In 1955, Tulsa offered Dobbs the head football coaching job. Bobby accepted and left the Air Force. At Tulsa, he took over a team that had gone 0–11 the previous season. In 1956, Tulsa posted a 7–2–1 record, and in 1958, the team 7–3. These successes prompted Army to consider Bobby as a replacement for Red Blaik, but Dale Hall was given the job instead. Dobbs most significant wins at Tulsa were a 24–16 victory over the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1958 and a 17–6 victory over tenth ranked North Texas State in 1959. Dobbs compiled a 30–28–2 overall record at Tulsa. In 1961, Dobbs left Tulsa to become head coach of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was replaced at Tulsa by his brother, Glenn. After four highly successful years in Canada, Bobby resigned at the end of the 1964 CFL season. He felt that he had been slighted by Calgary's decision to elevate his former assistant, Rogers Lehew to general manager. With the Stampeders, Dobbs had a 38–23–1 record and made the playoffs every year. He served as head coach at University of Texas at El Paso from 1965 to 1972. In his first season as the Miners head coach, Dobbs turned a 0–8–2 team into an 8–3 that defeated powerhouse North Texas State 61-15 and beat Texas Christian University 13-12 in the Sun Bowl. He compiled a 41–35–2 overall, including two Sun Bowl wins. His 1967 UTEP team led the nation in passing and scoring that season, losing its two games by a total of three points. He resigned as UTEP Miners coach midway through the 1972 season, following a 56–7 loss to New Mexico on October 21, 1972. In April 1966, Dobbs turned down an offer to succeed Paul Dietzel as Army Black Knights coach due to his wife, Joanne's illness that required her to stay in the warm climate in El Paso. While at Texas Western, he sent many players into the pro ranks, with quite a few going, including Fred Carr, Billy Stevens, Ron Jones, and Leon Harden to Green Bay to play for Vince Lombardi. At one point Bobby ranked second among college coaches in number of players going in the National Football League. In 1972, Bobby said that if his 1–5 team didn't beat the University of New Mexico, he would resign. The team lost and Bobby resigned. He went into the construction business in El Paso until his health started to fail in 1978. Bobby's failing health turned out to be Alzheimer's disease, and he died on April 2, 1986 in a nursing home in Altus, Oklahoma.
