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Commemorative plaque for Gil Dobie
Slowly he turned around, looking at the team that encircled him; most of the muddied players had their heads bowed down.
Gilmour Dobie came to Washington in 1908 -- along with the Great White Fleet which docked in Seattle as part of a 14-month cruise around the world -- following a break-even season. "He's maybe a little rough," said U. W. graduate athletic manager Lorin Grimstead in 1908, "but real sharp. No, sir, no more seasons like the last one." [Welch]. In his first season, Dobie went undefeated and won the Northwest Conference championship, a six-team league consisting of Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Idaho and Whitman. He coached football at the University of Washington through the 1916 season and went undefeated in 61 games. A part of our Husky nation -- those of them who are aware of Dobie's accomplishments on the gridiron -- feel the University should honor Dobie with a commemorative plaque and place it on what's left of Denny field, the coach's old haunt. Gilmour Dobie -- Washington's Knute Rockne -- laid the foundation for the school's three other legendary coaches: Enoch Bagshaw, Jim Owens and Don James. "So can you blame them out in the golden west for ranking him as the greatest football mentor in America -- greater than (Percy) Haugton, greater than ('Pop') Warner, greater than (Amos Alonzo) Stagg, and (Laurence) Bankhart and (Fielding) Yost and all the others," Frank Menke wrote in December 1916. On the sidelines, his omnipresent black overcoat and cigar were his trademark; on the practice field his steely stare and sharp rebukes both commanded respect and attention to detail. The legendary Dobie was either loved or hated out in the golden west, there was no mister in between. Beginning the 1916 season, after eight years of winning without a defeat, Dobie was "vastly unpopular. Oregon men claim he has purposely avoided dates with them that would have meant his defeat." Oregon had its way with Washington before1908, and Dobie turned the rivalry around when he took over at Washington. There is no doubt that the Border War, in what has become an intense rivalry between the two schools, began in the Dobie era, although modern-day thinking has it beginning in 1948. And they just weren't mad at Dobie in the state of Oregon. In 1916, The Reno Gazette wrote that the University of California wanted "Revenge on the gridiron. ... Said revenge is to be peeled from the football hide of the University of Washington—that is, if the expenditure of $12,000 on a brilliant coaching staff can do it." (See Appendix C). How was the indelible mark he left on west-coast football achieved? Dobie was a master of reducing the game of football to its simplest form. "I don't believe in having a whole lot of plays," he said. "A dozen or so are enough. Players should be kept in good mental condition. I send my boys into a game thinking they have a fine chance of being whipped and only a small chance of winning. That makes them fight." When he worked out new plays he moved around his players like wooden pieces in a chess game and he continued to move them about until satisfied that the play was a success or failure. (The San Antonio Light).
"Overconfidence has lost more battles than superior
opposition," Dobie used to say. In practices, Dobie kept his team
worrying about its Mojo, even though he knew he had the superior force
for an upcoming battle. Instilling the fear of failure in his men was
his prime motivating force. In his temperament, however, Dobie was the most unique of all of Washington's coaches. A little rough around the edges, he was terse, gruff and somewhat irascible at times; his eternal pessimism lent him the nicknames "Gloomy Gil" and "The Apostle of Grief." If dour Dobie had written a song, he would have called it, "Accentuate the Negative." If he'd written a book on psychology, he would have called it, "The Power of Negative Thinking." If he'd chosen a nickname for his team, it would have been "The Sun Dodgers." That happened in 1919, three years after Gil Dobie left Washington. It would have been the perfect moniker for his team. The "Dour Dane" was a man who was always pessimistic, even about the weather.
Dobie, with certainly a twinkle in his eye, may
have been the founder of one-liners for football coaches.
Like Jim Owens that followed him 41 years later at Washington, Dobie taught self-discipline, self-reliance and selflessness, binding characteristics that made many of his athletes successful in later life. For more on the Dobie persona, which has been somewhat mischaracterized over time, over the course of many discussions, reference, "Meet the Real Gilmour Dobie." For more Dobieisms, reference, "Gloom, doom, and denomination." (What was Gil Dobie's starting salary at Washington? Answer later on.) His career, which began like a gamma-ray burst at North Dakota State and Washington, was ended at Boston College by the expanding universe of college football.
* 69
consecutive games without a defeat; lost his 2nd game at Navy
Denny Field: Although the vestiges of Denny Field are hallowed ground to the Husky nation, it was a rocky, miserable field, according to one former player. Football was served alfresco on a bed of rocks on rainy days at the "Dobie Cafe." As Wee Coyle, the 150-pound quarterback said, "It was a terrible field. Did you ever see a field grow rocks?" They'd rake the surface to level the field, removing most of the rocks, and after the next rain, "you'd see thousands of little rocks come up out of the dirt." [Rockne, 1975]. Dobie's teams ran straight at you. There were only twelve-or-so plays in his playbook, and he worked countless hours with his team to perfect them. They played smash-mouth football back then -- power football and an off-tackle slant -- on a field that grew rocks. Countless scrimmages, up the gut, all to the tune of a metronome -- the honing of a finely-tuned watch, a Rolex of precision, a Timex of durability, his teams the epitome of synchronicity. From an off-tackle slant with a wave of interference for the ball-lugging "Hap" Miller to a scamper around end by QB Dick Bronson, it was six yards and a shower of rocks. The cigar-smoking Dobie, the quintessential psychologist, knew that fear of failure was a strong, motivating force. He was tempestuous, vociferous, demonic -- but never unfair. He was conservative, a reductionist, but not without a trick play up his sleeve. In particular, one play is of interest, the Dobie-Bunk Play, which he inserted for the Oregon game in 1911. The center faked a handoff to Coyle and kept the ball while the two guards fell down in front of the center. Coyle took off his leather helmet, tucked it under one arm and bolted around end. After counting to 3, the center turned and handed the ball off to the end, who scampered in the opposite direction from Coyle and scored a touchdown. No one knew what happened. Washington won the game 29-3. Sometime later, the play was declared illegal. (See the "Ghost of Dobie," by Mike Archbold, for a humorous description of the play and his witty characterizations of Dobie.
