Tale of the Coaching Tape: Nick Saban vs. Earl “Red” Blaik

Comparing the Alabama coach's numbers to the all-time greats on the 150th anniversary of college football

Courtesy Army football

Although Earl “Red” Blaik is primarily known for his football prowess, he was also a military man and served his country in both capacities. In addition to being part of the United States Cavalry for two years, he was an All-American end as a player (1919), and returned to West Point for two coaching stints at the United State Military Academy, the first as an assistant from 1927-33.

His first head-coaching job was at Dartmouth, which went undefeated in 1925 and received some national title consideration (although Alabama is generally considered the consensus champion that year).

He led the then-called Indians (because Dartmouth was founded in 1769, in part to educate Native Americans) for seven seasons and compiled a record of 45-16-4, which included a 22-game unbeaten streak from 1934-37. The 1937 season saw the program’s best finish in the Associated Press poll at No. 7 following a 7-0-2 season.

In 1941, Blaik inherited a 1-7-1 team, but immediately turned the program around and went 121-33-10 over the next 18 years, with just one losing season. Among his assistants, 15 of whom went on to become head coaches, were Sid Gillman (line coach, 1948) and Vince Lombardi (backs coach, 1949-53).

Under his direction, Army, aided by numerous top-end players enlisting to fight in World War II, had one of the most impressive runs in college football history. The Black Knights enjoyed a 32-game unbeaten streak from 1944-47, won consecutive national titles in 1944 and 1945, and finished with a controversial No. 2 ranking after tying Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in 1946.

The 1944 team averaged 56 points per game while yielding a total of 35, thanks in part to four shutouts. It also boasted six first-team All-Americans, who caused Blaik to once proclaim that the best game he saw his team play that season was a practice scrimmage (Note: Four years later he became one of the first college coaches to implement a two-platoon system, using players strictly for offense or defense). After finishing undefeated the coach received a 17-word telegram: “The greatest of all Army teams -- STOP -- We have stopped the war to celebrate your magnificent success. MacArthur.” With another perfect record in 1945, and going 9-0-1 in 1946, Blaik received his only national coach of the year honor, from the American Football Coaches Association.

During his 1941-58 reign the Cadets had three Heisman Trophy winners: Don Blanchard (1945), Glenn Davis (1946), and Pete Dawkins (1958). While in the same backfield, Blanchard and Davis were known as Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside. Ed McKeever, while coaching Notre Dame during the 1944 season, said: “I’ve just seen Superman in the flesh. He wears number 35 and goes by the name of Blanchard.”

However, Blaik was also the head coach during a cheating scandal that resulted in the dismissal of 90 cadets, including 37 football players. Among them was Blaik’s son, Bobby, who was also Army’s quarterback. Blaik had to be talked out of resigning by General Douglas MacArthur, who said, “Don’t leave under fire.”

Blaik rebuilt the program and retired after an 8-0-1 season, with a record of 121-33-10, 166-48-14 overall.

Among his other accomplishments, Blaik was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1986, wrote the book You Have to Pay the Price with sportswriter Tom Cohane (foreword by MacArthur), and also wrote a syndicated newspaper column published twice a week during football season with the proceeds earmarked to graduate scholarships for football players.

Nick Saban vs. Earl “Red” Blaik

(Statistics through 2018 season)

Category Saban ; Blaik

Seasons 23 ; 25

Consensus national titles 6 ; 2

Top five finishes 9 ; 6-i

Top 25 finishes 16 ; 16-i

Overall record 232–62–1 ; 166-48-14

Percentage 78.5 ; 75.9

Losing seasons 0 ; 1

Bowl record 14-10 ; 0-0

Percentage 58.3 ; 0.0

Conference titles 9 ; NA

Conference record 138-42-1 ; NA

Consensus All-Americans 41 ; 16

First-round draft picks 34 ; 3-i

Record against ranked teams 82-40 ; 27-19-7-i

Percentage 67.20 ; 57.55

Record against top 10 teams 42-21 ; 13-12-6-i

Percentage 66.67 ; 51.61

Ratios/percentages

National title seasons One every 3.8 seasons; 12.5

Consensus All-Americans 1.78 every season; .64

First-round draft picks 1.48 every season; NA

Average wins vs. ranked teams 3.57 each season; NA

Wins over top-10 teams per year 1.82 every season; NA

i-The first Associated Press poll and NFL Draft were conducted in 1936

Some of the information in this report was also used in the book "Nick Saban vs. College Football."