Blood, Ernest A.
Basketball
b. Oct. 4, 1872, Manchester, NH
d. Feb. 5, 1955
Although Blood is best known as the coach of the Passaic, NJ, High School "Wonder Teams" of 1915-24, he coached for a total of fifty-one years at YMCAs, high schools, and colleges, compiling an incredible record of 1,268 wins and only 165 losses.
At Passaic, his teams won 200 of 201 games, including a 143-game winning streak. His only loss came in the finals of New Jersey's first state tournament in 1919. The streak was still intact when he left after the 1923-24 season; it reached 159 games before Passaic lost to Hackensack on February 6, 1925.
Blood believed in a fast-paced offense and he was one of the first coaches to put his players through a total conditioning program so they could keep running throughout the game. His 1921-22 team scored 2,293 points in 33 games, an average of nearly 70 a game at a time when 30 or 40 points was usually enough to win.
He began his coaching career in 1895 at the Nashua, NH, YMCA and coached at other YMCAs until 1906, when he went to Potsdam, NY, State Normal (now Potsdam State University). While at Potsdam, he simultaneously coached Clarkson University for a time. After a 72-2 record at Potsdam and a 40-5 record at Clarkson, he moved on to Passaic.
Blood coached at the U. S. Military Academy in 1924-25 and 1925-26, then went to St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, where he spent the rest of his career, retiring in 1949. His St. Benedict's teams won five state championships.