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.

One Old Dawg on Gamecocks, the General, Butt Drills, Ties, and Sacking Spurrier

When the 1964 team played South Carolina , it was not their second game of the season, but their third. They’d come off a 7-0 win against Vanderbilt.

Dan Reeves  quarterbacked for South Carolina and would later play for the Dallas Cowboys. He would end his college career as leading passer in Gamecock History and participate in more Super Bowls as a player and coach than anyone else in NFL history including his appearance with the Atlanta Falcons at the Super Bowl in 1999.

It’s good Georgia had lineman like George Patton (All SEC, Atlanta Falcons).

Dubbed the “General" by Dan Magill, Jerry remembers, “It was great to play with George Patton. We were close friends and did a lot of things together off the field. George was so tall, he could cover a lot of ground, which made my job as a defensive end a lot easier. My job was to turn everything in. Our opponents couldn’t push George around. He could stand strong, and he could cover a large area. We’d played together enough we could read each other’s mind. Very seldom would we have a mix up on play calls or stunts. It was a joy to play with George.”

South Carolina was an opponent to be reckoned with, but this young Georgia team believed they could beat them—a belief instilled in them in part by legendary defensive co-coordinator, Erk Russell. “Everybody loved Coach Russell from the start,” One Old Dawg says. One of the ways Russell won over the players was by participating in “butt drills.”

In the pre-game warm-up, players took turns in the middle butting the shoulder pads of three players in the circle. Russell would step in to take a turn without a helmet, leaving blood streaming down his bald head.

The match up with South Carolina proved to be a back and forth struggle. With Lynn Hughes (All SEC, All American) and Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) alternating at quarterback, Hughes got the ball to Bob Taylor who scored first for Georgia. However, South Carolina soon matched them making the score 7-7. All the points were scored in the second quarter, but neither Georgia nor South Carolina were able to break the tie during the second half. Other players who received press were Ray Rissmiller (All-American, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills),George Nowicki, Bob Etter (Atlanta Falcons, Memphis Southmen), Mack Faircloth, Leon Armbrester, Ken Davis, Fred Barber, Vance Evans , Joel Darden, Wayne Swinford (San Francisco 49rs), Jerry Varnado, and of course George Patton.

When asked what he thought about tie games, One Old Dawg said, “A tie is like taking a shower with a raincoat on. You don’t accomplish anything. Neither team suffers defeat or experiences victory. It all comes to nothing. I hate ties. I don’t know why we didn’t have the good sense to put in an overtime rule like we have now, so that we could resolve the game and have a winner.”

About this time in the '64 season, One Old Dawg says, "We were beginning to gel as a team, becoming friends, and realizing our need for each other. Ecclesiastes 4:12 comes to mind. 'By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three stranded rope isn't easily broken' (The Message)."

One Old Dawg predicts Georgia is going to win this Saturday.  “I read Texas A& M handed the Gamecocks their first loss in eighteen games in Williams Brice stadium. No tie game this weekend. The Dogs will beat South Carolina in regular time. The Gamecocks will come out fighting, but I believe we’re strong enough to beat them soundly on their own turf.”

Just for fun, we're including a couple of pictures which a fan had colorized from the Florida Times-Union and later gave to One Old Dawg. They now hang on our walls and are from the 1966 Georgia-Florida game where One Old Dawg had a chance to sack then Florida quarterback, now South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier.

Here Jerry, 88, comes after Spurrier.

And he's got him.

Go Dawgs!

Remember, you can always count on us at One Old Dawg for the finest, mostly true, Bulldog lore.

One Old Dawg on knocked out, run over, and what matters

As One Old Dawg predicted, Uga has a new tiger skin rug installed in his Dawg House. What a game! Georgia  45, Clemson 21. The '64 Dogs beat Clemson, too, 19-7. That game served as a road sign that Georgia football was heading in a new direction.

The Bulldogs have a bye this week. One Old Dawg had kind of a bye early in the 1964 season, too, but not in a good way.

In the second game of the season against Vanderbilt, he was knocked out, and  later learned George Nowicke, an offensive end, had to go in for him.

“Poor Nowicki told me he had to play both ways the rest of the game,” says One Old Dawg.

That knock-out somewhat erased One Old Dawg’s memory of the Vanderbilt game. We’ve had to turn to news accounts to learn that UGA won a defensive struggle 7-0. Barry Wilson’s early interception put the Dawgs in good field position (Wilson went on to be head coach at Duke University). They capitalized on Vanderbilt’s error to score the only points of the game with a Lynn Hughes sneak from the one yard line. Georgia’s great defense was able to hold off the Commodores, who barely threatened for the rest of the game.

