One Old Dawg Remembers the 1964 Coaching Staff, Part Two

Happy Thanksgiving!! On this last regular season week for Georgia football, Jerry Varnado is back with part two remembering the coaches from the 1964 University of Georgia football season on the sixtieth anniversary of that team. This week we’re highlighting Dick Copas, John Donaldson, Jim Pyburn, and Frank Inman, the person who was responsible for Jerry playing football at the University of Georgia. If you missed part one, which included Bill Dooley, Erk Russell, and Hootie Ingram, you may find it HERE. 

And now let’s hear from One Old Dawg: 

“Dick Copas was hired as the Athletic Trainer and to say he was beloved is an understatement. It is important for players to know they can trust the head trainer to look after their best interest, which was true of Dick Copas. Team morale is critical to developing a winning tradition and Copas was a great encourager to that end. After one victory over Florida the football team insisted on giving Copas the game ball, the presenting player simply said, “He never gets the credit he deserves, but I don't know of anyone who isn't a friend of Mr. Copas.” His personality and competence as a leader were shown clearly in his later role as UGA golf coach beginning in 1970. In twenty-five years as Coach, the Dawgs produced thirty-one All-Americans and sixty-one All-SEC honors. Seventeen of his golfers went on to play on the PGA Tour. He was chosen as the National Coach of the Year in 1978 and was tabbed as the SEC Coach of the Year seven times. In 1994, he was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame and into the UGA Circle of Honor in 2006. He was a friend to all and a great contributor to Georgia athletics.

“John Donaldson Assistant Offensive Backfield coach. Coach Donaldson played at George in 1945-46-47-48 at halfback and won four straight bowl games. In the 1946 Oil Bowl game, he caught a sixty-five-yard TD pass from the legendary Charley Trippi. He went on to play for the Chicago Hornets and then coached at Jesup High School. While there, he won state AA championships in 1954 and 1959. Then, after serving on the Florida staff for three years, he came to the University of Georgia from 1964-1968 coaching the backfield winning an SEC championship in 1966. He went into business for awhile but then came back to Georgia in 1971 as the freshman coach. In 1973, he became head coach at Wayne County High and retired in 1982.

“Jim Pyburn  Asst. Coach. An Alabama native, Coach Pyburn played for Auburn in 1953-1954. He set a record for most receiving yards in a season. He was also All-SEC, UPI “Player of the Year,” and an AP third team All-American. He was voted SEC Best Offensive End by coaches in 1954. Having excelled in both football and baseball, he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and played there from 1955-1957. During this time, the Washington Redskins also drafted him. He later came to Georgia in 1964 as a coach for the defensive line, linebackers, and defensive backfield  over the course of the next sixteen years. He briefly retired and then returned to coaching to coach at Abilene Christian University from 1985-1986.

“Frank Inman was the Head Offensive Backfield Coach. In 1960 and 1961 Valdosta, where I played,  beat Richmond Academy for the South Georgia AAA Championship. Frank Inman was the Head Coach of Richmond Academy but at the end of the season he became an assistant coach at the University of Georgia. His last act as a high school coach was the North-South All-Star game in which I was a participant along with  other seniors on Valdosta’s championship team. I was unrecruited by any college, being too small and slow for college football. Coach Inman thought differently and somehow convinced the Georgia staff they needed to recruit me. All available scholarships were taken so they offered me a preferred walk on arrangement where I paid my way the first school term and the next year I was put on scholarship. . He remained on Dooley’s staff for 15 years in various positions and proved to be an important asset in the rebuilding process. He left Georgia in 1979 to take the position of Athletic Director for Glynn County School System which enjoyed much growth and success during his tenure. In his spare time, he spent twenty-four seasons working with Erk Russell, then Athletic Director and Head Coach of Georgia Southern as the color commentary voice on Eagle Football broadcasts. I will be forever grateful to Coach Inman for taking a chance on me, coming to Georgia was a life changing event. One of my big regrets in life is that I never sat down with Coach Inman and told him how much I appreciated what he did. But as the apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God every time I remember” him because of all he did for me. I know he was a Christian, and is in heaven, so one day I hope to get another chance to tell him.”

