Earl Henry Red Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college football record of 166–48–14. His Army football teams won consecutive national championships in 1944 and 1945.[1] Blaik was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1964.
Col. Blaik's teams were in many famous games. In 1935, a Dartmouth team beat Yale for the first time; another of his Dartmouth teams upset Cornell in the famous ''fifth-down game'' in 1940. There was the 0-0 tie Army played with Notre Dame in 1946, and the end of a 32-game unbeaten streak in a defeat by Columbia in 1947. Mr. Cahill, who was Army's coach from 1966 to 1973, said of Col Blaik : ''His impact on the game was outstanding. No one had greater respect. He was caring and kind to everyone and he felt very strongly about West Point and the Army.'' Coach Earl Red Blaik is survived by two sons, Robert and William. He will be buried at West Point. By JACK CAVANAUGH Published: October 1, 1995 There they were, the fabled Mr. Inside, Doc Blanchard, and Mr. Outside, Glenn Davis, standing in front of the grave of their coach, Col. Earl (Red) Blaik, not far from Michie Stadium, where they became perhaps the greatest running tandem in college football history. West Point
Earl Blaik was disappointed when, after six years at an assistant at West Point, he was passed over for the head job in favor of a man he did not respect, Garrison Davidson, who had graduated from the Academy eight years after Red. Unfortunately, Red had no place else to go. He had rebuffed feelers from Princeton and Ohio State during the 1932 season for their head coaching positions because he expected to be offered the Army job. So he bit his lip and stayed as Davidson's assistant.
New West Point Superintendent Robert Eichelberger wanted Earl Blaik as his new football coach. One hitch in that plan was that Blaik would need his Army commission reinstated. Earl also insisted on two conditions: (a) He would bring his own assistants with him from Dartmouth and (b) the Army would rescind its height and weight restrictions for admission to West Point. Eichelberger granted or facilitated all of Blaik's demands. In so doing, he set the stage for the greatest era in Army football rndash; aided by World War II.
