Earl Blaik

College coach infobox
Name = Earl H. "Red" Blaik


DateOfBirth =February 15, 1897
Birthplace =
DateOfDeath = May 6, 1989
Sport = Football
College = Dartmouth, Army
Title = Head coach
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 166-48-14
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 180
Player =
Years =
Team =
Position =
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1934-1940 1941-1958
CoachTeams = Dartmouth Army
FootballHOF = 1964
CollegeHOFID = 40007

Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football coach. He was head football coach for the United States Military Academy between the 1941 and the 1958 seasons, and for Dartmouth College between the 1934 and the 1940 seasons. During his coaching career Blaik won 166 games lost 48 games and tied 14 games. His Army football teams won consecutive national championships in 1944 and 1945.

Early life

Blaik was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of William Blaik, a blacksmith and carriage maker who emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1883. In 1901 the family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his father became a contractor.

He played college football three seasons at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio under C. J. Roberts, George Rider and George Little and two seasons at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he became a third-team All-American. Following his graduation in 1920 Blaik served in the United States Cavalry for a short time after World War I. After his military service Blaik married and worked in the construction business with his father.

Coaching career

During the 1924 and 1925 seasons Blaik worked as a part-time assistant coach for Miami University. For a few months in 1926 he accepted a coaching position on the staff of University of Wisconsin-Madison head football coach George Little and in 1927 he became a part time coach at the United States Military Academy until 1930 when he was accepted on the staff as a full time assistant coach. In 1934 Blaik was hired as head football coach at Dartmouth College. At Dartmouth he coached for seven seasons and compiled a record of 45-16-4, his Dartmouth teams had a 22 game unbeaten streak from 1934 to 1937. He coached one Hall of Fame player, Bob MacLeod.

In 1941 Blaik was tapped to be head football coach for the United States Military Academy. Army had suffered two consecutive losing seasons in 1939 and 1940, the first since 1906, and dropped its requirements that its coach be a serving graduate and that all players meet restrictive height-to-weight limitations. The latter was a condition Blaik required to accept the position, believing Army to be severely handicapped in the size of its linemen (Navy did not have the same restrictions), and the Army surgeon general was persuaded to drop the requirement for football players.

At West Point he coached for 18 seasons compiling a 121-32-10 record. Blaik's Army teams had a 32 game unbeaten streak from 1944 - 1947, won consecutive national titles in 1944 and 1945 and finished second in the nation in 1946 due to a scoreless tie with rival Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in New York. In 1946 he was selected as National Coach of the Year.

During his tenure at West Point, Blaik coached three Heisman trophy winners, Doc Blanchard in 1945, Glenn Davis in 1946 and Pete Dawkins in 1958 as well as 11 Hall of Fame players. Overall 20 of his former assistant coaches became head coaches in their own right. They were:

Paul Amen, George Blackburn, Chief Boston, Eddie Crowder, Paul Dietzel, Bobby Dobbs, Sid Gillman, Jack Green, Andy Gustafson, Dale Hall, Tom Harp, Herman Hickman, Stu Holcomb, Frank Lauterbur, Vince Lombardi, Johnny Sauer, Dick Voris, Murray Warmath, Bob Woodruff and Bill Yeoman. (Another assistant coach became a "head coach" of an entirely different variety, Colonel Robin Olds.)

Paul Dietzel while at LSU and Murray Warmath while at Minnesota won national championships as head coaches. Sid Gillman, while head coach of the Chargers won a professional football championship. Vince Lombardi, as head coach of the Packers, would win five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls.

During Blaik's tenure the Army team adopted the nickname the "Black Knights", which has now come to refer to all intercollegiate athletic teams at West Point.

Among his West Point players Blaik was nicknamed 'The Colonel', known for being a stern and disciplined coach he is quoted regarding the subject "Good fellows are a dime a dozen, but an aggressive leader is priceless."

Post Coaching Career

Blaik resigned as head football coach of Army on January 13, 1959 to become a vice president at the Avco Corporation. In 1964 he was inducted in to the College Football Hall of Fame. His alma mater, Miami University in 1969 honored him by induction into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame. Blaik received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Blaik died at age 92 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On September 25, 1999 the football field at West Point's Michie Stadium was named Blaik Field in his honor.

In 2005 ESPN produced a television film called "Code Breakers" about the 1951 honor code scandal that plagued Blaik's 1951 team. In the film Blaik is portrayed by actor Scott Glenn.

Head Coaching Record

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1934
name = Dartmouth
overall = 6-3-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1935
name = Dartmouth
overall = 8-2-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1936
name = Dartmouth
overall = 7-1-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1937
name = Dartmouth
overall = 7-0-2

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1938
name = Dartmouth
overall = 7-2-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1939
name = Dartmouth
overall = 5-3-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1940
name = Dartmouth
overall = 5-4-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1941
name = Army
overall = 5-3-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1942
name = Army
overall = 6-3-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1943
name = Army
overall = 7-2-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 11

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1944
name = Army
overall = 9-0-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 1

championship = national

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1945
name = Army
overall = 9-0-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 1

championship = national

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1946
name = Army
overall = 9-0-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 2

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1947
name = Army
overall = 5-2-2

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 11

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1948
name = Army
overall = 8-0-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 6

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1949
name = Army
overall = 9-0-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 4

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1950
name = Army
overall = 8-1-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 2

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1951
name = Army
overall = 2-7-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1952
name = Army
overall = 4-4-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1953
name = Army
overall = 7-1-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 14

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1954
name = Army
overall = 7-2-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 7

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1955
name = Army
overall = 6-3-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 20

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1956
name = Army
overall = 5-3-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1957
name = Army
overall = 7-2-0

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 18

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1958
name = Army
overall = 8-0-1

conference =
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 3

championship =

References

reflist

External links

*CFBCR|180|Earl H. "Red" Blaik
* [http://www.coachwyatt.com/BLAIK.html Army's Earl "Red" Blaik]