And now One Old Dawg weighs in about the upcoming game:

“Well, here we are at the end of our regular season and Georgia Tech is coming to town to play us between the hedges and on Friday night under the lights. I could not remember Georgia ever playing on Friday, which shows how bad my memory is. We played Georgia Tech in Sanford Stanford in1994, I’m sure I watched that game, and may have been  there. Anyway, we have the same Yellow Jackets this Friday at 7:30 p.m.  This swarm of Jackets is only 7-4 but they have several key wins including handing #4 Miami their only loss making them a dangerous team. We have a lot riding on this game, it is a must win for us, so we can’t let this bunch of bees get in our bonnet and mess with our minds. We need to keep our focus and take care of business, and I believe we will. This game will most likely turn out about like that Friday night game thirty years ago, which was Dawgs 48, Jackets 10. Gooooo Dawgs! Sic’em, woof, woof, woof!"

Well, that's it for the regular season One Old Dawg. Thank you for joining us in this sixtieth anniversary year. We hope to catch up with  you in the playoffs. Until then, a big 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. 

A Fifty Year Celebration and lots of Old Dawgs

Three busses emblazoned with “1964 Bulldogs” stopped traffic in two counties just as these players stopped their opponents on the gridiron fifty years ago.

 

 

Ray Rissmiller and Wayne Brantley swap stories

 

Marvin Hurst in the foreground and Jerry Varnado

Police escorts with lights flashing alerted onlookers someone special was passing by, but still, some probably didn’t understand exactly how special. Maybe they were too young or didn’t have enough historical sports perspective to know the sports legends moving past them drew a line in the sand that forever changed University of Georgia Football.

The night before, several 1964 players had attended a reception at the University of Georgia Special Collections library for the exhibit opening and celebration of Coach Vince Dooley’s fiftieth anniversary.

One Old Dawg with his former roommate Fred  Barber and  his wife Julie

Later, they gathered in an emotionally charged ballroom to remember and to hug. 

Top, Larry Kohn, Above, Ron Jenkins

 

From top left clockwise, Charley Whittemore who organized the 1964 Celebration, George Patton, Bob Etter, Dr. Tommy Lawhorn, Mack Faircloth, Vance Evans

 

Coach John Donaldson and his wife --- who is the designer of the Georgia G logo.

Trainer for the 1964 team and Hall of Fame Tennis Coach, Dick Copas

Joel Darden, John Glass, George Patton, Jerry Varnado

Loran Smith, Captain Barry Wilson, and Coach Vince Dooley spoke.

Captain of the 1964 team, Barry Wilson

Coach Vince Dooley

One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado, gave the invocation on this memorable night. Some of his colleagues who hadn’t seen him in decades expressed surprise that he had “made a preacher.”





The next day, these Old Dawgs took the same path they took before the games in ’64, arriving at Stegeman where they once dressed out, on to East Campus Drive, and then to Sanford Stadium. As fans waved and cheered at the procession, One Old Dawg said, “For a minute there, I thought I could play again.”

They arrived at The University of Georgia Football Lettermen’s Club for a pregame meal and more socializing.

Jimmy Denney calls out to One Old Dawg

 

Jerry Varnado, Wayne Brantley, George Patton, Frank Lankewicz, Randy Wheeler

 

Dickie Phillips, Anthony Dennard, Randy Wheeler, Pat Hodgson, Wayne Brantley, Marvin Hurst, Duncan Newkirk

Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, Pat Hodgson

Finally, they entered the stadium, and as many passed through the Jack and Joy Davis gate, they felt especially proud as Jack played center on the 1964 team.

The Georgia-Tennessee game proved to be an exciting one, and most hardly sat down the first half.

At the halftime celebration, the Redcoat Band played a medley of 1964 hits, a video rolled on the Jumbotron featuring several '64 players, and then the 1964 Georgia Bulldogs stepped on to the field as 90,000 people cheered for the first UGA team Vince Dooley coached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About these players Dooley said, “They wanted to win as much as anybody I've ever coached.” And that’s how they turned three losing seasons into a winning season with a 7-3-1 record.

