Robert Gilmour "Gloomy Gil" Dobie (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1948) was an

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

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 North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

) (1906–1907), the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

(1908–1916), the

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

(1917–1919),

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

(1920–1935), and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

(1936–1938), compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

record of . Dobie's Cornell teams of

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' breaks ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, and

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

have been recognized as

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

. 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 The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

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 Hastings is a city mostly in Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat, with a portion in Washington County, Minnesota. It is near the confluence of the Mississippi, Vermillion, and St. Croix Rivers. Its population was 22,154 ...

. He played football as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Coaching career

Dobie achieved his greatest success at the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, 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 Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, in 1921, 1922, and 1923 with

Eddie Kaw Edgar Lawrence Kaw (January 18, 1897 – December 13, 1971) was an American football player. He attended Cornell University, where he was a prominent halfback on coach Gil Dobie's Cornell Big Red football team, graduating in 1923. He was a shif ...

and

George Pfann George R. Pfann (October 6, 1902 – December 17, 1996) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Cornell University, where he never lost while starring as a quarterback, twice named an All-American. Before gradu ...

. 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 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, when

Lance Leipold Lance Leipold ( ; born May 6, 1964) is an American college football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Kansas since 2021. Leipold served as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UWW) fr ...

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

in 1951 as a charter member. Dobie is buried at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...

in Ithaca, New York.

Head coaching record

Football

Dobie and player Edie Kaw in Navy, 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