College football in the Dobie era at UW: Eddie Cochem, the Saint Louis University coach, was the first to use the forward pass in 1906. At first players could pass the ball only under narrow restrictions. It was a risky play back then, for an incomplete pass resulted in a turnover. The pass did not become a major offensive tool until rules modifications in 1910 and 1912 allowed more passing flexibility. [Brief History]. Hence, in 1912, when West Virginia Wesleyan College had its first undefeated season, the pass became a major tool for success. In 1913, Notre Dame upset Army at West Point using the pass. [Ours, 2000].
Dobie's teams didn't pass much in those days, though Dobie used it on a
long drive leading to a touchdown against Cal in 1915, in a closely
fought 13-7 win. The 1908-1914 seasons at Washington
From 1909 through 1913, the Dobiemen went undefeated and untied in five consecutive seasons. In 1914, Oregon State tied Washington, 0-0, in the fifth game of the season, ending a 39-game winning streak, the second longest in college football history. The UW won seven Northwest Conference championships over the 1908-1914 seasons, and one more in 1916, along with the Pacific Coast Conference championship. In 1913, Washington beat Whitworth 100-0, which is still among the school's records for most points scored. The boycott season in 1915:
Dobie was an intense man, and winning without losing took its toll, both physically and mentally. The prescient Dobie resigned in November 1915, but, later on, University President, Henry Suzzallo talked him into staying another year. Dobie and Suzzallo, who was hired in 1915, had strong personalities, which produced more than one conflict between them. Adding to Dobie's woes, the northwest schools dropped Washington from their schedules in 1915, “in an attempt to derail the dynasty.” This was compounded by the fact that Dobie didn't want to play WSU anywhere but in Seattle. When WSU balked after doing so for four straight seasons, the series took a two-year break in 1915 and 1916. It's a shame Dobie didn't clean coach William "Lone Star" Dietz's (1915-1917, 17-2-1) clock back in 1915 and end his quest for the Rose Bowl. Instead, Washington State beat Brown in the 1916 Rose Bowl and laid claim to the mythical national championship -- a sad happening, indeed. Dobie had to scramble for opponents in 1915 with Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State off the schedule. In that season he played California twice, whipping the Bears 72-0 in an away game. The next week at Denny Field, Cal played smash-mouth defensive football against UW, holding Washington to just eight positive gains the entire game, yet succumbed to the Purple and Gold 13-7. Washington fans carried Cal's Roy Sharpe off the field on their shoulders for his superlative defensive and offensive effort. In the last game of the season, the Dobiemen beat Colorado 46-0. Following, Dobie's rout of California, the Oakland Tribune ran this headline on November 7, 1915, "Golden Bear crushed beyond recognition by Dobie's Washington Indians." A photo of Washington QB Allan Young scoring the second touchdown of the game sat under the headline. The paper noted that "Lockhart, the Bears left tackle, was the heaviest man on the field. He weighed 198. His 6-foot-3 inches also made him the tallest...The lightest Washington man was (Elmer) Leader, the left tackle, who weighed 165." The paper said that Dobie brought 22 men with him and that each regular had a substitute; it went on to say that Dobie was noted for his eleventh hour changes in his lineup and that fans expected a change any minute. Also, according to the Tribune, the numbering of players was distributed before the game, with the number 13 being avoided. The two captains, Canfield and Mike Hunt, UW's left end, were each given number one. "He (Dobie) has seen so many heroes fail and unheard of players rise to great heights, that he considers the 'good boy pat on the back stuff' useless," the paper continued. In discussing the game between the two teams to be played at Denny Field the next week, the paper noted that although the field was a dirt one, it was very fast. At halftime, a Washington stunt group produced a halftime burlesque pantomime in which the California Bear and the "Washington Indian" were the principle actors, the paper went on to say. The Washington "Hook," a 10-foot by 3-foot wooden replica of a hook, made its appearance in the Washington rooting section. It seems the hook was captured by Washington rooters -- a few years back -- in a game played between UW and Oregon in Eugene, the Oregon fans saying they would throw the "hook" into Washington. After UW beat Oregon, UW fans paraded the hook in downtown Eugene. The Tribune went on to say that UW's fourth touchdown in a "disastrous" third quarter -- from the Bears' standpoint -- came by way of a pass from "Hap" Miller to Mike Hunt. The Washington lineup: "Tramp" Murphy played left end; Elmer Leader and Bill Hainsworth were at left tackle; Harry Wirt and Van De Bogart were at left guard, with David Logg at center; Louis Seagrave played right guard; Tom Markam right tackle and Mike Hunt and George Abel played right end. Allen Young was the quarterback and Elmer Noble and Gardner shared right half duties, with "Hap" Miller and Ross MacKechnie at left half. Walter Shiel and Newton shared the fullback position. "MacKechnie" is spelled "McKechnie" in Washington's media guides. The paper said that Dobie lived up to his nickname, the "silent wonder," sat on the bench without a "wrinkle" the entire game and barely spoke to his assistant Wayne Sutton. The paper went on to say that "Gil sent in the same bunch that represented the Siwash institution against Whitman last Saturday." UW's passes were low and quick and, in the main, the passer didn't try to throw the ball past the secondary coverage of the California