Former University of Georgia head football coach and athletic director Vincent Joseph Dooley Dooley has a 201/77/10 record as a coach at UGA over his 25-year tenure. His teams won six Southeastern Conference championships, as well as the national championship in 1980.
| Life & Career |
Dooley was born in Mobile, Alabama, and attended the Brothers of the Sacred Heart’s McGill Institute. Dooley was a member of McGill’s sports teams, the Yellow Jackets, and regarded basketball to be his finest sport for a few years.
Dooley attended Auburn University, where he played collegiate football and then coached under Ralph Shug Jordan . As an undergraduate at Auburn, Dooley was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. He served in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry officer.
Dooley was appointed as Georgia’s head coach after spending the first 10 years of his coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Auburn. He won six Southeastern Conference titles and one National Championship in 1980 over his 25-year career.
Vince Dooley was given the head coaching job at Auburn after the 1980 national championship season, thanks to former Auburn player and Alabama Governor Fob James. Dooley eventually turned down the position, which went to Georgia graduate Pat Dye. Vince Dooley was 3-0 against Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd in his first three seasons at Georgia.
Dooley, who was the inaugural recipient of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, was influenced by Dodd’s style and approach to the game. He was the second-winningest coach in SEC history at the time of his retirement, trailing only Bear Bryant.
Dooley departed as head football coach after guiding UGA to 201 victories, six SEC titles, and one national championship. He had served as athletic director since 1979. Georgia became one of the most successful sports programmes in the country under Dooley’s leadership.
During his tenure as athletic director, he hired former Florida State University football coach Mark Richt. Dooley ran for the Democratic Party’s Senate candidacy in 1986 for a short time. Dooley is a Gridiron Secret Society member. Kennesaw State University hired Dooley on December 2, 2009, to act as a consultant in the school’s effort to launch a football team.
| Personal Life & Relationships |
Vince’s younger brother, Bill Dooley, was a member of the Georgia Bulldogs’ football staff before going on to coach at the University of North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. In the Gator Bowl, held in Jacksonville, Florida in December 1971, the two brothers were on opposite sides of the field.
Derek Dooley, Vince’s son, is the tight ends coach for the New York Giants. Derek was the head football coach at both the University of Tennessee and Louisiana Tech from 2010 to 2012. During his time at Louisiana Tech, Derek also served as athletic director.
He has also worked as an assistant coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, the University of Georgia, Missouri, and LSU.
| Net Worth |
Vince Dooley, a former football coach in the United States, has a net worth of $5 million. In 1964, his beginning pay was $15,000 per year. In today’s money, that equates to roughly $123,000 per year.
He was paid a basic salary of $400,000 from 1980 through 1988, when he retired. In today’s money, that equates to roughly $1.2 million.