Ranking the 25 best head coaches in college football history
By Zach Bigalke
21. Gil Dobie
“Gloomy” Gil Dobie might boast the most impressive streak among head coaches on this list. In 1906, he took his first head coaching job at North Dakota State. There he went 8-0 in two seasons before moving on to the Washington job. In nine seasons with the Huskies, Dobie went 58-0-3. From there he was hired to take over at Navy. He eventually lost his second game of his first season with the Midshipmen, ending a streak of 70 undefeated games to begin his coaching career.
When he took over for Cornell in 1920, Dobie’s career record stood at 84-3-3. The Big Red went 6-2 in his first season, then put up three straight 8-0 seasons from 1921 through 1923 that captured three straight national titles. It would prove the high-water mark of Dobie’s career, as he failed to post another unbeaten season over the final fifteen years of his career. Cornell tapered off to 2-11-1 in his final two seasons at the school, and he finished out his career at Boston College.
Dobie’s career gets lost in the shuffle because of the regression to the pack. But few head coaches can match the sheer magnitude of his dominance while in his prime. Dobie left an indelible mark on several schools over the course of a lengthy career.