Earl Blaik

Biographical details
Born	(1897-02-15)February 15, 1897 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	May 6, 1989(1989-05-06) (aged 92) Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Playing career
1915–1917	Miami (OH)
1918–1919	Army
Position	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1924–1925	Miami (OH) (assistant)
1926	Wisconsin (assistant)
1927–1933	Army (assistant)
1934–1940	Dartmouth
1941–1958	Army
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1948–1959	Army
Head coaching record
Overall	166–48–14
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3national (1944–1946)
Awards
Third-teamAll-American (1919) AFCA Coach of the Year (1946)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1964 (profile)

Earl Henry "Red"Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an Americanfootball player, coach, college athletics administrator, andUnited States Army officer. He served as the head football coach atDartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at theUnited States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a careercollege football record of 166–48–14. HisArmy football teams won three consecutivenational championships in 1944, 1945 and 1946.^[1] Blaik was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1964.^[1]

Blaik was born inDetroit, the son of William Blaik, ablacksmith andcarriage maker who emigrated fromGlasgow, Scotland in 1883. In 1901 the family moved toDayton, Ohio, where his father became a contractor. He attendedSteele High School.^[2]

He played college football for three seasons atMiami University inOxford, Ohio, underChester J. Roberts,George Rider andGeorge Little and two seasons at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he became a third-teamAll-American. Following his graduation in 1920, Blaik served in theUnited States Cavalry for two years. After his military service, Blaik married and worked in the construction business with his father.

During the 1924 and 1925 seasons, Blaik worked as a part-time assistant coach forMiami University. For a few months in 1926, he accepted a coaching position on the staff ofUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison head football coachGeorge Little. In 1927, Blaik became a part-time coach at theUnited 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 atDartmouth 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 at Dartmouth,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, a first since 1906, and dropped its requirements for its coach to be a serving graduate and that all players meet restrictive height-to-weight limitations. The latter was a condition Blaik made as a requirement for him to accept the position, believing Army to be severely handicapped in the size of its linemen. TheUnited States Naval Academy did not have the same restrictions and theArmy surgeon general was persuaded to drop the requirement for football players.

At West Point, Blaik coached for 18 seasons compiling a 121–32–10 record. Blaik's Army teams had a 32-game unbeaten streak from 1944 to 1947, won consecutive national titles in 1944 and 1945, and finished second in the nation in 1946 with their record blemished only by a scoreless tie with rivalNotre Dame atYankee Stadium. In 1946, Blaik was selected as theAFCA Coach of the Year. In 1948, he became one of the first college coaches to implement a two-platoon system, using players strictly for offense or defense.^[3] Blaik was also one of the first coaches to analyze the game play-by-play, charting a team’s tendencies on every down with the use of game film.^[4]

During his tenure at West Point, Blaik coached threeHeisman Trophy winners,Doc Blanchard in 1945,Glenn Davis in 1946 andPete Dawkins in 1958, as well as a total of 11 Hall of Fame players. Twenty of his former assistant coaches became head coaches: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,John Sauer,Richard Voris,Murray Warmath,Bob Woodruff, andBill Yeoman. Fighter pilot ColonelRobin Olds also served as an assistant coach to Blaik. Dietzel, while atLSU, andMurray Warmath, while atMinnesota, won national championships as head coaches. Gillman, while head coach of theSan Diego Chargers won anAFL championship. Lombardi, as head coach of theGreen Bay Packers, won fiveNFL titles and the first twoSuper Bowls.

During Blaik's tenure, the Army team adopted the nicknames "Black Knights" and "Black Knights of the Hudson", which has now come to refer to all intercollegiate athletic teams at West Point.^{[citation needed]}

Among his West Point players, Blaik was known for being a stern and disciplined coach. They nicknamed him "The Colonel."

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 into theCollege Football Hall of Fame. His alma mater, Miami University honored him by induction into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969. Blaik received thePresidential Medal of Freedom from PresidentRonald Reagan in 1986.

Blaik died in 1989 at age 92 inColorado Springs, Colorado.^[5] On September 25, 1999, the football field at West Point'sMichie Stadium was named Blaik Field in his honor.

In 2005,ESPN produced a television film calledCode Breakers about thehonor code scandal that plagued Blaik's 1951 team. In the film, Blaik is portrayed by actorScott Glenn.

• College Football Hall of Fame profile

• 1897 births
• 1989 deaths
• American football ends
• Army Black Knights athletic directors
• Army Black Knights football coaches
• Army Black Knights football players
• Dartmouth Big Green football coaches
• Miami RedHawks football coaches
• Miami RedHawks football players
• Wisconsin Badgers football coaches
• College Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
• United States Army officers
• Coaches of American football from Ohio
• Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio
• Burials at West Point Cemetery
• American people of Scottish descent
• Military personnel from Detroit
• United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel
• 20th-century United States Army personnel

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2022
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009