Frank Dobson (American football)

Frank Dobson

Dobson at Maryland in 1936
Biographical details
Born	(1885-01-10)January 10, 1885 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 1, 1956(1956-12-01) (aged 71) Carlisle, Indiana, U.S.
Alma mater	Princeton University
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1906	Rose Polytechnic (assistant)
1907	Georgia Tech (assistant)
1909	Georgia
1910–1912	Clemson
1913–1917	Richmond
1918	South Carolina
1919–1933	Richmond
1935	Maryland (assistant)
1936–1939	Maryland
1940–1948	Apprentice
Basketball
1911–1913	Clemson
1912–1917	Richmond
1919–1933	Richmond
Baseball
1911–1913	Clemson
1915–1933	Richmond
Men's track and field
1914–1934	Richmond
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1910–1912	Clemson
1913–1918	Richmond
1918	South Carolina
1919–1933	Richmond
Head coaching record
Overall	137–142–24 (football) 166–113 (basketball) 197–124–2 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football 3 EVIAA (1913–1914, 1916) 2 Virginia (1932–1933) 1 SoCon (1937)

Frank Mills Dobson (January 10, 1885 – December 1, 1956) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Georgia (1909, with James Coulter), Clemson University (1910–1912), the University of Richmond (1913–1917, 1919–1933), the University of South Carolina (1918), the University of Maryland (1936–1939), and The Apprentice School (1940–1948), compiling a career record of 137–142–24. Dobson was also the head basketball coach at Clemson (1911–1913) and Richmond (1912–1917, 1919–1933) and the head baseball coach at Clemson (1911–1913) and Richmond (1915–1933).

Coaching career

Georgia Tech and Georgia

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Dobson was an assistant under legendary Georgia Tech head coach John Heisman.

In 1909, Dobson moved to Georgia Tech's arch-rival, Georgia. There, the new head coach, James Coulter, had no prior coaching experience. Dobson was hired as a co-coach and added new trick plays in an attempt to energize the offense. Still the team finished with a record of 2–4–2.

Clemson

Dobson moved on to Clemson University for the 1910 season, where he coached not only football, but also basketball and baseball. His overall record with the Clemson football team was 11–12–1.

Richmond and South Carolina

Dobson then moved to the University of Richmond, where he was athletic director and football, baseball, and basketball coach from 1913 to 1933, with one exception: in the abbreviated postwar season of 1918, rather than coaching the Richmond football team, he took over the South Carolina Gamecocks and led them to a record of 2–1–1. Dobson's overall football record at Richmond was 79–78–18, his baseball record was 153–112, and his basketball record was 153–106. Dobson was posthumously elected to the University of Richmond Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.

Maryland

In 1935, Dobson became an assistant at Maryland under head coach Jack Faber. The following season, he was promoted to head coach and served in that position through 1939. Dobson amassed an 18–21 record at Maryland.

Apprentice

Dobson finished his career as the 11th head football coach at The Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia and he held that position for nine seasons, from 1940 until 1948. His coaching record at Apprentice was 25–26–2. A highlight at Apprentice was a 7–6 upset of the Virginia in 1943.

Death

Dobson died on December 1, 1956, in Carlisle, Indiana. He was found dead in bed after suffering a coronary occlusion.

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Georgia Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1909)
1909	Georgia	2–4–2	1–4–2
Georgia:		2–4–2	1–4–2
Clemson Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1910–1912)
1910	Clemson	4–3–1	2–3–1	10th
1911	Clemson	3–5	2–4	13th
1912	Clemson	4–4	3–3	T–8th
Clemson:		11–12–1	7–10–1
Richmond Spiders (Eastern Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association / South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1913–1917)
1913	Richmond	5–3–1	3–0 /	1st /
1914	Richmond	5–4	5–1 / 0–2	1st / 9th
1915	Richmond	4–4–1	3–2–1 / 0–1	T–2nd / T–6th
1916	Richmond	5–4–2	4–1–2 / 1–3–1	T–1st / 9th
1917	Richmond	4–2–1	4–1–1 / 2–1	2nd / T–2nd
South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1918)
1918	South Carolina	2–1–1
South Carolina:		2–1–1
Richmond Spiders (South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1919–1921)
1919	Richmond	5–2–2	2–2–1	T–7th
1920	Richmond	6–2	2–2	T–7th
1921	Richmond	4–3–1	2–2–1	T–7th
Richmond Spiders (Independent) (1922–1926)
1922	Richmond	6–2–1
1923	Richmond	3–5
1924	Richmond	2–6–1
1925	Richmond	3–6
1926	Richmond	2–7
Richmond Spiders (Virginia Conference) (1927–1933)
1927	Richmond	4–4–1	3–1–1	3rd
1928	Richmond	3–4–2	2–3–1	5th
1929	Richmond	3–5–1	2–3–1	5th
1930	Richmond	2–4–2	2–2–2	5th
1931	Richmond	4–5	3–2	3rd
1932	Richmond	4–2–2	3–0–2	1st
1933	Richmond	5–4	2–1	T–1st
Richmond:		79–78–18
Maryland Terrapins (Southern Conference) (1936–1939)
1936	Maryland	6–5	4–2	5th
1937	Maryland	8–2	3–0	1st
1938	Maryland	2–7	1–2	12th
1939	Maryland	2–7	0–1	14th
Maryland:		18–21	8–5
Apprentice Builders (Independent) (1940–1948)
1940	Apprentice	2–5
1941	Apprentice	7–1
1942	Apprentice	3–3–2
1943	Apprentice	5–2
1944	No team—World War II
1945	No team—World War II
1946	Apprentice	2–5
1947	Apprentice	1–6
1948	Apprentice	5–4
Apprentice:		25–26–2
Total:		137–142–24
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

See also

• List of college football coaches with 100 losses
• List of college football coaches with 20 ties

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Frank Dobson at Find a Grave