NewPapaBear
Well-known member
THE BLANKENSHIP FILE
Birthdate: December 12, 1956
Birthplace: Fort Smith, Ark.
Hometown: Spiro, Okla.
Family: wife Angie; grown sons Josh, Caleb and Adam
Education: Biology degree at The University of Tulsa (1979); Master's degree at Northeastern State (1985)
PLAYING EXPERIENCE The University of Tulsa (Quarterback), 1975-79. Red-shirted in 1976. Started at quarterback in both the 1977 and 1979 seasons.
Bowl Games as a Player
1976 Independence Bowl (Tulsa)
Bowl Games as a Coach
2008 GMAC Bowl (Tulsa), defeated Bowling Green 63-7
2009 GMAC Bowl (Tulsa), defeated #22 Ball State 45-13
2010 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Tulsa), defeated #24 Hawaii 62-35
2011 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Tulsa), lost to BYU 24-21
2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Tulsa), defeated Iowa State 31-17
Bill Blankenship went 24-27 in four seasons at Tulsa. (USATSI)
Tulsa made things official on Monday morning, announcing that coach Bill Blankenship will not be back with the program in 2015.
"We are grateful for the service and commitment of coach Blankenship to our university, our student-athletes and our community, but we have decided that the program needs to go in a different direction," said Tulsa athletic director Derrick Gragg.
Blankenship spent four seasons at Tulsa, but the last two failed to live up to the promise of his first two years on campus. Blankenship took over the Tulsa program after Todd Graham left for the Pittsburgh job following the 2010 season, and he went 19-8 in his first two seasons at the school. The success faded quickly, though, as the Golden Hurricane were only 5-19 the last two seasons, including a 2-10 mark in 2014.
Worthy to note that Blankenships son Josh served as QB coach at Tulsa. Josh finished his playing career as the 2002 Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year; 2002 First-Team All-Big Sky Conference; 2002 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year at Eastern Washington after transferring from Tulsa for his senior season.