defense. After the second game with California, Dobie said that his team had been outplayed. Some California fans felt the game was a good piece of "stage work" by Dobie, who figured the competition was scarce with him, too, and another 72-0 whipping might send the Bears back to the "English game." (November 22, 1915, the Oakland Tribune). According to the Northwest papers, the Tribune said, the game was a "straight one," that California was a scrappy bunch. It also mentioned that it was rumored that Dobie might move to Berkeley to live with his two sisters, paving the way for his advent into athletic circles in the Bay area upon his retiring from Washington. Of course, that never happened. As a result of the disastrous 72-0 loss to Washington, Cal's 14th coach, James Schaeffer, resigned under fire. He'd coached rugby at California from 1909-14 and then football in 1915. In 1921, Enoch “Baggie” Bagshaw (1921-1929, 63-22-6) paid the piper for the Dobiemen's unrelenting effort at Berkeley, surrendering the same number of points Dobie had piled up on California -- Cal bagging Bagshaw with a 72-3 pasting -- in what was called a revenge game. Cal outgained the Sun Dodgers, as they were called then, 390 to 8 yards, and threw 12 times and completed 8, in a game played at California Field in Berkeley. The Bears, coached by Andy Smith, were also known as the "Golden Bruins," in those days. On November 26, 1915, the Reno Evening Gazette reported that Dobie had retired at Washington, saying "Dobie was out of game for all time." The Gazette said he had offered his services to Wisconsin. Reportedly Dobie told friends that he was dissatisfied with the conditions at the school, that the students lacked loyalty and had no pep, that they did not understand what it meant to have such an athletic record for one's school. (Evening News, December 3, 1915, Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan). In December 1915, the Oakland Tribune reported that Washington had lost $3,560 on its football program, on the same day men's hats went on sale for 95 cents in Oakland. At California's behest, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was formed in December 1915, which consisted of Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, and California. Oregon State and Oregon were back on Washington's schedule after a year's absence (See Appendix A), and each team's record was counted in both conferences. The 1916 season and the player mutiny: On February 3, 1916, Dobie agreed to stay on for another season, at his current compensation, despite his friction with Suzzallo, in what turned out to be a turbulent ending to his career at Washington. Wisconsin had wanted Dobie to coach its team, but couldn't meet his salary demands. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorialized, "Tune up the sackbut, psaltery, harp and lute, and anything else that will make a noise, and let us sound a paean of joy over the return of the mentor whom we had mourned as officially dead." A formidable, powerful team in 1916, the Purple and Gold (4-0-1) prepared for their last two games with California and a chance to win the first-ever PCC title. Prior to the games with California, the only blot on Washington's record, a tie game against Oregon, was played in Eugene on a field that "resembled a lake." Dobie, the eternal pessimist, complained of not having a dropkicking specialist before the game with Oregon, saying that Ted Faulk, a rowing specialist, was good for one out of every six dropkicks and that he'd been tutoring him in the "art of how to kick." The UW line averaged 180 pounds per man. On Friday, November 18, 1916, on the eve of the first big game with the Bears, The Oakland Tribune reported, " Signal practice was then indulged in and the Washington boys showed plenty of speed and ability in running through their plays. Dobie's bunch stacks up as a formidable outfit this year, and, in size, they are every bit as husky and powerful. The Washington backfield—Cy Noble and ("Tramp") Murphy at halves, (Bill) Hainsworth at full, and (Ching) Johnson at quarter—constitutes a smooth-running machine, while Captain Louis Seagrave and (Bill) Grimm, are the two Stars in the line, and are backed up by a formidable set." The paper then noted Dobie's eternal pessimism. "But, then, Dobie never fails to come out with the 'old man gloom' stuff before his important games. He does not expect to come close, he states, but this is an old story with Gilmour." The Dobiemen beat Cal 13-3 the next day, and Dobie continued on in his winning ways, which was another old story with "Gilmour." The next week the university suspended Bill Grimm, left tackle, because of "irregularities in (taking) an examination," allegedly copying someone else's paper during the test. Because of his suspension, which some players, including Seagrave, felt was too harsh, the varsity players went on strike just before the next big game with Cal. The alumni and Grimm convinced the team to play "for the greater good." On voting to end the strike, it was reported that "Team members today passed a resolution denying their action in refusing to play without Grimm was inspired by Coach Gilmour Dobie." (Nevada State Journal, November 24, 1916). Previously, Dobie had "announced himself ready to train a volunteer team, although stating his sympathies were with the varsity." The varsity ended the strike and beat Cal 14-0, its victory securing the PCC championship. Although Oregon was unbeaten, Washington was awarded the championship because Oregon had used an ineligible player. According to most historical references, the common thread has it that university president Henry Suzzallo fired Dobie after the 1916 season for failing to fully train character on the football field. Dr. Suzzallo is quoted as saying, “The chief function of the university is to train character. Mr. Dobie failed to perform his full