Bob Blackman (American football)

Robert L. Blackman (July 7, 1918 – March 18, 2000) was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Denver (1953–1954), Dartmouth College (1955–1970), the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1971–1976), and Cornell University (1977–1982), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 168–112–7. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1987.

Bob Blackman

Blackman, circa 1951
Biographical details
Born	(1918-07-07)July 7, 1918 De Soto, Iowa, U.S.
Died	March 18, 2000(2000-03-18) (aged 81) Burlingame, California, U.S.
Playing career
1937	USC
Position(s)	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1946–1948	Monrovia HS (CA)
1949–1952	Pasadena
1953–1954	Denver
1955–1970	Dartmouth
1971–1976	Illinois
1977–1982	Cornell
Head coaching record
Overall	168–112–7 (college) 34–7–2 (junior college)
Bowls	1–0 (junior college)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 WSC (1951) 1 Skyline (1954) 7 Ivy (1958, 1962–1963, 1965–1966, 1969–1970)
Awards
Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1970) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1991)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1987 (profile)

Early years and playing career

Blackman was born on July 7, 1918, in De Soto, Iowa. He played football at the University of Southern California, beginning in 1937. Blackman was named a captain of the freshmen team, but stopped playing after being stricken with polio. He was named an assistant coach at USC while still an undergraduate student.

Coaching career

After head coaching stints at the San Diego Naval Academy, Pasadena City College, and the University of Denver, Blackman was named head coach at Dartmouth College in 1955, where he was universally known among players and students alike as "The Bullet." In 16 seasons under Blackman, Dartmouth had a record of 104–37–3, including undefeated seasons in 1962, 1965, and 1970 while leading Dartmouth to their first conference title in 60 years in 1958. They would win it six more times in his tenure, including his final season in 1970. In his final season at Dartmouth, Blackman received the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award.

In 1971, Blackman became the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In six seasons with the Fighting Illini, Blackman had a record of 29–36–1. Blackman returned to the Ivy League in 1977, where he replaced George Seifert as head coach of the Cornell University Big Red until 1982.

Later years and death

Blackman retired to Hilton Head, South Carolina and died on March 18, 2000, in Burlingame, California.^[1]

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Denver Pioneers (Skyline Conference) (1953–1954)
1953	Denver	3–5–2	1–5–1	T–7th
1954	Denver	9–1	6–1	1st		18
Denver:		12–6–2	7–6–1
Dartmouth Indians (Independent) (1955)
1955	Dartmouth	3–6
Dartmouth Indians (Ivy League) (1956–1970)
1956	Dartmouth	5–3–1	4–3	T–3rd
1957	Dartmouth	7–1–1	5–1–1	2nd
1958	Dartmouth	7–2	6–1	1st
1959	Dartmouth	5–3–1	5–1–1	2nd
1960	Dartmouth	5–4	4–3	T–3rd
1961	Dartmouth	6–3	5–2	T–3rd
1962	Dartmouth	9–0	7–0	1st
1963	Dartmouth	7–2	5–2	T–1st
1964	Dartmouth	6–3	4–3	4th
1965	Dartmouth	9–0	7–0	1st
1966	Dartmouth	7–2	6–1	T–1st
1967	Dartmouth	7–2	5–2	2nd
1968	Dartmouth	4–5	3–4	5th
1969	Dartmouth	8–1	6–1	T–1st
1970	Dartmouth	9–0	7–0	1st		14	14
Dartmouth:		104–37–3	79–24–2
Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (1971–1976)
1971	Illinois	5–6	5–3	T–3rd
1972	Illinois	3–8	3–5	T–6th
1973	Illinois	5–6	4–4	T–4th
1974	Illinois	6–4–1	4–3–1	5th
1975	Illinois	5–6	4–4	T–3rd
1976	Illinois	5–6	4–4	T–3rd
Illinois:		29–36–1	24–23–1
Cornell Big Red (Ivy League) (1977–1981)
1977	Cornell	1–8	1–6	T–7th
1978	Cornell	5–3–1	3–3–1	4th
1979	Cornell	5–4	4–3	T–4th
1980	Cornell	5–5	5–2	2nd
1981	Cornell	3–7	2–5	T–5th
1982	Cornell	4–6	3–4	T–4th
Cornell:		23–33–1	18–23–1
Total:		168–112–7
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

Junior college

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Pasadena Bulldogs (Western State Conference) (1949–1952)
1949	Pasadena	8–2–1	4–2	4th
1950	Pasadena	6–3–1	3–2	3rd
1951	Pasadena	12–0	4–0	1st	W Junior Rose Bowl
1952	Pasadena	8–2	4–1	2nd
Pasadena:		34–7–2	15–5
Total:		33–7–2
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

See also

• List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association