Bobby Dobbs Robert Lee “ Bobby ” Dobbs ( born October 13 , 1922 – April 2 , 1986 ) was an American football fullback and coach . Early years . After graduating from high school in Frederick , Oklahoma in 1941 , Bobby entered University of Tulsa to play football for coach Henry Frnka . A fullback , Dobbs played in Tulsa ' s first ever bowl game ; the 1943 Sugar Bowl . With the United States involved in World War II , Bobby ' s patriotism , along with his desire to become a pilot and play football , led him to West Point . In early 1943 , he joined the United States Army Air Corps . His athletic ability resulted in letters in football and basketball . Bobby was the starting fullback on the 1944 Army team . The 1944 Army team had a 9 - 0 record , two future Heisman Trophy winners ( Doc Blanchard & Glenn Davis ) , and defeated their opponents by a combined score of 504 - 35 en route to winning the Associated Press National Championship . Following graduation , Dobbs took transition training at Enid Air Force Base and was then assigned to Davis - Monthan Air Force Base . In 1949 Dobbs moved to Carswell Air Force Base , where he coached the Carswell football team to the Armed Forces Championship . In 1952 , Earl " Red " Blaik brought Dobbs back to West Point to serve as an assistant football coach . Future Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi was also on the same Army coaching staff . Coaching career . In 1955 , Tulsa offered Dobbs the head football coaching job . Bobby accepted and left the Air Force . At Tulsa , he took over a team that had gone 0 - 11 the previous season . In 1956 , Tulsa posted a 7 - 2 - 1 record , and in 1958 , the team 7 - 3 . These successes prompted Army to consider Bobby as a replacement for Red Blaik , but Dale Hall was given the job instead . Dobbs most significant wins at Tulsa were a 24 - 16 victory over the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1958 and a 17 - 6 victory over tenth ranked North Texas State in 1959 . Dobbs compiled a 30 – 28 – 2 overall record at Tulsa . In 1961 , Dobbs left Tulsa to become head coach of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League . He was replaced at Tulsa by his brother Glenn . After four highly successful years in Canada , Bobby resigned at the end of the 1964 CFL season . He felt that he had been slighted by Calgary ' s decision to elevate his former assistant , Rogers Lehew to general manager . With the Stampeders , Dobbs had a 38 - 23 - 1 record and made the playoffs every year . He served as head coach at University of Texas at El Paso ( known as Texas Western until 1967 ) from 1965 - 1972 . In his first season as the Miners head coach , Dobbs turned a 0 - 8 - 2 team into a 8 - 3 that defeated powerhouse North Texas State 61 - 15 and beat Texas Christian University 13 - 12 in the Sun Bowl . He compiled a 41 – 35 – 2 overall , including two Sun Bowl wins . His 1967 UTEP team led the nation in passing and scoring that season , losing its two games by a total of three points . He resigned as UTEP Miners coach midway through the 1972 season , following a 56 - 7 loss to New Mexico on October 21 , 1972 . In April 1966 , Dobbs turned down an offer to succeed Paul Dietzel as Army Black Knights coach due to his wife , Joanne ' s illness that required her to stay in the warm climate in El Paso . While at Texas Western , he sent many players into the pro ranks , with quite a few going , including Fred Carr , Billy Stevens , Ron Jones , and Leon Harden to Green Bay to play for Vince Lombardi . At one point Bobby ranked second among college coaches in number of players going in the National Football League . In 1972 , Bobby said that if his 1 - 5 team didn ' t beat the University of New Mexico , he would resign . The team lost and Bobby resigned . He went into the construction business in El Paso until his health started to fail in 1978 . Bobby ' s failing health turned out to be Alzheimer ' s disease , and he died on April 2 , 1986 in a nursing home in Altus , Oklahoma .