share of this service on the football field. Therefore, we do not wish him to return next year” (100 Years of Husky Football, p. 56). Dobie countered Suzzallo's criticism with the following statement, "I performed my services in as conscientious and thorough manner as was possible under the conditions. Dr. Suzzallo does me wrong, when he says I did otherwise." [100 Years]. According to Wisconsin's Janesville Daily Gazette (December 11, 1916), "President Suzzallo said the chief function of the university was to train character, that Dobie had failed to perform his full share of the work. Dobie, it was said, made it known recently that he had no intention of ever again acting as coach for any team." Dobie demanded that each of his players be loyal to the team, and in turn, ironically, his steadfast loyalty to his players led to his termination -- that is, his support of them during the mutiny, which in his mind was their only line of defense when they were unfairly attacked. In his termination letter, Dobie wrote that, "Neither the members of the football squad nor myself ever approved of the alleged offense of the player who was removed..." [Borland2]. However, Dobie felt that Grimm should have been given more time to prepare for his examinations because of a stint he performed in the National Guard that had deprived him of studying time, and that is, he had been "obliged to crowd two months' work into one month's study." "Had there been any faculty mercy the student-player would have been allowed to make up his studies during the holiday vacation..." Dobie wrote. [Borland2]. Much later in time it was learned that Murphy, Seagrave (team captain) and a member of a YMCA squad had actually instigated the mutiny. That fact was disclosed by Murphy in 1949, a year after Dobie's death. A couple of articles I found contribute to the notion that Dobie was prepared to quit Washington after the 1916 season no matter what happened between him and Dr. Suzzallo. During my research, I came upon this article printed on December 23,1916, by the Daily Courier, Conellsville, Pa., which said in a headline that "Gilmour Dobie quits again." It quoted Dobie as saying, "I wouldn't coach another team here for $3,000 or for three times $3,000. I am tired, and I am through with Washington for all time." The resignation angle appears again, this time in a Pennsylvania newspaper. On March 28, 1917, the New Castle News, writes about Dobie having resigned again in the Fall of 1916 and that "Dobie thinks, no doubt, that he has been coaching Washington teams long enough, and will be glad to get into a new field." Dobie had recently signed with the University of Detroit to coach its football team, but, somehow, managed to void that contract to coach Navy for the 1917 season. Although both UW and Oregon went unbeaten in 1916, Oregon went to the 1917 Rose Bowl because of traveling cost considerations; reportedly, it was $215 cheaper to get to Los Angeles from Eugene by train than it was from Seattle. Washington State, back on the UW schedule in 1917 and a member of the PCC, scored a 14-0 victory over Claude J. Hunt, who had replaced Dobie as head coach. The game was played in Seattle. Stanford joined the PCC in 1917, as well. Idaho and USC joined the conference in 1922. Montana and UCLA were added in 1924 and 1928, respectively. It remained that way until Montana exited the conference in 1950. I counted 15 letter winners on the 1916 team (See Appendix B below). Eastern Bias? In 1916, Paul R. Purman of the Des Moines Daily News, wrote, " Here is "The New's own all American team for 1916. Stars in every section (of the country) are given recognition. This gets away from the idea of picking stars almost entirely from one section as is done in most all-American selections. The selection of a real representative team presents obstacles few other years have developed." Purman went on to list Louis Seagrave of Washington, as a first-team all-American selection. Grounded pessimism: Dobie coached three years at Navy (1917-1919) before moving on to Cornell where he posted three unbeaten seasons in 1921, '22 and '23. Previously he was 17-3-0 at Navy and went 6-2-0 in his first season at Cornell, in 1920. On October 20, 1917, the Lima Daily News, Lima, Ohio, printed an article written by Dobie titled, "Dobie gives lesson on interference and Aerial." In his article, Dobie wrote, "There are several ways of passing," and then describes them. "The most practical way," he wrote, "seems to be to hold the ball in the hand, in the crotch made by the thumb and fingers, with the arm well up above the head. When the ball is shot forward It starts from a higher elevation and has more accuracy and precision..." So much for his off-tackle slants and his aversion to forward passes. As early as 1908, Dobie was talking about the pass, according to this newspaper article. "Coach Dobie believes football players, particularly the backs, will be benefited by playing the game. His theory is that men who learn to handle a basketball and shoot it accurately can utilize this knowledge in football when the forward pass is used. Besides, says Dobie, the game develops quick thinking and greater ability." (Centralia Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington, Dec 15, 1908) Writing about Dobie's stint at Navy, a columnist from the Carbon Dale Free Press (Illinois) wrote the following on July 2, 1929: When coaching at Navy "Gil Dobie is, perhaps, the only football coach who ever devised a legitimate set of signals, only to have them barred by an official at game time. That happened when Dobie was piloting the Navy squad and Charley Daly was the tutor at West Point. There was great rivalry between Dobie and Daly before that incident took place and this was intensified afterward. Gil Doble's signals that year involved use of the word 'hike'. That was chanted immediately after the numbers. But