Robert Gilmour Dobie (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1948) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach. Over a period of 33 years, he served as the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University) (1906–1907), the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(1908–1916), the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

(1917–1919),

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(1920–1935), and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

(1936–1938), compiling a career college football head coaching record of . Dobie's Cornell teams of 1921, 1922, and 1923 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 reached 100 career wins in 108 games, which stood as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record for the fewest games needed to reach 100 wins from 1921 to 2014.

Early life and playing career

Dobie was born in Hastings, Minnesota. He played football as an end and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Coaching career

Dobie achieved his greatest success at the

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, where he had a During his tenure, Washington had a forty-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 64-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 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 three national championships with Cornell, in 1921, 1922, and 1923 with Eddie Kaw and George Pfann. After his first season, he signed a five-year contract. During his first championship season at Cornell, he collected his 100th career win, doing so in 108 games—an NCAA record that stood until

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, when Lance Leipold reached the mark in his 106th game at Division III Wisconsin–Whitewater. Dobie remains the fastest coach to 100 wins in major-college history. 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. At Boston College at least, the best play of the Dobie system was a smash-through tackle. Dobie was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as a charter member. Dobie is buried at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a Private property, privately owned, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Rural cemetery, garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland, Ohio, East Cleveland ...

in Ithaca, New York.

Head coaching record

Football

Dobie and player Eddie Kaw in Cornell, 1921

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobie, Gil 1878 births 1948 deaths American football ends American football quarterbacks Basketball coaches from Minnesota Boston College Eagles football coaches Cornell Big Red football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Navy Midshipmen football coaches North Dakota State Bison football coaches North Dakota State Bison men's basketball coaches Washington Huskies football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Hastings, Minnesota Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association