Palisades Author Reveals Legend of Gilmour Dobie

The story of University of Washington head football coach Gilmour Dobie, who roamed the sidelines in Seattle from 1908 to 1916 with a duster on his shoulders and a cigar in his hand, is equal parts American sports folk story and Dickensian fable. Dobie’s accomplishments were robust. Often mentioned as one of the greatest coaches of his era, he didn’t lose a game in his first 13 seasons. Over nine years at Washington (one of the five teams he coached in his career), he compiled an unparalleled 59-0-3 record. And in 1951, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. But for the majority of the 20th century, the tale of Dobie’s life was largely misunderstood. He was often vilified in the press as a combative and angry man. And the turmoil that surrounded his program at Washington, including his rocky relationship with the school’s president, ultimately led to his firing as head coach, despite having never lost a game. Now, thanks to first-time author and Pacific Palisades resident Lynn Borland’s biography on Dobie entitled ‘Pursuit of Perfection,’ the truths about the coach’s life have come to light. In 2007, after reading a story questioning why Dobie’the winningest coach in school history’wasn’t recognized alongside other Washington greats, Borland set out to answer that very question. A 1966 UW Business School graduate, he wrote an online essay that evolved into a full-fledged biography following an outpouring of interest from Husky fans.   What Borland found over his next three years of research was startling. Using first-hand resources (some over 100 years old), he discovered that historical errors and misconceptions about Dobie abound. But most importantly, Borland uncovered the fact that Dobie was an orphan. He lost both of his parents by the age of 8, a tragedy the coach never made public. ‘He was a commanding presence,’ Borland said. ‘When it comes to the other coaches like Heisman, Rockne and Warner and all those big names, he was at that time every bit as famous, admired and written about. ‘But he got lost in history because his personality was not understood. Had it been known that he was an orphan and a mistreated orphan at that’literally living a David Copperfield existence’people would have better understood what he was about.’ Those truths have now been fully reveled. As a result of the biography, some of Dobie’s grandchildren who never met him, as well as relatives of players who played under him at Washington, have enjoyed the chance to connect with this historic figure’a fact that Borland relishes.   ’It’s satisfying to set the record straight on this great coach,’ Borland said.   He will discuss the book and sign copies at Village Books on Swarthmore next Thursday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m.