there was a variation. The call on the first play would end merely with 'hike'. But the second would be 'Hike-Hike'." The variation in play calling was used to draw opponents offside. From 1924 through 1933, under Dobie, Cornell posted seven-winning seasons and three break-even seasons. Cornell had a losing season in 1934, with a record of 2-5-0. At the beginning of the 1935 season, the eternally pessimistic coach may have not just been blowing smoke in a press release when he said, "just a bunch of boys -- no team. I just line them up and let them work out." On October 5, 1935, the morning before Cornell's game with Western Reserve, the Cornell Daily Sun wrote, "Western Reserve is evidently going to provide plenty of opposition for the Dobiemen this afternoon. The Red Cats, supposed to be a warm up game for the Cornell gridmen, may bring with them a little more heat than was expected when they were substituted for Richmond by the schedule makers. Corenellians will remember how the Virginia boys warmed up Gil Dobie's protégés last season, 6-0." That afternoon, the Red Cats beat the Dobiemen, 33-19. His last season at Cornell, Dobie finished 0-6-1 on the '35 season, his early pessimism being grounded in fact. On February 2, 1936, The Syracuse Herald published this headline on its sports page, "Gil Dobie quits Cornell football," and in a subhead, wrote, "Harmony is motive given as veteran steps aside." His "controversial" $12,500 per-year contract, not due to expire until May 1,1938, was bought out by the school for $11,000. The Herald writer continued, "At first Cornell was satisfied to blame defeats on a lack of material, due to rigid regulations, exonerating the coach who managed to bob up with a 'surprise victory or two' each season until last fall when a tie with Columbia was the only redeeming feature of a season which did not see Cornell victorious In a single game." The Cornell Daily Sun said that undergraduate sentiment caused Dobie to resign. Accepting Dobie's termination letter, Cornell's director of athletics wrote, "On the other hand it is only fair to inform you that it is a matter of record that you have a host of loyal supporters, particularly among the men you have coached." Upon his departure, Dobie quipped, "You can't win games with Phi Beta Kappas." He finished up at Cornell with a 82-36-7 record. On September 22, 1936, the Big Spring Daily Herald (Big Spring, Texas) wrote, "Dobie left an amazing record at Cornell despite the lean years which marked the ending of his service at that school. When Cornell defeated its traditional rival, Penn, in 1921, '22 and '23 to break the spell of Franklin field, on which the Ithacans had gained only four victories in a series dating back to 1893, Dobie was hailed as a miracle man. His left-tackle smash was the most-dreaded power play in football." The paper continues, "His record on the Pacific coast was one of the most brilliant chapters ever written by a football coach. Over a stretch of nine years, from 1908 through 1916, his teams at the University of Washington never once were defeated. His Huskies played 61 games over that period and their record showed 58 victories and three ties. In only nineteen games were these teams scored on." His career was lost to the expanding universe of college football: Dobie coached at Boston College from 1936-1938, posting a 16-6-5 record. Prior to the '36 season, the 58-year old coach broke his collarbone in spring practice, scrimmaging with his team. In September 1936, a Lowel, Mass. columnist wrote, "Dobie is a fundamentalist, first, last and always. He has insisted on reducing football to its simplest form, declaring that not only it is unfair to the boy to expect him to grasp too many complications, but that there Is nothing as effective as good blocking and tackling. In his later years at Cornell, Dobie was forced to fight off an Insurgent alumni block which believed his brand of football was outmoded. They accused him of neglecting forward and lateral passes. On the other hand, It was no secret that Cornell did not have the material which once rode high and wide along the shores of Lake Cayuga. Dobie prevailed when he had the talent with which to fashion a winner." After the '36 season, in December, he was severely injured in an automobile accident in Boston when his car hit a bridge support. A few days before the accident, his Boston College team had pulled off a "surprise" 13-12 victory over Holy Cross. After a four-loss season at Boston College in 1937, the Lowel Sun (Lowel, Massachusetts, July 27, 1938) , wrote: "Something of ominous significance is detected in the fact that Boston College is the first of the New England football forces to call training. The Eagles will report on September 1, and that, sirs, is real early. It isn't early enough, apparently, for Gil Dobie who last year saw one of the most potentially powerful squads in the east bog down and wallow like an elephant in a fish pond. The collapse almost cost Dobie his job. 'Practice' he crisply states, 'will start this year on Sept. 1" Hot dog!'" In poor health, Dobie left Boston College after the '38 season, a season in which his team won every game but one. One newspaper columnist reminisced, "that early in the '30's, at Cornell, Dobie's teams started to lose. Power was overcome by trick plays of more modern coaches...He did much better at Boston College, but the players, I understand, resented his old-fashioned training methods and the Eagles' old-fashioned showing." Power football, the dreaded off-tackle slant and rigorous scrimmages had sadly seen their day, and, in the world of college football, the Sad Scott faded from view. In defense of Dobie's record at UW: The quest for elevating Dobie's accomplishments to their proper station will always draw an opposing argument that is founded in the scheduling of cream puffs, patsies, or whatever you want to call them.
