 Collier on the sideline in September 29, 1963. | |
| Born: | July 2, 1906 Millersburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died: | March 22, 1983 (aged 76) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | HC |
| College | Georgetown (KY) |
| High school | Paris (KY) |
| Career history | |
| As coach | |
| 1928–1943 | Paris HS (KY) |
| 1944–1945 | Great Lakes Navy (asst.) |
| 1946–1953 | Cleveland Browns (asst.) |
| 1954–1961 | Kentucky |
| 1962 | Cleveland Browns (asst.) |
| 1963–1970 | Cleveland Browns |
| Awards | NFL champion (1964) SEC Coach of the Year (1954) |
| Records | Professional: 76–34–2 (.688) College: 41–36–3 (.531) High school: 73–50–10 (.586) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  U.S. Navy |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Unit | Great Lakes Training Station |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
Blanton Long Collier (July 2, 1906 – March 22, 1983) was an American football head coach who coached at the University of Kentucky between 1954 and 1961 and for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) between 1963 and 1970. His 1964 Browns team won the NFL championship and remains the second-most recent Cleveland professional sports team to win a title.[1]
Collier grew up in Paris, Kentucky, and attended Paris High School. After graduating from Georgetown College, he returned to his old high school to teach and coach sports for 16 years. Collier left the position to join the U.S. Navy in 1943 during World War II. At a naval base outside of Chicago, he met Paul Brown, who was coaching a service football team there. After the war, Brown hired Collier as an assistant coach for the Browns, a team under formation in the All-America Football Conference. After seven years as Brown's top aide, a span over which the Cleveland team won five league championships, Collier took a job as head football coach at Kentucky in 1954. His Kentucky Wildcats teams amassed a 41–36–3 win-loss-tie record over eight seasons.
Collier was fired after the 1961 season and Brown rehired him as an assistant. Art Modell, the owner of the Browns, then fired Brown in 1963 and promoted Collier to head coach. Under Collier, the Browns reached the NFL championship game four times and won once, in 1964. In eight seasons as a professional football coach with the Browns, they never had a losing season under Collier, who won 69% of his games, one of the highest winning percentages in NFL history for coaches with at least 100 games coached, which ranks among the top ten ahead of numerous head coaches.[2] Struggling with hearing loss, Collier retired after the 1970 season, although he remained a scout and quarterbacks coach for several more years. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1976, and retired to Texas, where he died in 1983.[3]
Collier was well-liked by players and renowned as a good sportsman and student of the game. The Kentucky chapter of the NFL Players Association in 2007 established the Blanton Collier Award in his honor. The Paris High School football field is named after him.
- ^ "Collier dies, fine coach". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 24, 1983. p. 30.
- ^ Ron Borges (March 16, 2020). "State Your Case: Blanton Collier won enough games to coach his way into Canton". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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