Nick Hilgert and Mark Bendorf were former assistant coaches at Robinson, promoted from within. Hilgert, a former captain in the Marines (with two tours in Vietnam in the 1960s), was an assistant under Ed Henry for a decade at both Marshall and Robinson, initially coaching the defensive backs. He was at Robinson for a total of 21 seasons (1976–96), the final 14 years as head coach (101–52, ). Nick Hilgert was the first head coach to take Robinson to the state finals in football (1988); he retired from teaching and coaching in the spring of 1997.