No, Dobie never coached in the SEC.
In 1907, the year before the 30-year old coach took over at UW, the U. S. S. Nebraska had beaten Washington, 19-6, and Idaho and Seattle High School had each held UW to a scoreless tie, 0-0. So much for pushovers back then. His two wins over high schools in his first season at Washington by 22 and 18-point margins are a measure of the progress he made in his first year as coach along with winning the Northwest championship. UW went 4-4-2 in the prior season under coach Victor Place and its Captain Enoch Bagshaw. His winning ways continued after he left Washington in 1916. Dobie posted three consecutive unbeaten seasons at Cornell, and was hailed a "miracle worker." There's no gainsaying the fact that from 1906 through 1923 Gil Dobie had a firm grip on college football's winning formula, losing only five games in 18 years. The eight games with high schools over his nine seasons at Washington may be likened to the "soft" out-of-conference opponents scheduled by some of the major FBS schools today. Soft? Remember that Seattle high school had tied Washington in the season before Gloomy Gil's arrival. UW had narrowly beaten Seattle high school the year before that, 4-0.
Of all the newspaper articles I
researched, dating from 1908-1948, none of them criticized Dobie for
playing a "soft" schedule.
For instance, on November 4, 1916, a reporter in the Oakland Tribune wrote, "Eight years without a rival worthy of his metal Gil Dobie, pessimistic czar of Washington's football forces, found his match today when the team of the University of Oregon held his charges to a scoreless tie on a field (in Eugene) that resembled a lake. Oregon covered herself with glory and mud, and her students tonight are celebrating a "victory" in Portland and lauding the heroes who held Dobie's eight-year champions to an even break and foretold his fall as undisputed czar of football in the Northwest...the field was so slippery that open attacks were useless, and both sides got down to a working basis of old-fashioned line plunging." Placing a memorial on the vestiges of Denny Field:
As one fan posted on a Husky web site, "I walked up there one
day (Denny Field), and it's just as described. It seems like there
should be a plaque honoring the Dobie Sun Dodger's and identifying the
location, which clearly is big enough for a football field (if you
remove the b-ball and tennis...) The only way to know it's Denny Field
from the surroundings is a very small piece of paper outlining the
schedule. It would be cool if there were a plaque there honoring that
58-0-3 record. It's important to realize that the NDs aren't the only
teams with history. Nobody walking by Denny Field now would know what
happened there. 58-0-3... think about it!"
Is there a statue in front of Husky
Stadium honoring him? No. Not only is the Husky nation proud of Dobie's unsurpassed record on the gridiron but it respects equally his many accomplishments in instilling "character and manhood" in the players he coached. Upon Dobie's departure from Washington in 1916, Coyle had this to say about his old coach, “The man who is about to leave our midst has developed more character, more manhood, than any member of the faculty, except our beloved Professor Meany.” [Johnson]. Coyle served as the Lieutenant Governor of Washington State from 1921-1925. As a testimony to Coyle's remarks about character building, Demming "Dick" Bronson won the Medal of Honor for heroism in France in World War I. Bronson was awarded an honorary letter in 1915 (Appendix A below). Apparently hit by shrapnel, football star Cy Noble (1913) was killed in World War I. (November 14, 1918, The Centralia Daily Chronicle). Gil Dobie is to Washington as Knute Rockne is to Notre Dame. Along with Rockne, he was a contemporary of such famed football coaches as Fielding H. Yost, Percy Haughton, Major Frank Cavanaugh, Bill Roper, Johnny Heisman and Bob Folwell. During Gilmour Dobie's nine-year stint as a leader of the Purple and Gold, his record has never been matched or surpassed by any other coach in college football history--58-0-3. Immortality: This article is dedicated to the memory of William ("Wee") Coyle, who played quarterback for Gil Dobie from 1908 until 1911. He is no longer frightened of his coach. It is said they have been seen walking across Denny Field on moonlit nights, arm-in-arm, always smiling, always laughing, always upbeat. "Run it for me, kid, just one more time. Come on, kid, just one more time, one more time for Gloomy Gil." Eerily, likenesses of Wayne Sutton and Bevan Presley, in glistening form, join Coyle onto a playing field transforming into its original state. It is said that Coyle tucks his leather helmet into his gut and runs the Dobie-Bunk Play, while Sutton takes a handoff from Presley and runs towards an end zone that engulfs him in its swallowing shadow. At the gonging of the Varsity Bell, the Sled Dawgs embrace the gathering, their sled circling the field. 'Joyfully they sled on high, those sled Dawgs joined from afar. Mals and Huskies in the sky, their gravitas pulling at our star.' "Sutton, Presley, once more," Dobie shouts skyward while Coyle dons his helmet and barks out the play that calls the slowly brightening apparitions into formation, blank faces, too, called to the fore, this wiliness repeating itself until the tiring field, deafened by the roar of the glistening gathering, returns to its present state.
