Gil Dobie

Gil Dobie
Sport(s)	Football, basketball
Biographical details
Born	January 21, 1879(1879-01-21) Hastings, Minnesota
Died	December 23, 1948(1948-12-23) (aged 69) Hartford, Connecticut
Playing career
1900–1902	Minnesota
Position(s)	End, quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football 1906–1907 1908–1916 1917–1919 1920–1935 1936–1938 Basketball 1906–1908	North Dakota Agricultural Washington Navy Cornell Boston College North Dakota Agricultural
Head coaching record
Overall	182–45–15 (football) 17–5 (basketball)
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 2 National (1921–1922) 1 Pacific Coast Conference (1916)
Awards Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1948)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile)

Gilmour "Gloomy Gil" Dobie (January 21, 1879 – December 23, 1948) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College—now North Dakota State University (1906–1907), the University of Washington (1908–1916), the United States Naval Academy (1917–1919), Cornell University (1920–1935), and Boston College (1936–1938), compiling a career college football record of 182–45–15. Dobie's Cornell teams of 1921 and 1922 have been recognized as national champions. Dobie was also the head basketball coach at North Dakota Agricultural for two seasons from 1906 to 1908, tallying a mark of 17–5. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951. Dobie also holds the NCAA football record for the fewest games needed to reach 100 wins at 108 games.

Early life and playing career

Dobie was born in Hastings, Minnesota. He played football as an end and quarterback at the University of Minnesota.

Coaching career

Dobie achieved his greatest success at the University of Washington, where he had a remarkable 58–0–3 record. During his tenure, Washington had a 39-game winning streak, which is the second longest in NCAA Division I-A/FBS history. His coaching career at Washington also comprised virtually all of Washington's 63-game unbeaten streak — still a college football record.

Dobie then became the 16th head coach for the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen and held that position for three seasons, from 1917 to 1919. His coaching record at the Navy was 18–3. This ranks him 14th at the Navy in total wins and first at Navy in winning percentage (.857), as of the end of the 2007 season.

After coaching at Navy, Dobie won two national championships with Cornell, in 1921 and 1922. His career coaching record was 182 wins, 45 losses, and 15 ties, a .780 percentage. Of the 33 years he coached, he had 14 undefeated seasons.

Dobie was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as a charter member.

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
North Dakota Agricultural Farmers (Independent) (1906–1907)
1906	North Dakota Agricultural	5–0
1907	North Dakota Agricultural	3–0
North Dakota Agricultural:		8–0
Washington (Independent) (1908–1915)
1908	Washington	6–0–1
1909	Washington	7–0
1910	Washington	6–0
1911	Washington	7–0
1912	Washington	6–0
1913	Washington	7–0
1914	Washington	6–0–1
1915	Washington	7–0
Washington (Pacific Coast Conference) (1916)
1916	Washington	6–0–1	3–0	1st
Washington:		58–0–3	3–0
Navy Midshipmen (Independent) (1917–1919)
1917	Navy	7–1
1918	Navy	4–1
1919	Navy	7–1
Navy:		18–3
Cornell Big Red (Independent) (1920–1935)
1920	Cornell	6–2
1921	Cornell	8–0
1922	Cornell	8–0
1923	Cornell	8–0
1924	Cornell	4–4
1925	Cornell	6–2
1926	Cornell	6–1–1
1927	Cornell	3–3–2
1928	Cornell	3–3–2
1929	Cornell	6–2
1930	Cornell	6–2
1931	Cornell	7–1
1932	Cornell	5–2–1
1933	Cornell	4–3
1934	Cornell	2–5
1935	Cornell	0–6–1
Cornell:		82–36–7
Boston College Eagles (Independent) (1936–1938)
1936	Boston College	6–1–2
1937	Boston College	4–4–1
1938	Boston College	6–1–2
Boston College:		16–6–5
Total:		182–45–15

External links

• Washington profile
• Gil Dobie at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Gil Dobie at the College Football Data Warehouse