Milbourne King Block Sr. (April 11, 1929 – October 6, 2014) 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. He was the head coach at

Arkansas State College Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the state. The university ...

(now ASU) from 1960 to 1962 and amassed a 13–14 record.King Block Records by Year
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved August 21, 2010.

Early years

Born in

Superior, Nebraska Superior is a city in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,957. Superior bills itself as the "Victorian Capital of Nebraska", and holds an annual Victorian Festival.

, Block earned 12 athletic

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

Twin Falls High School Twin Falls High School is a public secondary school in Twin Falls, Idaho, one of two traditional high schools operated by the Twin Falls School District #411. School history Twin Falls High School was founded in 1907. Citizens passed a bond in ...

in south central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, and graduated in 1947. He played

at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he was a fullback under head coach

Dixie Howell Millard Fleming "Dixie" Howell (November 24, 1912 – March 2, 1971) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played college football as a halfback at the University of Alabama from 1932 to 1934 and with the Washington Redskin ...

. Block played on the varsity from 1948 to 1950, and was named to the All-Coast football team. He was selected in the 21st round of the 1951 NFL draft by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. At Idaho, he was a member of

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

, and graduated with a degree in education.

Coaching career

After a coaching stint at Grangeville High School in north central Idaho, Block joined the

Arkansas State Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the state. The university ...

coaching staff as the backfield assistant in 1955, under head coach Gene Harlow, who had been the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

s coach at Idaho while Block was in college. Block was promoted to head coach in February 1960 and compiled a 13–14 record in three seasons. His offense was described as primarily reliant upon "the running of the fullback 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 ...

." He resigned after the 1962 season to become the

defensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

under head coach

Bob Devaney Robert Simon Devaney (April 13, 1915 – May 9, 1997) was a college football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career record of . ...

. Arkansas State replaced Block with

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Bennie Ellender Bennie Ellender Jr. (March 2, 1925 – December 22, 2011) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arkansas State University from 1963 to 1970 and at Tulane University from 1971 to 1975, compiling ...

. After one season in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, Block joined the staff of new head coach

Bert Clark Robert B. Clark Jr. (February 12, 1930 – December 13, 2004) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Washington State University for four seasons, from 1964 to 1967. Early life and playing career ...

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and remained in Pullman through

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. He later served as an assistant at

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

until 1972. Aside from coaching football, Block also competed in

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

events and bred quarterhorses,The Dutch Rub
''Tri City Herald'', April 28, 1964. which he later parlayed into "King Blocks Korral," one of the largest western stores in Iowa.

Death

After a lengthy illness, Block died in 2014 at age 85 in

Ozark, Missouri Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Missouri. Its population was 21,284 as of the 2020 census. Ozark is also the third largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, and is centered along a business loop ...

; his remains were cremated.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Gem of the Mountains
' - 1950 - University of Idaho yearbook - 1949 football season - King Block - p. 217 {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, King 1929 births 2014 deaths American football fullbacks Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Idaho Vandals football players Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Sportspeople from Twin Falls, Idaho People from Superior, Nebraska High school football coaches in Idaho Players of American football from Idaho Players of American football from Nebraska Rodeo performers