In an infinite multi-verse, there'll be another night to practice the
bunk play, for this ardent assembly of playfulness is an inexorable
amalgam of elements created by the stars.
Scraps from the table:
"Dobie became a widower at a very young age, when his wife, Eva (Butler)
Dobie, died of stomach cancer in 1927, leaving three children, the
oldest of whom was 12. Eva died while Dobie was head coach at Cornell
(where his teams won two national championships)." [Johnson]. Answer: Gil Dobie's starting salary was $1,200. It was eventually raised to $3,000, which occurred on December 9, 1910, when he was elected to the student board of control. His final salary was $3,100 per year. Acknowledgment: I wish to thank Mike Archbold, who, early on, was the first to crusade for the placement of a plaque at Denny Field honoring Dobie. Also thanks go to Lynn Borland for his hard work and dedication in researching Dobie's career and for setting the record straight. For example, his research uncovered the fact that the Dobiemen played 62 games at UW, not the 61 written into stone by the football literature and etched into the plaque depicted at the top of this article. [Borland]. Also, I wish to thank Moni Samek for her artwork appearing at the top of this article. Appendix A. The Dobie Record at Washington (58-0-3) [1956 media guide] 1908 (6-0-1) Lincoln HS 22-0; Washington HS, 23-5; Whitworth, 24-4, Whitman 6-0, Washington State 6-6, at Oregon 15-0, Oregon State 32-0. 1909 (7-0-0) USS Milwaukee, 52-0, Queen Anne HS 34-0; Lincoln HS 20-0; at Idaho, 50-0; Whitman 17-0; at Oregon State 21-0; Oregon 20-6. 1910 (6-0-0) Lincoln HS, 20-0; College of Puget Sound, 51-0; Idaho 29-0; at Washington State 16-0; Whitman 12-8; Oregon State 22-0. 1911 (7-0-0) Lincoln HS, 42-0; Fort Worden, 90-0; College of Puget Sound, 35-0; at Idaho, 17-0; Oregon State, 34-0; at Oregon, 29-3; Washington State, 30-6. 1912 (6-0-0) College of Puget Sound, 53-0; Bremerton Sailors, 55-0; Idaho, 24-0; at Oregon State, 9-3; Oregon 30-14; Washington State, 19-0. 1913 (7-0-0)
Everett HS, 26-0; All-Navy, 23-7; Whitworth, 100-0; Oregon State 47-0;
Whitman, 40-6; at Oregon 10-7; Washington State, 20-0.
Aberdeen HS, 33-6; Rainier Valley AC, 81-0; Washington Park AC, 45-0,
Whitman 28-7; at Oregon State, 0-0; Oregon 10-0; Washington State, 45-0. Ballard Meteors, 28-0; Bremerton Submarines, 62-0; Whitman, 37-6; at Oregon, 0-0; Oregon State, 35-0, at California, 13-3; California, 14-0. Appendix B. Meet the Dobiemen, long since passed into eternity (72 letter winners) Abel, Don 1914, '16 Honorary Letter Winners: Bronson, Dick 1915 APPENDIX C. Tidbits from old Newspaper Articles and other publications. In writing this article, I researched a number of old newspaper articles and publications looking for references to Dobie. Somehow, these bits and pieces never made into main article, so I'm including some of the more interesting stuff here. --- Washington's football team in 1913: Ray Hunt, LE, 178 pounds "Washington -- A University of the Northwest," Henry J. Case, 1914. --- "So can you blame them out in the golden west for ranking him as the greatest football mentor in America -- greater than (Percy) Haugton, greater than ('Pop') Warner, greater than (Amos Alonzo) Stagg, and (Laurence) Bankhart and (Fielding) Yost and all the others." Frank Menke, Brownsville Daily Herald, December 30, 1916 --- "Never since the forward pass was made a part of the football game has any team used the play with such wonderful effect as W. and J. used it against Yale. It was bewildering, astonishing—and oven beyond. W. and J. tried 38 forward passes during that game and 31 were successful. It was an exhibition, the like of which may not be duplicated for years to come." Frank Menke, The San Antonio Light, Nov 7, 1915 --- "Dobie some years ago decided upon secret practice. He closed the gates to the field, and plugged up the knotholes In the fences. A roar went up from the students who had been in the habit of spending their afternoons watching the workouts. 'Roar all you want,' snapped Dobie, when protests were made to him. 'I've decided that secret practice Is the best thing for the team—and the practice will be secret.' And it was." November 7, 1915, the San Antonio Light. --- 'Some years ago two members of the Washington faculty passed by the football field and overheard Dobie using 'shocking language.' They hustled to the Prexy and made a complaint. Dobie explained at his 'trial' that he had to use 'language' at times to emphasize his orders, and that he intended to go right ahead and use 'language.' And he is." November 7, 1915, the San Antonio Light. --- "Dobie will spend an entire afternoon on one item of offense or defense and consider the time well spent if his charges grasp the Idea. When he works out new plays he moves around his players like wooden pieces in a chess game and he continues to move them about until satisfied that the play is a success or failure." November 7, 1915, the San Antonio Light. --- "Dobie is tall and gaunt and cynical and with an almost overmastering hatred for publicity. Off the football field he keeps to himself; he talks but rarely — and never on football. That's his business — and he leaves business behind when business hours are over." November 7, 1915, the San Antonio Light. --- "PORTLAND. July 27.