George C. Blankley (October 7, 1918 – December 29, 2016) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Boise Junior College—now

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

—from 1948 to 1962, compiling a record of 206–139. Blankey was also the head football coach at Boise Junior College from the middle of the 1950 season through the 1951 season, assuming the responsibility after Coach Lyle Smith was called into the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the early part of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Blankley compiled a record of 16–2 as head football coach of BJC. In 1962 was hired as

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

and head football coach at General Beadle State College—now known as

Dakota State University Dakota State University (DSU) is a public university in Madison, South Dakota, United States. The school was founded in 1881 as a normal school, or teacher training school. Education is still the university's heritage mission, but a signatur ...

—in

Madison, South Dakota Madison is a city and the county seat of Lake County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,191 at the 2020 census. It is home to Dakota State University. Geography Madison is located in the center of Lake County in southeastern So ...

. He resigned as head football coach following the 1969 season, compiling a record of 27–39–1 in eight seasons. Blankley was born in

Curwensville, Pennsylvania Curwensville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Altoona on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Coal mining, tanning, and the man ...

, and grew up playing football, basketball, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He attended the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891 by Rev. William Judson Boone as a Presbyterian college, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over ...

, where he played football, as an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

, and baseball. Blankey graduated from college in 1941. He played

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

with the Boise Pilots of the

Pioneer Baseball League The Pioneer Baseball League (also known as simply the Pioneer League) is a professional baseball league based in the Western United States. It operates as one of four Major League Baseball (MLB) Partner Leagues in the American independent bas ...

that year before becoming the

and coach at

Kuna High School Kuna High School is a public high school in Kuna, Idaho, the only traditional high school in the Kuna Joint School District #3, located in southwest Ada County, west of Boise and south of Meridian. The school colors School colors, also kno ...

. From 1943 to 1945, he taught physical education at his alma mater and then served as a physical trainer in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

. In 1948, Blankley was coaching basketball at Caldwell High School in

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 68,336 at the time of th2023 United States census making it the List of cities in Idaho, 5th most populous city in Idaho. C ...

. The field at Brian Kern Family Stadium, home of the Dakota State Trojans football team, is named Blankley Field in his honor.

Head coaching record

Junior college football

College football

Notes

References

1918 births 2016 deaths American football ends Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Boise Broncos football coaches Boise Broncos men's basketball coaches Boise Pilots players College of Idaho Coyotes baseball players College of Idaho Coyotes football players Dakota State Trojans athletic directors Dakota State Trojans football coaches High school basketball coaches in Idaho Sportspeople from Connellsville, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Fayette County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Caldwell, Idaho United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub