement. His older records are what people will remember: In 57 years, Robinson compiled a 408-165-15 record. Until John Gagliardi of St. John’s, Minn., topped the victory mark four years ago, Robinson was known as the winningest coach in all of college football.

“The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife,” Robinson said.