Blair Cherry Johnson Blair Cherry ( August 7 , 1901 – September 10 , 1966 ) was a baseball and football coach for the University of Texas , and is a member of the Longhorn Hall of Honor and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame . Early life . Cherry was born in Kerens , Texas on August 7 , 1901 . He played his high school ball at Weatherford High School and later attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth in the early 1920s and was a three - sport star . Upon graduation in 1924 , he had a brief professional baseball career but soon entered the coaching profession . In 1936 , he married Florence Snodgrass of Amarillo , with whom he had two children . Coaching career . High schools . Cherry ' s first coaching position was at Ranger High School in Ranger , Texas , where he spent three seasons from 1926 - 1928 . In 1929 , Cherry coached for one season at North Side High School in Fort Worth . In 1930 , Cherry was named head coach at Amarillo High School . It was here that he established his reputation as a head coach . He compiled a record of 84 wins and 5 losses , with 45 of those wins by shutout . The average score in these games was 30 - 5 . Amarillo High became the second school in Texas to win three straight state championships , in 1934 , 1935 , and 1936 ( first was the Paul Tyson - coached Waco High in 1925 - 27 ) , allowing the opponent teams only a combined 13 points in these three championship games . University of Texas . Football . Cherry was considered as a candidate for the head coach position at The University of Texas in 1937 , but was passed over for the better - known Dana X . Bible . Bible offered Cherry a position as an assistant coach on his staff . Bible groomed Cherry to be his successor , and upon Bible ' s retirement in 1946 , Cherry was appointed as head coach . As head coach , Cherry switched the Longhorns ' offense from a single - wing formation to the now - popular T formation , and found instant success . With Bobby Layne at quarterback , Texas earned a 10 - 1 record in his first year , a final ranking of fifth , and a defeat of sixth - ranked Alabama in the 1948 Sugar Bowl . In the 1948 season , his team compiled a 7 - 3 - 1 record and defeated eighth - ranked Georgia in the 1949 Orange Bowl . Following this season , Cherry was offered head coaching jobs by the NFL ' s Washington Redskins and Chicago Cardinals , but turned down these offers to remain the head coach at Texas . In 1949 , Cherry ' s Longhorns compiled a 6 - 4 record . In 1950 , the Longhorns won the Southwest Conference title with a 6 - 0 conference record , and earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic , as well as a # 3 final national ranking . Mid - season , Cherry announced that he would be retiring from coaching , and his last game was a 20 - 14 defeat at the hands of Tennessee in the 1951 Cotton Bowl Classic . Cherry was suffering from ulcers and insomnia at the time of his retirement , and later hinted in the article " Why I Quit Coaching " that harsh criticism from fans and media , despite his 32 - 10 - 1 record and two top - five finishes , led to his decision to retire . Baseball . Cherry also served as baseball coach from 1943 to 1945 during Bibb Falk ' s absence . His teams compiled a 30 - 23 overall record , but won 2 conference titles with a 22 - 4 conference record in 3 seasons ( no SWC title was awarded in 1944 ) . Post - coaching life . After retiring from coaching , Cherry moved to Lubbock , Texas to enter the oil business . He died of heart failure in 1966 , and is buried at Llano Cemetery in Amarillo . He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame shortly before his death in 1966 , and posthumously inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1968 .