A Renaissance Legend

VINCENT JOSEPH DOOLEY
SEPTEMBER 4, 1932 - OCTOBER 28, 2022
WHAT’S
THE WORD
HAMILTON CULPEPPER
VINCE DOOLEY THE BULLDOG SPIRIT IS ETERNAL
Longtime legendary head coach
Vincent Joseph Dooley meant the
world to a lot of people, and being
tasked with describing what he meant to
me is quite the responsibility. I’m younger
and never saw Coach Dooley in action on
the sidelines but his impact on this city
and this University didn’t end when he
stepped off the field that is now named
for him.
My first interaction with Coach Dooley
came when I was barely old enough
to hold a football, but I went to my
grandmother’s store, Appointments at 5,
with a football in hand as Coach Dooley
signed books for all the customers. He
signed my football and it still sits in my
bedroom with the words “To Hamilton,
Go Dawgs! Vince Dooley” written on it. He
regularly held book signings at the store,
and that gesture in itself always made my
grandmother Kitty Culpepper and her
partner Jenny Sligh the happiest ladies in
the Classic City.
I didn’t realize it then, but that signature
on that football is priceless in Dawg
country, and that experience will stick
with my grandmother and me forever.
My next interaction with Coach Dooley
came in 2015. Prior to the Alabama
game, I did a piece on the history of
the Georgia/Alabama rivalry. BI owner/
editor Vance (Leavy) got me in touch
with Coach who then gave me a call to
give me a few quotes on the series and
his experiences playing the Tide. He had
matchups with the other college football
legend Bear Bryant, and the stories were
incredible. Coach Dooley, who had plenty
of other things to do, gave his time for
a phone call to an eighth grader with
minimal journalistic experience, but it
made that kid’s year despite getting
throttled by Alabama that weekend.
I read that article the other day after
Coach Dooley’s passing. He reflected on
the 1965 win over Alabama, the Tide’s
lone loss in their national title year. The
details of the story recalled by Coach
Dooley signified, at that point in his
career, it was one of his greatest wins. It
was a flea flicker that Dooley called and
the two-point conversion to seal the 18-
17 win.
The simple story and five minute
phone call, once again, made an all-time
memory in my young journalism career.
The third and most important memory I
recall with Coach Dooley was a few years
later. Cheri and Vance asked me to tag
along at the Athens Touchdown Club on
an average Monday in the fall; little did
I know, Coach Dooley delivered just like
he did in 1980 and made yet another
memory for a young Bulldog.
The featured speaker Aaron Murray
was giving his remarks. He began to talk
about his new endeavors as a TV analyst
for CBS. Coach Dooley, from his regular
spot at the featured table in the front of
the room, spotted me across the Athens
Country Club ballroom while Aaron was
talking, waved, gave me a wink and
pointed at me.
That moment asserted a dream for me.
After the speakers finished, Coach
Dooley came to speak to Vance, Cheri
and, to my surprise, me. Vance began
to introduce me, and Coach Dooley
interrupted Vance and said, “I know
who this is. The great Bulldog journalist
prodigy.”
When Coach Dooley originally found me
in the crowd while Aaron spoke, I did not
know if it was intentional. He could have
been waving at the countless Bulldogs
in the room who he had probably met
hundreds of times more than me, but
after he spoke to me, I knew he was
intentionally waving at me. He told me
that when Aaron began talking about
journalism he pointed at me inferring
that I would be in that position one day.
As I said, that moment made my goal
of being a successful journalist that
much clearer. I mean, if Coach Dooley
refers to you as a prodigy, it’s gotta mean
something. He had seen a lot of talent
in his day, but to pick my talent out and
recognize it, meant to me that I have to
make this dream a reality.
I know Coach Dooley has had an impact
on many other people just like he has
on me; I am just lucky enough to get to
publicly tell my story.
I’ve interviewed multiple studentathletes
who played under Coach Dooley
and even more people who have had
interactions with him. It didn’t matter if
you were a player or a bypasser on the
streets of Athens, seeing Coach Dooley
always made the Georgia people happy.
I think I speak for everyone when I say
Coach Dooley is a kind, a real deal, downto-earth,
humble, DAMN GOOD DAWG!
Heroes are remembered. Legends never
die. The Bulldog Spirit is eternal. Rest in
Peace, Coach!! And as always, Go Dawgs!!
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 38 ISSUE FOURTEEN • GEORGIA TECH