 

One Old Dawg says, "I recently read Judges 6:15 again. '"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."' It reminded me of the 1964 team. We were considered small, unknown, and the weakest in the SEC. But as Gideon, we used what we had, supported each other, and were able to redirect the Georgia football program back to winning ways."

 

Some of these players would go on in just two more years to help Georgia win an SEC championship for only the fifth time in Georgia football history. However, it was this 1964 team that turned the ship around, to make a way for that championship. Georgia football fans everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to these guys.

At the end of the day Saturday, Georgia had beat Tennessee. And a bunch of Old Dawgs had another moment of glory, too.

 

A well deserved moment, indeed.

Several players and coaches from the 1964 team have passed away and were sorely missed.

 

About the Vanderbilt game this weekend, One Old Dawg says, "The Dawgs should have no trouble sinking the Commodore's already leaking ship, but we'd better be ready, they played South Carolina close until the fourth quarter."

 

One Old Dawg's wife offers a sincere apology to regular 1964 players of whom we did not get photos, among them, Joe Burson, Harold Steely, Doug McFalls,Wayne Swinford, Don Porterfield, Frank Richter, Ken Davis, Jack Davis, and Lynn Hughes. She was flying around trying to get pictures and missed some important shots. If you have photos, we'll be happy to run them in a future One Old Dawg photo gallery. If we've left anyone out, please let us know. Also, this post was so time intensive, we could not post links, professional affiliations, and awards as we usually do. We hope to update later. 

 

One Old Dawg on fifty years and his remembrances of Coach Vince Dooley

Big doings this weekend. Friday night, a bunch of Old Dawgs from the 1964 University of Georgia football team will gather with their coaches to reminisce and celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of that team as well as it’s being Vince Dooley’s first year at UGA. At the UGA-Tennessee game, they’ll all make an appearance on the field at half time.

This week, One Old Dawg talks about his Coach,  Vince Dooley, the man that changed the direction of University of Georgia football and who made such a difference in Jerry Varnado’s life.



One Old Dawg's Wife, Coach Vince Dooley, One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado at a gathering before the UGA-Troy game

On Coach Dooley’s knowledge of the game of football:

“The first year Vince Dooley was here, many people misunderstood him and didn’t know what he was like, particularly players, because he had the good sense to let his assistant coaches do their jobs. He was always there, but he didn’t do a lot of one on one coaching with players on the field.

I had the fortunate experience of playing for Coach Dooley for three years, but I also served as a graduate assistant coach for three years. I found out then, he indeed did coach, but he did it in staff meetings. He was the mastermind behind the Georgia Bulldogs. He set guidelines and parameters for what we were going to do, and let the assistants execute them. He was an astute student of the game of football. He knew what he was doing and how he wanted things to go.

The first coaches' meeting I attended, there sat Erk Russell, who was my hero since I played defense, with a notepad taking notes on what Vince said. I knew then Vince commanded respect from people who knew him and knew how much he contributed to the ongoing growth and development of a winning football team.”

On Coach Dooley’s fairness:

“My junior year, I ruptured a disc, had to have surgery, missed half the season and all of spring practice. In the summer, because of muscle spasms, I couldn’t work out much to get in shape for the next year. At fall football practice, Coach Dooley told me I’d reported overweight.

‘What do you mean Coach, overweight? I’ve been trying to gain weight the whole time I’ve been at Georgia.’

He said, ‘You’re reporting weight is 188.’

I was at 196. ‘Reporting weight? I didn’t know I had a reporting weight.’

‘Nobody gave you reporting weight in the spring?’

‘No, sir.’

He sat there and thought a minute. ‘Well, you’re still overweight; you’ll need to go to the 6:30 P.E. class for two weeks.’

This made me angry, because I was disciplined for not doing something I didn’t even know I was supposed to do. But later, when I started coaching, I understood. He knew he wouldn’t be able to explain why I didn’t receive the same treatment as others who reported overweight. If he didn’t discipline me, it would seem he was inconsistent. And who knows, I could’ve forgotten I was supposed to be 188 pounds. Plus, I wasn’t in good shape, and those P.E. classes got me ready to play.”