—Gilmour Dobie, of the University of Washington football team, is the first of the coaches to open the new season with a 'hard luck' story which become so plentiful as the season progresses and which nowadays always are taken with liberal applications of salt. Dobie is radiating gloom, and the source is the Mexican situation. President Wilson, Carranza and Villa, all of which he feels are conspiring to break his wonderful record of nine seasons of unbroken victory on the gridiron. With the call of the national guard for border duty, four of seven of last season's veterans joined the colors as well as three of his best second string men on whom he counted to fill up the gaps made by graduation. These men are Murphy, Grimm, McKechnie, Logg, Waring, Hardie and Boyle. "'I am not certain what proportions of our opponents' teams have gone out with the guard,' said the coach, "and the situation may be better in September. However, we are confronted with a difficult schedule at the best, and In the present circumstances I have no high hopes.' "Rival coaches smile knowingly. Similar wails have been emitted by Dobie during the past nine years, during which time him teams have yet to feel , the sting of defeat. "Oakland Tribune, July 27, 1916. --- "'The best trainer of an athlete is his mother. When I can get the mothers to care for my football players I never worry about the physical condition of my team. Most of the credit given me as coach belongs to the mothers of the boys. A football player should be kept normal. Give him the good home cooking he is accustomed to, his home bed and home surroundings. The one thing I, bar is intoxicants. I never have small men on my teams. The small man does not belong in football. A good player needs to be big from the waist down. He gets his drive, the thing, that counts, from his legs; I don't believe in having a whole lot of plays. A dozen or so are enough. Players should be kept in good mental condition. I send my boys into a game thinking they have a fine chance of being whipped and only a small chance of winning. That makes them fight.'" Reno Evening Gazette, Nov 1, 1915. --- "Gilmour Dobie, coach of the University of Washington football team, who resigned at the conclusion of the past season, is the 'miracle man' of football." The Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, Dec 23, 1915. --- ITHACA, April 25.— "Announcement that Gilmour Dobie's contract to coach Cornell football teams had been extended to May 1, 1933, was made here yesterday by Graduate Manager Romeyan Berry. The extension runs from May 1, 1026, the time the existing contract would have expired, and is in line with Cornell's attempted policy-of permanent resident coaching as in the case of the late Charles E. Courtney, coach of rowing, and John F. Moakley, present track coach, who has been here since 1899." Olean Evening Herald, Olean, New York, April 25, 1923. --- "Coach Dobie believes football players, particularly the backs, will be benefited by playing the game. His theory is that men who learn to handle a basketball and shoot it accurately can utilize this knowledge in football when the forward pass is used. Besides, says Dobie, the game develops quick thinking and greater ability." Centralia Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington, Dec 15, 1908. --- "Gilmour Dobie, who has coached the University of Washington to three consecutive Northwest championships, was last night elected to the student board of control to continue as head coach for the next three years, his salary to be $3000 for each season's work." Oakland Tribune, December 9, 1910. --- "'From what I saw in the east cannot say that the east is superior to the west. My last year's University of Washington team could have easily beaten any eastern eleven this fall. "'However, it is not fair to make a comparison this year. Take the Navy for instance—due to hurried graduations because of the war. The Navy did not have her usual material. Our colleges and universities In the east were affected in similar way, and I guess the west in general outclassed the east.'" The LaCross Tribune and Leader-Press, Dec 25, 1917, La Cross, Wisconsin--- "Revenge on the gridiron. That's what the University of California wants and demands. Said revenge is to be peeled from the football hide of the University of Washington—that is, if the expenditure of $12,000 on a brilliant coaching staff can do it. "Glittering among the personalities of this high priced coaching band are Eddie Mahan, great Harvard star, and Andy Smith of Columbia University. ... "Dobie, taciturn and defeatless, doubtless ponders in his tent at the stirring scenes on the rejuvenated California campus. In Oregon, sister state to Washington, Dobie is vastly unpopular. Oregon men claim he has purposely avoided dates with them that would have meant his defeat. There will be joy in Oregon if California licks Dobie. But the big idea is that Dobie has never been defeated. His cohorts buried California beneath a scandalous score. The blue and gold is building all its hopes anent the day when California again faces Washington ... "Twelve thousand dollars to win a football game? "Will California and her coaching stars turn the trick?" Reno Evening News, Sept 14, 1916 References:
Richard Linde can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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I
In 1908, his first year at
Washington, Dobie (top row, second from right) posted a 6-0-1 season and won the Northwest
championship. This followed a break-even season in 1907, when
Washington, under coach Victor Place, went 4-4-2.
During
his stay at Washington, Dobie posted 42 shutout wins, holding his
opponents to an average of 1.9 points per game. His players went full
bore the entire game and refused to let up on anyone. Apparently, Dobie
built up some enmities over time. “…he was loathed by opponents, who by
1911 resented the fact that Dobie was the one to dictate who played whom
and on what days,” one historian wrote. “His thunderous victories were
even felt and resented years later,” this writer continues.