The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Duly honoring a UGA legend
On Sept. 4, 1932, Vincent Joseph Dooley inhaled his first breath in Mobile, Ala. A good high school athlete, he was awarded a football scholarship to Auburn University, where he played quarterback for Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan. On the Plains, he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in history.
He has been bestowed with many, many awards and honors through the years. Vince Dooley served as head football coach at the University of Georgia from 1964 to 1988 and was also Athletic Director from 1979 to 2004. His football teams won six SEC championships and a national championship in 1980, when he was selected as National Coach of the Year. Five times he was SEC Coach of the Year. He has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, and UGA Circle of Honor.
In 2011, the Georgia Historical Society selected Coach as Trustee. He has won the Amos Alonzo Stag Award and the James J. Corbett Memorial Award, given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. His community service has been sustained and conscientious, with yeoman efforts rendered for the Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, Heart Fund and Georgia Easter Seals Society. The above list highlights only a few of his honors and achievements.
A coach is essentially a teacher, and there are many of us who are most grateful our lives intersected with Vincent J. Dooley in Athens. From the outset, the relationship was very vertical and Coach’s posture was all-business: tough, laconic, strict and fair. He was held in such reverence that I, for one, was hesitant to talk to him or look him in the eye, if I were alone.
It is interesting and intuitive that the difference in ages 32 and 18 is more than the difference between 84 and 70. He emphasized, of course, the fundamentals of blocking and tackling, as well as the synergy of team. Immediately before every game, he would review several principles or rules and always concluded with, “We are all for one and one for all.”
During my senior year, I remember walking onto a plane in transit to Lexington and seeing Coach Dooley reading a history anthology. I mused then that few college football coaches would be reading a history text before a big game. He was and is a cut above.
In his personal life, he has been a devoted husband and father, and a man of faith — though he would never wear his religion on his sleeve. He and his wife Barbara (a character herself ) have parented four alliteratively named progeny: Derek, Deanna, Daniel and Denise.
As the years have progressed, he has taught us how to grow old and how to “retire.” Coach has many and varied interests. Heck, he still arises daily at 6 a.m. for exercise and often audits university classes. How many college coaches are horticultural experts or Civil War scholars?
Vince Dooley is an exceptional man; indeed intellectually curious, he is a Renaissance man who has authored several acclaimed books.
Naturally, at age 84, Coach Dooley has endured a few routine health issues and recovered from all with aplomb. This man exudes character. I have seen him blame himself for a below-par showing of a Georgia team, stop and give autographs to many kids, or walk quietly into a noisy room of players— commanding immediate silence.
Goethe wrote, “Talents are nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.” Each game Coach Dooley’s work was displayed publicly in full view of 90,000 cheering or jeering spectators and often millions of television viewers. Daily, he quietly displayed his character to his colleagues and players.
Winning is an almost-sacred tenet in football, but some losses are inevitable. Coach Dooley emphasized winning with grace and losing with dignity. One of his favorite aphorisms was, “Games are won and lost on third down.” Yet, this coach taught us more than the subtleties of football; this coach taught us about Life.
As his players have scattered into various walks of life to pursue different goals, we have forgotten our assignments on a Split-60 defense against a Pro-I formation with the ball on the hashmark in the fourth quarter, with a 10-3 lead.
Yet, we shall forever remember those intangible lessons instilled in us: hard work, perseverance, “third effort,” sanctity of the team. There are hundreds of us who cherish our times on the gridiron with Coach Dooley; and, I daresay, there are hundreds of thousands of Georgia fans who are proud Vince Dooley was there in Athens as our coach for a quarter of a century.
The nexus of our relationship in those early years was intense reverence, akin to fear, which has now evolved into a more powerful four-letter emotion — love. Indeed, we love you, Coach ... and Happy Birthday!
Many area universities have honored iconic coaches with the naming of athletic venues: Vaught-Hemingway, Jordan-Hare, Bryant-Denny, Williams-Brice, Neyland. There are numerous precedents.
In April 1988, the Georgia Board of Regents named Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field. This is a wonderful recognition of Georgia Tech’s great football coach, Bobby Dodd, whose record (22 years, 165-64-8, .713) is not quite as good as Dooley’s (25 years, 201-77-10, .715).
The time has come to honor Coach Dooley by naming the field on the UGA campus “Vince Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium.” Doing so would properly honor his immeasurable contributions to the University of Georgia.
Tommy Lawhorne is a vascular surgeon in Columbus. He played football for UGA in 1964-67 and was defensive co-captain in 1967. He was valedictorian of the 1968 graduating class. He has served on the UGA Athletic Board and UGA Foundation.