Office Of The President

Vice President & Director of Athletics

Now in his sixth year at Jackson State University, Vice-President/Director of Athletics Ashley Robinson continues to lead Tiger Athletics to new heights.

Robinson’s motto for Jackson State Athletics is “Building on Tradition, Blazing New Trails,” and he has done just that – and more – in leading the way in the elevation of Tiger Athletics. A two-time National Athletics Director of the Year (2023 Black Student-Athlete Summit AD of The Year; 2022 Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year awarded by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)), Robinson’s leadership helped JSU Athletics win the C.D. Henry Award for the best all-around men’s sports program in the SWAC in 2022-23.

A trio of Robinson’s football hires during his career, all first-time college head coaches at the time, earned postseason play in Fall 2021. Deion “Prime” Sanders led Jackson State to the program’s first SWAC football championship since 2007 and to its first berth in the Celebration Bowl; Willie Simmons, who Robinson hired while athletics director at Prairie View A&M, led Florida A&M to an at-large berth in the FCS Playoffs; and Eric Dooley, who Robinson also hired at Prairie View A&M, led that program to a SWAC Championship Game appearance in 2021.

Robinson and the JSU leadership’s decision to name Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, as head coach in 2020 helped to invigorate college football, as JSU went 27-6 in three seasons, with back-to-back SWAC championships and consecutive Celebration Bowl appearances. The 2022 season concluded with Sanders (JSU) and Dooley (formally at Southern) again leading their teams to the SWAC Championship Game, while Simmons (FAMU) led his team to a second consecutive nine-win season.

During his tenure, Robinson has led JSU Athletics to 19 championships, with the men’s basketball team (2021), baseball team (2021), football team (fall 2021 and 2022), and women’s basketball team (2022) each going undefeated in conference play.

In the 2022-23 athletics season, Jackson State won SWAC championships in men’s cross country, women’s soccer, football, and women’s basketball. JSU student-athletes posted a 3.101 grade point average during the fall semester and graduated nearly 70 student-athletes during 2022-23. 

Among the Fall 2022 highlights, Jackson State posted its first 12-0 football season in program history en route to its second straight SWAC title. The national spotlight shined brightly as 12 Jackson State football games in 2022 were televised or video streamed on ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, or ESPN+. Every football radio broadcast was also available on SiriusXM Radio, as JSU football set the FCS attendance record for the second straight year, averaging 43,500 fans per home game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

In mid-October of that year, Coach Prime and JSU football were spotlighted on 60 Minutes. Just five days later, Good Morning America broadcast live from campus on Homecoming Friday.

The eyes of the college football world were fixated on Jackson only one week later as ESPN’s College Gameday broadcast live from The Vet, only the fourth time the show originated from an HBCU football game and the first at a home venue since 2008. An energized crowd welcomed the nation to JSU as approximately two million fans watched the three-hour broadcast and learned more about Tiger Nation as the show highlighted the JSU football program, band, cheerleaders, and HBCU culture.

JSU student-athletes combined to post a 3.2 grade-point average for the 2021-22 academic year, with 12 teams earning 3.0 GPAs with 55 graduates.

In addition to JSU winning the 2021 SWAC football championship, the women’s basketball team in 2021-22 became the first SWAC team in over a decade to win three consecutive league regular-season championships, and the Lady Tigers also won back-to-back conference tournament titles. JSU men’s cross country won the SWAC Championship, women’s volleyball won its second consecutive SWAC regular-season championship, and women’s tennis won its second straight SWAC regular-season title and first conference championship since 2005.

In March 2022, Robinson hired NBA champion Mo Williams as head men’s basketball coach, again illustrating his forward-thinking approach in bringing one of the all-time great players in the history of the City of Jackson home to lead the program.

Robinson led JSU to the 2019-20 SWAC’s Academic Success Award. It is a monetary award decided based on each member institution’s collective ranking in the categories of highest four-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) average, highest single-year APR average, and highest Graduate Success Rate (GSR).

