Frank Robinson II, Former Hall Football Coach, Has Died

Published On: February 25, 2015Categories: Lifestyle, Obituaries

Frank Robinson, II. Photo courtesy of 1984 Hall High yearbook

The longtime coach of West Hartford’s Hall High School football team passed away at age 91 on Monday.

Frank Robinson, II. Photo courtesy of 1984 Hall High yearbook

Frank Robinson II. Photo courtesy of 1984 Hall High yearbook

By Ronni Newton

Frank Robinson II, the father of current Hall football coach Frank Robinson III and one of the patriarchs of West Hartford’s football dynasty, died Monday at his his home in the Bonnet Shores area of Rhode Island at age 91.

Robinson is being remembered fondly in West Hartford as a man of great intelligence, and one who inspired countless young athletes and others whose lives he touched. One of the gyms at Hall was named after him in 2004.

Robinson’s 30-year career coaching football at Hall began in 1957, when he took over for a man who became the other football patriarch in West Hartford – Robert McKee – when McKee took over the football program at the then-brand-new Conard High School. Recently-retired Conard coach Rob Cersosimo played for Robinson in the late 1960s, and his own son, Frank Robinson III (nicknamed “Robbie”) played for him as well. Robinson retired in 1987 and moved to Rhode Island. Robbie became head coach at Hall in 1999.

“Coach Robinson was my greatest mentor and greatest supporter. He taught me so much as a young man and inspired my dream of becoming a coach,” said Rob Cersosimo.

Past and present coaches at the Nov. 20, 2010 Mayor's Cup Conard vs. Hall football game. From left: Robert McKee, Frank Robinson, Rob Cersosimo, Frank Robinson III (in background). Conard file photo

Past and present coaches at the Nov. 20, 2010 Mayor’s Cup Conard vs. Hall football game. From left: Robert McKee, Frank Robinson, Rob Cersosimo, Frank Robinson III (in background). Conard file photo

Cersosimo said he last saw Robinson during the 2014 football season. “It’s a great loss to our town. He was one of the founding fathers of football in this town,” Cersosimo said. “It’s part of life, but it’s a tough part of life,” he said of Robinson’s passing.

“He was an awesome influence on my life, and words cannot even express how much I love him,” said Cersosimo.

Hall assistant football coach Steve Blanchfield paid tribute to Robinson Monday night before the Hall vs. Conard basketball game began. Blanchfield recalled the day when his sister, who was just out of college, first began teaching at Hall and had her own classroom of kids with learning disabilities. Blanchfield said that Robinson knocked on her door on the first day of school and assured her that everything was going to be okay. At lunchtime, when Blanchfield’s sister brought her students to the cafeteria and there was nowhere to sit, Robinson made the football team vacate their tables.

“In the religion I’m in we have names for people like Frank Robinson. They’re called saints,” Blanchfield said during his tribute before calling for a moment of silence.

“[Frank Robinson] was great. He knew a lot of stuff about other things, not just football,” said Rob Claflin, a West Hartford resident who played football for Robinson in the 1970s. Claflin went to elementary school at Whitman, which was located in what is now the West Hartford Police station. His brothers attended Hall when it was located in the building that is now Town Hall, and Claflin would hang around football practice and got to know Robinson long before he even went to high school.

Coach Frank Robinson flanked by 1984 Hall High School football team co-captains Jamie Martin and Rick Raterman. Photo courtesy of 1984 Hall High yearbook

Coach Frank Robinson flanked by 1984 Hall High School football team co-captains Jamie Martin and Rick Raterman. Photo courtesy of 1984 Hall High yearbook

Claflin eventually became a quarterback for Robinson at the “new” Hall High School, but said Robinson’s knowledge of sports was so great he even helped him with his basketball shot.

Claflin’s in-laws lived near Robinson in Rhode Island, and he would often see him at the beach. “One time we all dug a big hole on the beach and we were lining it with rocks, and he was there teaching us how to put seaweed in and have a real New England clambake. It was amazing the things he knew,” Claflin said.