On how much Coach Dooley cared about players:

“I learned when I coached how much Vince Dooley cared about his players. He had a personal interest in them and did things we didn’t know about. Again, because he didn’t have one on one contact, many players didn’t realize how much he cared. We’d have discussions in coaches meetings about players and difficulties they might be having, and it’s then I saw he wanted players to be successful in football, in the classroom, and in life.

He was always liberal in giving graduate assistant jobs to those who needed them. The graduate assistant job is what enabled me to go to law school.”

On Dooley’s dedication:

“After the midday game on Saturday, sixteen millimeter film would be flown to Atlanta by helicopter to be developed. Later a helicopter brought it back, landed on the practice field next to the coliseum, and the film taken to Vince Dooley’s house.

After games, there’d be a party at the Dooley’s for recruits that were in town.  Since I lived near Vince when I practiced law, often, a friend and I would go over to the Dooley’s at 10:00 after everyone left to watch the film with him, and help him break it down for The Vince Dooley Show, which aired on Sunday afternoon. He’d leave about midnight and go to the UGA television station. Anytime you wanted to find Vince, you could find him at the Five Points Waffle House around 4:30 on Sunday morning after he filmed his show. Then he’d go home, change clothes, go to 8:00 mass and then come to practice at 9:30. Our Sunday morning practices were more of a training, than practice— just a little exercise to get players loosened up. Vince had it early Sunday so players could still attend church. I don’t know when he ever went to sleep.”

On Vince Dooley’s encouragement:

“In the early 1980’s, a friend from Valdosta asked me to be a lay speaker at a downtown church one Sunday. When I was in Valdosta, I visited a friend there, and didn’t know Vince was staying at their home. The Dooley’s daughter was a cheerleader at Valdosta State and they were there to see them play for the small college championship. What I didn’t know is they’d made plans to hear me speak as well. They went to 8:00 mass and then came to church to hear me. It’s also interesting to note Wright Bazemore, my high coach was there as well as my freshmen coach, Ken Cooper.

After the service, Wright Bazemore stood in a line for ten minutes, to speak to me, and took my hand and said, ‘Doc, I want you to know, I’m proud of you as I’ve ever been of any of my boys.’ It really meant a lot to me.

Later on, I ran into Barbara Dooley.

One Old Dawg and Barbara Dooley before the UGA-Troy game

She said, ‘As soon as the service was over, Vince looked at me, and said, “Jerry is really an evangelist, isn’t he?”’

Keep in mind that at that point in time, I was still a lawyer. I wasn’t a preacher. And I was beginning to deal with a sense of calling to preach. To have Vince Dooley recognize a quality in me that lent itself to preaching was one of several factors which led to me leaving my law practice and entering full time ministry.”

So, in many ways, Coach Vince Dooley’s influence has moved far beyond the football field in One Old Dawg’s life. Many players would have this same testimony. Coach Dooley’s life of integrity, commitment, faith, and service reminds us of a verse in Psalm 1, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:3) So here’s to you, Coach. Congratulations on your fiftieth year anniversary. Deepest and heartfelt thanks from One Old Dawg to another.

As to the game this weekend, One Old Dawg says that if he never hears “Rocky Top” again, it would be just great. And he doesn’t think we’re going to be hearing it much this weekend, because his Dawgs are ready to roll all over the Tennessee volunteers.

One Old Dawg will be there to cheer them on. Look for him. He’ll be with all those loud people wearing fifty year old game jerseys with his big old “88’” on them. They’ll be a raggedy crew, but smiling from ear to ear, so proud of their Old Dawg.

One Old Dawg on Troy, Good Coaches, Playing Defense, and Not Giving Up

So here we are. One Old Dawg thought that at this point, His Bulldogs would be undefeated. He started to wear black on Sunday to preach, but he was afraid folks would think he was in mourning. He was for a short time, but not for long. He gets a look of determination in his eyes, “When you lose, there’s nothing to do but learn from your mistakes, put it behind you, and move on. Now we focus on Troy.”

He settles into the recliner. “In 1964, I think we were something like Troy. Most everybody who had us on their schedule expected to beat us. We’d only won three or four games a year for the past three years, and we were at the bottom of the SEC.

