One Old Dawg Remembers the 1964 Georgia Football Coaching Staff

 

Welcome back to One Old Dawg! This week and next,  Jerry Varnado will be remembering the coaches on the 1964 University of Georgia Football team. We wish we could sit down with them and get their firsthand accounts, but sadly, they are no longer with us. But they certainly live on in memory and in legacy. And now let’s hear from One Old Dawg: 

“As I think about the success the Bulldog Nation has and is enjoying at the present time, Hebrews 12:1 comes to mind. The writer enumerated a number of great heroes in the faith from the beginning until just before the New Testament era began; those who paved the way for the coming of Jesus and the New Covenant God made for humanity. Then we find these words in Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” I know the context is entirely different, but I believe there is a principle here that transcends context. As I look back at Georgia football during my lifetime there is a cloud of witnesses, including the coaches we honor today and next week, that laid the groundwork for the success I enjoyed while playing at Georgia and continue to enjoy as a fan. This is also true in virtually every dimension of our lives. There are those who have helped, encouraged and motivated us along the way. Let us be intentional about helping and encouraging others that  we may be included in their cloud of witnesses. 

“1964 was a pivotal year for Georgia football. In 1959 the Dawgs were 10-1, SEC Champions and ranked # 5 nationally . We fell to 6-4 in 1960, and long-term coach Wally Butts resigned as head coach but remained as Athletic Director. Nearly all the coaches were retained, and former player and head freshman coach Johnny Griffith was elevated to Varsity head coach.  Unfortunately, the Dawgs’ decline continued with three straight losing seasons which led to Butts retiring and Joel Eaves being hired as  Athletic Director. Eaves named Vince Dooley as head coach. Under Dooley and a mostly new coaching staff the Dawgs went 7-3-1 the first year, including a victory over Texas Tech 7-0 in the Sun Bowl.  This was the beginning of new era in Georgia football which led to a Conference Championship team in just two more years which was ranked # 4 in the nation. That era continued for twenty-five years until Vince Dooley retired as head coach in 1988. During that time Georgia claimed one  national and six Conference championships while amassing a record of 201-77-10.  Dooley became only the ninth coach in NCAA Division 1 history to win 200 games. We have interviewed a number of senior leaders on that pivotal 1964 team and have previously recognized Coach Dooley’s role in getting Georgia back to winning ways and keeping it there. But we have only mentioned the names of the coaching staff that set out with Coach Dooley to redirect the Dawgs back to winning ways. So, now, we direct our attention to members of the 1964 Staff.

 “Bill Dooley, Vince’s  brother, was the Offensive Coordinator and line coach for the first three years of Vince’s tenure. He was well loved and respected by everyone especially the offensive line. But Georgia could not keep him, he left in 1967 to take the head coaching job at North Carolina which had only three winning seasons and one bowl appearance in twenty years. In Dooley’s tenure UNC claimed three ACC Football Championships and went to bowls six of his last eight seasons. He was ACC Coach of the year in 1971, and he left with more wins than any coach in UNC history.  He then tackled rebuilding projects at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest with similar results. He held other prominent positions and received other numerous awards as well. Don Lawrence, a former UNC coach once said: “Bill Dooley turned ACC football around. He came into this league and worked around the clock to build a fine program. Everybody else started working overtime to catch up.” We are thankful for his contribution to UGA football.

“Erk Russell, Defensive Coordinator.  Coach Russell was a graduate of Auburn University where he earned ten varsity letters. He was the last four-sport letterman in the college's history—a true overachiever. He was without question a master communicator and motivator. His players loved him and would walk through fire for him.  In one of the early 1964 games, we were warming up and the defensive line was doing a circle butt drill. A player would step in the middle, break down in hitting position, and point to someone in the circle who would then charge and receive a head butt in the chest. After three times a new person would step in the middle. This helped loosen the neck and shoulder muscles. All of sudden Erk stepped into the middle, broke down and pointed one out who charge in. Erk butted him in the numbers, only he did not have on a helmet and left the circle with two bleeding wounds on his forehead from the lace gromets on the shoulder pads. Erk went the whole game with those dried blood streaks on his forehead. I’m not sure why but that fired up everyone on the team. It became an Erk trademark, he did it every game.

