George Blankley

{{short description|American football player and coach}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = George Blankley

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|10|7}}

| birth_place = Curwensville, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|12|29|1918|10|7}}

| death_place = Madison, South Dakota, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = c. 1940

| player_team2 = College of Idaho

| player_sport3 = Baseball

| player_years4 = c. 1940

| player_team4 = College of Idaho

| player_years5 = 1941

| player_team5 = Boise Pilots

| player_positions = End (football)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1948–1949

| coach_team2 = Boise (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1950–1951

| coach_team3 = Boise

| coach_years4 = 1962–1969

| coach_team4 = General Beadle / Dakota State

| coach_sport5 = Basketball

| coach_years6 = 1947–1948

| coach_team6 = Caldwell HS (ID)

| coach_years7 = 1948–1962

| coach_team7 = Boise

| admin_years1 = 1962–?

| admin_team1 = General Beadle / Dakota State

| overall_record = 27–39–1 (college football)
15–2 (junior college football)
206–139 (junior college basketball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships = Football
2 ICAC (1950–1951)

Basketball
3 ICAC (1956–1958)

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

George C. Blankley (October 7, 1918 – December 29, 2016){{cite web|url=https://www.weilandfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=1261860#/obituaryInfo|title=Obituary for George Blankley|publisher=Weiland Funeral Chapel|accessdate=June 5, 2020}} was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University—from 1948 to 1962, compiling a record of 206–139. Blankey was also the head football coach at Boise Junior College from the middle of the 1950 season through the 1951 season, assuming the responsibility after Coach Lyle Smith was called into the United States Navy during the early part of the Korean War.{{cite news |url=http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=15&article=1004&context=uni_books&type=additional |publisher=Boise State University |title=Boise College – An Idea Grows |date=1950 |page=4}} Blankley compiled a record of 16–2 as head football coach of BJC. In 1962 was hired as athletic director and head football coach at General Beadle State College—now known as Dakota State University—in Madison, South Dakota.{{cite news |author= |title=General Beadle Hires New Football Coach |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16052125/the_daily_republic/ |newspaper=The Daily Republic |location=Mitchell, South Dakota |date=July 26, 1962 |page=10 |access-date=December 28, 2017 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He resigned as head football coach following the 1969 season, compiling a record of 27–39–1 in eight seasons.{{cite news |author= |title=Trojans' Blankley Resigns |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16051992/argusleader/ |newspaper=Argus Leader |location=Sioux Falls, South Dakota |date=November 17, 1969 |page=13 |access-date=December 28, 2017 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

Blankley was born in Curwensville, Pennsylvania, and grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball. He attended the College of Idaho, where he played football, as an end, and baseball. Blankey graduated from college in 1941. He played minor league baseball with the Boise Pilots of the Pioneer Baseball League that year{{cite news |title=Boise Pilots Play Coyotes If Field Dries |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C8NeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vzEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1588,877651 |newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune |date=April 11, 1941 |accessdate=October 13, 2011}} before becoming the athletic director and coach at Kuna High School. From 1943 to 1945, he taught physical education at his alma mater and then served as a physical trainer in the United States Marines. In 1948, Blankley was coaching basketball at Caldwell High School in Caldwell, Idaho.{{cite book |title=The Broncos: A History of Boise State University athletics, 1932–1994 |last=Ourada |first=Patricia K. |year=1994 |publisher=Boise State University |location=Boise, Idaho |isbn=0-932129-17-X |page=45 |url=http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=3&article=1006&context=uni_books&type=additional |accessdate=October 13, 2011}}

The field at Brian Kern Family Stadium, home of the Dakota State Trojans football team, is named Blankley Field in his honor.{{cite news |author=Staff |date=July 2, 2024 |title=DSU announces named athletic venues, opening celebration |url=https://siouxfalls.business/dsu-announces-named-athletic-venues-opening-celebration/ |work=siouxfalls.business |access-date=March 30, 2025}}