Everybody who played us thought they would have an easy week. We proved you can turn a team around in one year, and you can beat teams that are supposed to beat you if you have players who want to win, and you have good coaching.”

The team definitely had good coaching. The 1964 coaching staff left a lasting legacy at UGA and in the SEC. Of every one of these legendary coaches, so much more can be said, so click on the names to find more information.

Doc Ayers, Head Freshman Coach

Mike Castronis, Asst. Coach (UGA All American)

Ken Cooper, Asst. Coach, (later head coach at Ole Miss)

Dick Copas, trainer (later Hall of Fame UGA Golf Coach, scroll to page 11 of this link to find Copas’ bio)

John Donaldson, Asst. Coach
Bill Dooley, Offensive Coordinator (Later head coach North Carolina, Virgina Tech, and Wake Forest)
Vince Dooley, Head Coach
Sterling Dupree, Recruiting Coordinator Frank Inman, Head Offensive Backfield Coach
Hootie Ingram, Asst. Coach (All SEC, Philadelphia Eagles, Later Head Coach Clemson, Athletic Director Florida State, Alabama)
Jim Pyburn, Asst. Coach (Baltimore Orioles, Washington Redskins) 

Erk Russell, Defensive Coordinator (later head coach at Georgia Southern)  

“Back to the game this weekened,” One Old Dawg says,  “We can’t underestimate Troy.

You can rest assured they have something up their sleeve. We can’t let them do to us what was done to the ancient city of Troy and let our opponent slip a Trojan horse into Sanford stadium.”

On October 14 of 1964, Sammy Glassman at the Valdosta Times wrote a column entitled, “Bulldogs and Varnado Better than Expected.” At that point, the Bulldogs were 2-1-1. It seemed the Bulldogs and Jerry had surprised a few folks. One Old Dawg’s Mama proudly saved this article.

Glassman writes of Jerry’s determination, “The college scouts, well they weren’t so impressed with the Valdostan. 'He (Varnado) is too small and too slow to ever play any college football,’ one scout said flatly.

But Jerry wanted  . . . to play some more football. He . . . went out for the freshman team . . . impressed the Bulldog coaches. Georgia quickly awarded Varnado a grid scholarship.”

He goes on to quote Vince Dooley. "‘By college standards Jerry is small and slow to be a defensive end, but you wait and see, he’s going to play a lot of football for Georgia.

He has a determined attitude and he’s not afraid to hit. These are things you can’t teach a boy.’”

One Old Dawg is fond of retelling a joke from the Christian comedian Carl Hurley about a running back who decided after one too many crushing tackles that he wanted to play defense. The player explained to the coach in his backwoods accent, “I don’t want the ball. That’s what’s attractin’ ‘em.”

Well, that’s a little bit of what One Old Dawg thought, too. He liked defense. Glassman quotes Wright Bazemore, “When he played for us (Valdosta High), Jerry had a knack of being in the right place at the right time, and he wasn’t afraid to strike. That made him a really good player.”

But then Glassman includes an explanation from Jerry, “In explaining his fondness for a place on the stop’em crew, Varnado says simply, ‘I’d rather be looking for someone to hit than have them coming after me’”

In other words, “The ball’s what’s attractin’ ‘em.”



Wright Bazemore, Jerry Varnado, Vince Dooley

When asked what kept him going through all the negative comments about his abilities early on, One Old Dawg says, “Football was a big deal in Valdosta, and I was determined to be part of it.  As an encouragement to a good King, God spoke these words to him through a prophet: 'But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded'(2 Chronicles 15:7). Somehow I believed that in my heart even though I had probably never read the words at the time.

So, I kept at it. In my hunting circles, there's this saying, 'If he keeps looking, even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.'"

And there you have it straight from One Old Dawg.

One Old Dawg predicts no Trojan horse will get past Georgia’s Bulldogs on Saturday. He’ll be there to cheer them on, and he's confident Georgia will win big.

Go Dawgs!

There’s an excellent exhibit open through December 15, 2014 in celebration of Vince Dooley’s fiftieth anniversary at the University of Georgia. “Vince Dooley: A Retrospective, 1954 -1988” is at The Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.