📸 Suzanne Barnette
By Robert Wilson
Danny Robertson won many games as a football player at Durant High and at Ole Miss and won even more as an assistant coach to his father, the late Cotton Robertson, at Durant High and won two state championships as the head boys basketball coach at his alma mater.
But in January 2022, Robertson was faced with the toughest challenge of his life. He was diagnosed with Stage Four melanoma and had cancer in his lungs and in his brain.
“I was devastated,” Robertson said. “The first night I pleaded with God.”
The future looked dim for Robertson and his family. In fact, his wife, Bronwyn, talked to their close family friend, Tommy Barnette, about helping take care of Bronwyn’s and Danny’s sons, Tanner and Brister, if things didn’t go well.
Danny Robertson, like he had with so many of his football and basketball games, woke up the next day ready to battle this awful disease.
“I had a peace,” Robertson said. “Whether I faced Heaven or a full recovery, I had a peace. Whatever His plans were, I was ready.”
He had brain surgery to remove a golf ball size tumor and had radiation and immunotherapy to fight the cancer. In three months, he was cancer free.
“A miracle,” Robertson said. “That’s the only way to explain it. The power of prayer is amazing. I learned to about having strong faith in God and that there is peace beyond all comprehension as it says in the Bible (Philippians 4:7).”
Robertson, 63, had side effects from his treatments and two months after his cancer free diagnosis, his and his oncologist (Dr. Justin Baker) decided to stop treatments and just get a checkup every three months. He has gradually regained his weight and energy. Robertson’s last checkup was last week, and everything looked good.
“Being a Mississippi high school sports fan, I knew about Danny and his dad and their success at Durant,” Barnette said. “When Danny got to JA, he was an offensive line coach under Lance Pogue and with me being the sideline reporter for the Raider Network, I got to know Danny and his family very well and we developed a close friendship. When Danny got the news, he was diagnosed with cancer, it hit me hard because I lost both of my parents to cancer. It’s mentally hard not to be negative about that news. We got even closer and our wives, Suzanne and Bronwyn, became even closer friends also. I call him D-Rob and he calls me the Big Show.”
“Danny and Bronwyn are some of the most steadfast, loyal people in our lives,” Suzanne Barnette said. “Tanner and Brister are like brothers to Mary Peyton (the Barnette’s daughter), and she knows that they have her back if she needs them. Likewise, we have theirs. Doing life with another family who has strong moral values, integrity, and faith in Christ is a gift that we do not take for granted. Being able to cheer on our Raiders (and Rebels and Dawgs) together is just an added bonus. My life is better because they are in it.”
Bronwyn, Robertson’s wife of 31 years, has seen Danny’s positive influence of thousands of family, friends, coaches and players over the years.
“Danny has always been a glass half full guy,” Bronwyn said. “He has always had a positive outlook on life. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff. He says go to battle for the things that are important. Not once during all this cancer has he had a pity party. Danny’s faith has grown in this. He wants the Lord will find us faithful and we want to honor Him in this. We wanted our boys to see that life is hard and only your faith will get you through. We had the JA community and many other people who knew Danny from playing and coaching sports over the years cover us in prayer. We created a Facebook page to keep people updated on Danny. We had a Testimony Tuesday at our church (First Baptist Church Jackson) and we are on their Facebook page, telling our journey.
Danny had plenty of adversity to overcome before his cancer diagnosis. His younger brother, Bo, passed away when Danny was 24 in a drowning accident in 1985. His older sister, Amy, passed away in an automobile accident in 1990. His dad, Cotton, passed away in 1996. Danny was diagnosed with a skin condition several years ago where he was needed to stay out of the sun and required him to wear long sleeves and a big brim hat when he was outside.
Danny and Bronwyn’s two sons, Tanner, a fifth-year senior at Mississippi State, and Brister, a senior guard on JA’s basketball team, have learned many things from their dad before, during and after his cancer diagnosis.
“My dad means the world to me,” Tanner said. “He’s the greatest, most kindhearted, toughest, and the hardest worker I know. He’s taught me, along with my brother, so much in my life. One thing he’s taught us is God comes first. Without God, nothing that we go through in life is worth anything. Second, life and sports go hand in hand. We’re a sports family, my grandfather was a tremendous coach, and of course Dad followed in his footsteps. Dad’s gone through a lot of tough times in his life, but he’s always stuck to a quote that he taught us, and that’s “It’s not a sin to get knocked down, it’s just a sin to lay there.” In sports, things don’t go your way, you miss a shot, you fumble a ball, you strikeout, sometimes you just lose, etc. doesn’t matter its next play mentality or next game mentality. That’s how we look at life in this family, and I think it’s how dad’s been able to carry on after his diagnosis, and everything else in his life. He’s tackled all that with a toughness I’ve never seen before. I always like to say, life keeps knocking him down, but he answers the bell every time. Never backing down, and I believe he won’t until God calls him home. It was an honor to play for him in football (at JA) and it’s been absolute blessing to see him continue to coach through everything and be able to coach my brother, and them win a championship together, hopefully they get one more this year. I don’t know how much longer of a career Dad will have but whenever it’s up, we’ll get to smile together as a family and know he did it his way, with toughness, hard work, and never backing down from a challenge.”
