Vince Dooley Obituary – Cause of Death: Legendary UGA football coach Dooley dies at 90.
According to a statement from the university, Vince Dooley, the esteemed former football coach and athletic director of the University of Georgia, passed away on Friday.
At the age of 90, Dooley passed away quietly at home on Friday, accompanied by his wife and four kids.
Dooley, who has 201 career victories and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the Georgia and Alabama Halls of Fame, is regarded as Georgia’s highest-paid football coach of all time. From 1964 through 1988, he served as coach of the Bulldogs, guiding them to six SEC titles and a national championship in 1980. In addition, he has gotten a great deal of recognition for his work as athletic director from 1979 to 2004.
Former University of Georgia head football coach Vincent Joseph Dooley served as athletic director from 1979 to 2004 and as head coach from 1964 to 1988. Dooley established a record of 201-77-10 during his 25-year tenure as a coach at UGA. His group won the 1980 national title in addition to six Southeast Conference titles. Several groups, notably the National Association of Sports Commentators and Sports Writers, whose annual award was eventually renamed the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, recognized Dooley as the College Football Coach of the Year following the 1980 campaign. The defense and attack of Dooley’s squad are renowned for their tenacity.
Erskine “Eck” Russell, Dooley’s defensive coordinator, supported him from 1964 until 1980. He passed away today at his Georgian Athens residence.
Dooley was raised in Mobile, Alabama, and went to school at the Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart-run McGill Institute. Dooley, a longtime member of the McGill yellow jacket sports teams, believes that basketball is his best sport.
Dooley earned his degrees from Auburn University, where he played collegiate football and later served as a coach under Ralph “Sugar” Jordan (BA in Business Administration in 1954; MA in History in 1963). When he attended Auburn, Dooley was a part of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. In the United States, he was an infantry officer. Corps of Marines.
Dooley spent his first ten years of coaching as Auburn’s offensive coordinator before being appointed head coach of Georgia State. He won six Southeast Conference championships (1966, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1981, and 1982), a national championship in 1980, and more than 8 wins annually throughout the course of his 25 seasons. With the support of his old Auburn teammate and Alabama Governor Forbe James, Vince Dooley was given the position of head coach at Auburn following the 1980 season that produced the national championship. Nevertheless, Dooley ultimately declined the position, which was filled by Georgia graduate Pat Dye.
Bobby Dodd was defeated three times by Vince Dooley in his first three seasons at Georgia State. Ironically, Dooley was the first recipient of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award and was influenced by Dodd’s playing style and philosophy. He was the second-winningest coach in SEC history at the time of his retirement, only Bear Bryant had more victories.
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