Red Blair

Howard Holt "Red" Blair (February 21, 1900 – November 30, 1947)^[1] was an American college football and college basketball player, coach, and athletics administrator in Ohio and Missouri. He served as the head football coach of the University of Akron from 1927 to 1935 and at Southwest Missouri State College—now known as Missouri State University—from 1938 to 1946, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 82–50–12. Blair was also the head coach of Akron Zips men's basketball team from 1927 to 1936, tallying a mark of 89–40. Blair grew up in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and played football and basketball at Ohio State University. He was a member of the 1920 Ohio State Buckeyes football team that played in the Rose Bowl. Blair died on November 30, 1947, at his farm near Springfield, Missouri.^[2]

Red Blair

Biographical details
Born	(1900-02-21)February 21, 1900 Mount Vernon, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 30, 1947(1947-11-30) (aged 47) near Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1920–1922	Ohio State
Basketball
1921–1923	Ohio State
Position(s)	Halfback (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1927–1935	Akron
1937	Ohio State (assistant)
1938–1946	Springfield / SW Missouri State
Basketball
1927–1936	Akron
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1938–1947	Springfield / SW Missouri State
Head coaching record
Overall	82–50–12 (football) 89–40 (basketball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football 1 MIAA (1940) Basketball 1 OAC (1934)

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Akron Zippers (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1927–1935)
1927	Akron	5–3	4–3	10th
1928	Akron	5–4	3–4	T–6th
1929	Akron	9–1	7–1	4th
1930	Akron	7–1	5–1	2nd
1931	Akron	1–7	0–6	T–17th
1932	Akron	2–4–3	1–4–3	13th
1933	Akron	5–3–1	5–2–1	3rd
1934	Akron	3–4–1	3–4	T–12th
1935	Akron	6–3	6–3	T–4th
Akron:		43–30–5	34–28–4
Springfield / Southwest Missouri State Bears (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1938–1946)
1938	Springfield	5–2–2	2–2–1	3rd
1939	Springfield	7–1–1	3–1–1	2nd
1940	Springfield	10–0	5–0	1st
1941	Springfield	8–3	3–2	4th
1942	Springfield	2–7–2	2–2	T–3rd
1943	No team—World War II
1944	No team—World War II
1945	Southwest Missouri State	5–1–2
1946	Southwest Missouri State	2–6	1–4	5th
Springfield / Southwest Missouri State:		39–20–7	16–11–2
Total:		82–50–12
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Basketball

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Akron Zippers (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1927–1936)
1927–28	Akron	8–5	7–5	7th
1928–29	Akron	12–3	12–2	2nd
1929–30	Akron	11–3	10–3	2nd
1930–31	Akron	4–9	3–8	T–10th
1931–32	Akron	8–7	7–7	T–6th
1932–33	Akron	11–3	10–3	T–3rd
1933–34	Akron	15–1	14–1	1st
1934–35	Akron	12–3	12–3	T–2nd
1935–36	Akron	8–6	7–5	10th
Akron:		89–40	82–37
Total:		89–40
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. "Standard Certificate of Death" (PDF). Missouri Division of Health. December 15, 1947. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
2. "Howard Blair, Former Springfield Coach, Dies". Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. December 1, 1947. Retrieved December 16, 2010.

External links

• Red Blair at Find a Grave