“He wasn’t a yeller and screamer. He had a sense of humor and would get his point across, maybe with a little dig,” Claflin recalled.

Sports producer Matt Vinick interviewed Robinson in the process of making his documentary, “All in the Family,” about the unique Hall and Conard football family dynasty and rivalry. In comparing the coaching styles of the Robinsons and Cersosimos, Vinnick said, “Frank Robinson is the dean. Everyone says he’s the coaching genius of the group, that no one knows more. He changed football in the state of Connecticut by being one of the first to run the triple option offense. He brought two-platoon football to Hall.”

As people heard of Robinson’s passing, many took to social media to remember him. “Great coach, and an even better human being. I ran into him 25 years after I graduated, and he still remembered my name, number, and position on the team. He was an inspiration to so many young people, and even was in a big Hollywood movie from the 80s that they filmed at Hall. He did it all? The world is a much better place having had Frank Robinson in it. He will be missed,” wrote one former Hall football player in response to a post in a Facebook group.

Hall Principal Dan Zittoun said that there are no plans yet but it’s likely that the Hall community will do something in honor of the former coach. “I only had one brief opportunity to meet Mr. Robinson, but from everything I’ve seen he was obviously an incredible man who had significant impact on West Hartford Public Schools,” Zittoun said.

According to the Hartford Courant, a wake will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Nardolillo’s Funeral Home, 1111 Boston Neck Road in Narragansett, R.I. A “Celebration of Life” ceremony will take place at Hall High School in West Hartford on March 21, at 3 p.m.

If you have any memories of Frank Robinson that you would like to share, please add them in the comments below. If you have photos you would like to share, please email them to [email protected].

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5 Comments

  1. David Paul February 27, 2015 at 4:20 PM - Reply

    Song to my foot ball and wrestling coach

    “Wings in your heart”

    Motivations archateck

    Never a follower a leader

    your spirit was on fire and it spread

    you new you could make us fly

    It was clear you had wings in your heart

    You carved dreams, of perfect flight

    Your philosophy influenced our lives

    beautiful fearless one

    the world will never drag me down

    you taught me well, look what I found

    I know I’m not alone

    Cause Coach – you gave us wings from your heart

    you had a room, full of boys

    strung them together

    help them find their sun

    you were such an inspiration giant one

    I know I’m not alone

    Cause Coach you – gave us wings from your heart

    This boy you coached came to life

    beautiful fearless one

    the world will never drag me down

    you taught me well, look what i found

    I know I’m not alone

    Cause Coach – you gave me wings from your heart

    I know I’m not alone

    Cause Coach – you gave me wings from your heart

  2. […] We-Ha.com published a tribute to longtime coach Frank Robinson, who passed away on Feb. 23, 2015, we asked members of the community to send any photos they might […]

  3. Milt Northrop October 18, 2019 at 5:39 PM - Reply

    Frank Robinson was from West Haven, CT. Lived just a few doors from Union School on Center Street. His mom was active in the Union School PTA. He played football at Springfield College, was on a team that played Yale in Yale Bowl in 1948 or ’49.

  4. James Waugh May 18, 2021 at 1:42 PM - Reply

    A true account of the character and nature of a fine and exceptional man. But not even one single word above about his perennial role as Hall High’s head wrestling coach and the profound impact that he had on my life (1966-1969) and the lives of so many others who came before and after me in THAT very special capacity. Coach Robinson not only had a remarkably deep unsung technical as well as instinctive knowledge of our beloved sport but also knew exactly how to reach a young man’s heart where it needed his care the most. No one who ever wrestled for Hall High School during those many years in which he coached is likely ever to forget the grace and dignity personified by Frank Robinson, educator and mentor.

  5. […] “So we’re recognizing Frank Robinson, Hall High School. They had a big win last week against a team that was previously unbeaten,” Saleh responded. “This is a cool one. He graduated from there 35 years ago. He quarterbacked the team and his dad also coached there for 30 years,” Saleh said of Frank Robinson III, whose father, Frank Robinson II, Hall’s coach from 1957-1987, who died at age 91 in 2015. […]

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