Robinson is a past president of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Athletics Directors Association and was the first African American in the position from 2020 to 2021. 

Under Robinson, JSU saw Thomas “Snacks” Lee win the “Can’t Stop Watching Moment-of-the-Year ESPY in Spring 2021.” Lee’s ESPY is the first for JSU and the SWAC.

Robinson, a native of Jackson, Miss. and a basketball star at Murrah High School, spent the previous five years at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), where he was named Director of Athletics in June 2013. He was promoted to Vice-President and Director of Athletics in November 2016.

Championships marked Robinson’s tenure in competition, academic success, and the completion of athletics facilities and renovations.

In 2018, a trio of PVAMU teams ended SWAC championship droughts. In mid-April, men’s golf won the SWAC championship for the first time in 40 years. In early May, men’s track and field won the SWAC championship for the first time in 10 years. Less than a week later, softball won its first SWAC championship in 20 years, with all three teams competing in NCAA Regional tournaments. The championships were among six titles won by Panther teams during Robinson’s tenure.

In the May 2018 NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) report, all 18 Prairie View A&M athletics teams were above the NCAA-mandated multi-year score of 930, with seven of those teams posting perfect scores of 1,000.

Among the facilities highlights of his PVAMU tenure were the construction of a new football-only stadium and athletics administration complex, a track and field complex, a soccer field, and upgrades to the baseball and softball facilities.

Robinson implemented the Athletics Director’s Club, with membership increasing annually. Season ticket sales increased yearly. He also created and expanded corporate partnerships for the department, broadening the brand exposure and reach of PVAMU Athletics.

In January 2017, the new PVAMU Sports Network online portal debuted to showcase Panther Athletics’ contests with new audio and video platforms, improved live stats, and a weekly radio show to provide an in-house platform to promote athletics and create additional sponsorship inventory for the department. For the first time, PVAMU football, volleyball, soccer, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, outdoor track and field, softball, and baseball contests were video streamed online in the same season.

A former student-athlete, Robinson was a four-year letterman in basketball and is the single-season and career record-holder in assists after playing point guard for Mississippi Valley State University. He was also named MVSU Athlete of the Year in 2002, receiving the President’s Scholar Award that same year. Robinson was inducted into the MVSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.

Robinson left Mississippi Valley State to begin a career in athletics administration as an academic coordinator at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware. He helped implement a comprehensive academic support system for 300 student-athletes and was the department liaison to DSU’s faculty, campus academic offices, and support services. He also assisted with the CHAMPS/Life Skills and Student-Athlete Advisory (SAAC) Board.

After eight months in Delaware, Robinson received the opportunity to return home as assistant compliance director at Jackson State. His duties included assisting the compliance director in eligibility, student-athlete certification and reinstatement, and enforcing the compliance bylaws of the NCAA, the SWAC, and Jackson State. He continued advancing up the compliance ranks by returning to Mississippi Valley State as compliance director in August 2007.

In July 2008, Robinson was named the SWAC’s Assistant Commissioner for Compliance. In this position, he supervised compliance and academics for the conference, the National Letter of Intent program and was the liaison between the conference and the NCAA for rules interpretations and appeals.

Robinson’s next position was Assistant Vice-President of Athletics Compliance and Academic Advising at Prairie View A&M in 2010. During his first tenure at PVAMU, the athletics department prospered academically, winning the 2011 and 2012 SWAC All-Academic Awards while also receiving Public Recognition from the NCAA for the women’s golf team’s APR score.

Robinson was named Director of Athletics at Mississippi Valley State in 2012, where he spent nine months leading Delta Devil Athletics. In his short tenure, the Delta Devils won five conference titles while designing a renovation plan for the Harrison HPER Complex..

Robinson currently serves as chair of the SWAC’s Athletics Directors Committee. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 

Robinson received a bachelor’s degree from MVSU and a master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy.

Robinson has three daughters (Ashlynn, Paisley, and Promise), and a son (Jalen).