"In seventeen years as UGA defensive coordinator, he coached 192 games; our opponents  scored seventeen or fewer points in 135 of them. In seventy-four games, the other team scores were single digits including twenty-seven shutouts. Under his leadership the  Georgia defense allowed more than twenty-eight points just eighteen times in seventeen seasons. He left Georgia after the 1980 season to restart the football program at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro Georgia which had been discontinued forty years earlier. After three years as a club team the Eagles moved to Division I-AA in 1984 and won the national title in 1985, 1986, and1989. Russell entered the 1989 season as America's winningest coach, sixty-eight wins and fourteen All-America selections—all during a seven-year period. In 1989 Georgia Southern eclipsed Division I's longest home win streak from twenty-six to thirty-seven games, won a third national title and became the only 15–0 college team of the twentieth century. Russell retired after that season with a record of 83–22–1 (.788). Thank you Coach Russell for your great contribution to Georgia and College football. 

“Hootie Ingram, Defensive Backfield Coach. He was born in Tuscaloosa and of course played for Alabama where he was an outstanding running back, and particularly known for his play at defensive safety where he earned the title, the “Tide’s Honorable Thief” as he led the SEC in pass interceptions in 1952. He spent several years coaching high school football and then after short stents at several colleges, Coach Dooley hired him as Georgia’s defensive backs coach. He coached  at Georgia until 1967 when he took a job as an assistant at Arkansas and then landed a head coaching job at Clemson. After three years he left coaching and joined the administrative staff at the Southeastern Conference for eight years. He then served as  Athletic Director at FSU for three years and finally back to his Alma Mater, Alabama as Athletic Director until retirement in 1995. 

“It is easy to  see from the accomplishments of these men on Dooley’ s first staff, that among his many other gifts he was a master at recognizing talent and placing people in positions where they could prosper. It was a unique group that did a tremendous job in pulling Georgia football out of a downward spiral back into a place of national prominence. The purpose of this writing is to acknowledge the contribution of the original coaching staff under Vince Dooley that turned Georgia’s program around. Buit it would be a tragedy not to mention Joel Eaves who was hired as Georgia’s Athletic Director when Wally Butts retired in 1963. It was he who recognized the capabilities of the young man named Vince Dooley who was Auburn’s Head Freshman football  coach. It was a bold move to hire Vince instead of some established person with head coaching experience, but Coach Eaves thought Vince Dooley was the man for the job, and he was right. He gave sound, effective leadership to the Athletic Department from 1963 to 1979.

“It has been hard to give much thought to the next game, I’m having too much fun relishing that great win over Tennessee. But it is time to look ahead for a moment to the game this Saturday. UMass has had a rough go of it this year, they are presently 2-8 with the Dawgs and UConn left to play, and it has been pretty much the same for a number of years. I know something about what those players are going through.  In my first two years at Georgia, we were 3-4-3 in 1962 and 4-5-1 in 1963. It was hard to be excited about football, but I was having a great time being a student at Georgia and football is what afforded me that opportunity. I feel for the UMass players and staff and hope better for them in the years ahead. In our only meeting in 2018 we won 66-27 and considering all factors, this Saturday most likely will be more of the same, the Dawgs winning by a large margin.”

Thanks, One Old Dawg. We’ll be back next week with more on the coaches of the 1964 Georgia Bulldogs, so until then Go Dawgs!!!

Who is One Old Dawg?

Jerry Varnado played defensive end at the University of Georgia on Vince Dooley’s first three teams, which included an SEC championship in 1966, placing Georgia fourth in the nation. He helped coach the UGA football team while in law school, and practiced law for over a decade. Later, after a series of tragedies, he gave his life to Jesus Christ. After much soul searching, he left his law practice and has preached the gospel for forty years. He’s still at it every Sunday.

Inducted into the Valdosta/Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame, he is also the recipient of the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame Fosky Henderson Award for community service. He is a past president of The Athens Touchdown Club and is now the chaplain. He has been an FCA chaplain for the Athens Academy Football Team for ten years.

He is the proud father of four children, and one sweet girl now with Jesus, as well as Bapa to two of the best grandkids ever.