Former University of Georgia head football coach and Director of Athletics Vince Dooley was recently inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Mark Burkhalter Amphitheater in John’s Creek.

The GMVHOF typically holds its annual induction ceremony and banquet in Columbus on the first Saturday in November.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 16-man Class of 2020 was inducted in the organization’s home base of John’s Creek last Saturday.

The ceremony recognized Dooley for his “lifetime of selfless service to others.” Several of Dooley’s former football players, including some from the 1980 national championship team, were in attendance at the induction ceremony.

Since the Hall’s founding in 2013, a total of 131 Veterans will have had their framed citations and photos installed in the Floyd Veterans Building across the street from the Georgia Capitol.

Dooley served in the Marine Corps for two years following his 1954 graduation from Auburn and prior to his entry into the coaching profession.

As head coach at Georgia for 25 years (1964-88), he compiled a career record of 201-77-10, becoming only the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to win over 200 games. The Bulldogs won one national championship (1980) and six SEC Championships under his direction. He took his teams to 20 Bowl games and coached a Heisman Trophy winner (Herschel Walker, 1982), a Maxwell Award Winner (Walker, 1982), an Outland Award Winner (Bill Stanfill, 1968), 40 First Team All-Americans and 10 Academic All-Americans.

Dooley was named NCAA National Coach of the Year by every major poll in 1980 and by Chevrolet-WTBS in 1982. He was named SEC Coach of the Year seven times and NCAA District Coach of the Year on six occasions. He holds the unique distinction of being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in two different states: Georgia and Alabama. Dooley is a 1978 inductee into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and a 1994 inductee into the National College Football Hall of Fame.  He was inducted into the UGA Circle of Honor in 2004 and the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame in 2019.

Under Dooley’s watch as athletic director, Georgia teams won 23 national championships (10 in his final six years), including an unprecedented four during the 1998-99 year (gymnastics, women’s swimming, men’s tennis and men’s golf). Also during his tenure, Georgia athletic teams won 78 SEC team championships and numerous individual national titles in both men’s and women’s sports.

He has been inducted into numerous other Halls of Fame, including the College Football Hall of Fame and states of Georgia and Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

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