“My dad means a lot to me,” Brister said. “Ever since a young age, my dad and I have had something to do together with sports. He has given me knowledge, just not about the game, but in life. During the time when he was going through cancer, I learned that the power of prayer is something that none of us can comprehend. He taught me that God is in control of everything that goes on in our life, and it is all part of His plan. He showed me how to stay positive through the toughest of times and not let the events around you affect who you are as a person. It means a lot to me to have my dad be one of my coaches. He has coached me ever I started playing sports with football, basketball, and little league baseball. He has won two state championship as a head coach, so he is always giving me knowledge of the game to make me a better player. I am really appreciative to have the opportunity to learn from someone that has won at the highest level of Mississippi high school sports.”
Danny grew up in Durant and around sports watching his dad coach (Cotton is a member of the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame). Robertson was an outstanding athlete and was a part of two straight undefeated seasons in high school football at Durant in the 1970s. Robertson played high school football and at Ole Miss with running back Buford McGee, who played nine seasons in the NFL. After playing linebacker at Ole Miss, Robertson was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under Billy Brewer for two years and at Louisiana Tech for one year for Carl Torbush. Then he came back home and coached football with his dad and took over the boys basketball program in 1993. Robertson led Durant to back-to-back state championships in 1994 and 1995 (Horatio Webster and Detrick White were the star players and went on to play at Mississippi State). Robertson coached basketball at Durant until 2003 and then went to Holmes Community College. He was an assistant men’s and women’s basketball coach for one year (under Todd Kimble and Chanda Rigby) and then an assistant football for one year and then was head football coach for five seasons. Robertson then left for South Panola where he was offensive line coach under Lance Pogue for five years and was a part of two state championships. Robertson left South Panola and came to JA in 2016 when Larry Weems took over as head coach. Robertson coached offensive line until his cancer diagnosis.
Robertson took over the junior high boys basketball program last season and guided the Raiders to a 22-0 record. He replaced Jesse Taylor, who was promoted to high school coach when Josh Brooks took the job at Belhaven. Robertson also started being an assistant on the high school team.
“When looking for a basketball assistant, there are a few things I need to have on the bench with me,” Taylor said. “Basketball knowledge is a criteria. The season is so long you have to love this sport. Experience, either as a player or coach and most importantly, a good man. Danny fits the bill of all three of my general criteria. He averaged 94 points and 92 points a game when he won state championships at Durant. So the Running Raiders have some work to do to catch Coach Robertson’s teams. He led our JA JV team to an undefeated team last year and had a great season this year.”
Robertson is a great coach, but Taylor said he is so much more.
“More importantly, the kind of man Danny is makes him so valuable on this campus,” Taylor said. “His faith in Christ is at the core of who he is and he lives and serves everyone around him as Christ commands us, too. His wisdom and faith have been such a blessing to me and my family in helping a young head coach work through this stressful profession. I can’t say enough good things about Danny Robertson. His resilience, peace, and servant leadership, through faith in Christ has been his calling card through all he’s been through the last two years. I am lucky to call him friend.”
Robertson is a part of one of the best teams in MAIS history. JA has a 33-1 record going into Wednesday’s 7:15 p.m. game against Heritage Academy in the Overall Tournament quarterfinals at Mississippi College in Clinton. JA defeated two-time defending Overall champion Jackson Prep Saturday for the Class 6A state title, the first for JA since 2014.
One of the reasons for JA’s success is sophomore guard Marcus Goodloe. Goodloe was a part of Robertson’s 22-0 ninth grade team last season. He and Robertson have close bond.
“Coach Robertson has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known and his spirit is even larger than that,” Goodloe said. “Knowing the things that he has had to endure throughout his life just reminds me of how strong of a warrior he is. At any given moment, Coach Rob could have laid down and given up, but he never did and that’s what he teaches us to never back down and never give up.”
“This season has been real fun,” Robertson said. “We have a group of great guys. They are very coachable. They practice hard and play hard. I’m blessed to be a part of this group.”
Taylor, assistant coach Andre Stringer, and all the players feel the same way about being blessed to be a part of Robertson’s life and are inspired by him daily.