What One Old Dawg does remember is an incident that happened just outside Stegeman Coliseum one afternoon that fall. He and some other players were sitting on the curb resting before practice. A car approached on the way to the ticket office. Not paying much attention to what was happening around him, Jerry stuck his feet out in the road.

The car cruised right over them.

One of the player’s dads, a physician, just happened to be there that day and witnessed the accident. He rushed over. “Don’t move,” he said, “until we get someone to carry you inside.” He seemed certain the diagnosis would be dire.

When he was carried into the training room, the trainer Dick Copas (later Hall of Fame UGA golf coach) said, “What have you done now, Varnado?”

If you’ve been reading here, you know One Old Dawg had a tendency to get hurt. He would later receive the Johnson and Johnson Award for player with the most injuries.

X rays were made; consultations were done.

The report came back, “No broken bones.”

He walked away from the incident.

One Old Dawg has an endless string of stories to tell, but none more amazing than this one, and none point more to the truth that God had plans for Jerry Varnado.

When asked what spiritual truth he draws from this experience, One Old Dawg says, “That incident once more cemented in my mind the idea small things matter. Coaches had tried to instill that in us as players—small things matter—tackling correctly, blocking correctly, that football is a game of inches. One inch of not making the first down may mean the game.

The radiologist said to me that if the tires had crossed my feet one inch lower, it would have crushed every bone in my feet. If they’d crossed one inch higher, it would have snapped my legs at the ankles. But those tires crossed my feet at the exact point the structure of the feet and ankles could support the weight of the car except for minor bruising. Small things matter. 

Reminds me of Luke 16:10, ‘He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much . . . .’”

One Old Dawg was a little down Sunday afternoon. The Georgia-Clemson game didn't record in its entirety, and he couldn't watch the end of the game again. Also, he realized Georgia doesn't play next Saturday, and he'll have to sustain his adrenaline rush for two weeks. He's looking forward to that South Carolina game. 

Did we mention we have a 1966 Georgia/ Florida game photo hanging on our wall depicting One Old Dawg sacking Steve Spurrier? Of course, that’s a story for another day, but let that image bring a smile to your face.

Go Dawgs!

We extend our condolences to the Seiler family in the loss of their matriarch, and Uga's mom, Cecelia . The whole Bulldog nation mourns with you.

One Old Dawg and something very good in Georgia Football

As we finalized this week's post at One Old Dawg, we were saddened to learn of Dan Magill's passing. Jerry says, "My heart sank when I heard the words, 'Dan Magill died.' We all knew he couldn't live forever, but secretly we all wished he would. He was a fountain of optimism and encouragement. There was considerable talk about how small our 1964 defense was. Barry Wilson (All SEC) and I were often referred to as Georgia's 'wee' ends, which was somewhat embarrassing. But Coach Magill had a way of transforming negatives to give encouragement, often referring to me as 'the mighty mite' from Valdosta. He indeed was 'the greatest Bulldog ever.' We're praying for his family."

A few miles from here on the University of Georgia practice field, the Bulldogs are getting ready for their opening game against Clemson.

In 1964, the Dogs opened against powerhouse Alabama coached by the legendary Bear Bryant. Alabama would go on that year to be National Champions. The Dogs were coming off three consecutive losing years. Could new coach, Vince Dooley, change the trajectory of Georgia’s program?

There was a significant change in NCAA rules around 1964. Before, only two players could be substituted on any particular down. Now, on any change of possession, an entire team could be substituted. Instead of eleven players going both ways, now two platoons could be formed with twenty-two players, which allowed players to specialize. With more players, there was more opportunity.

One Old Dawg says this made a way for someone like him to make up for his lack of skill and speed by playing aggressively.

In the spring, for the first time, the staff moved toward forming offensive and defensive teams. Almost seventy percent of the defense was sophomores.

Lynn Hughes (All SEC, All American) led the Red team to victory in the G-Day game, and newspapers highlighted Georgia football greats, Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets); Bob Taylor; Frank Lankewicz; Doug McFalls (All SEC, Chicago Bears); Bob Etter (Atlanta Falcons, Memphis Southmen); Fred Barber, Marvin Hurst, Mack Faircloth, Ralph Bray, Joel Darden, Ray Rissmiller (All-American, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills), Jimmy Cooley, Danny Mitchell, George Nowicki, Vance Evans, Randy Wheeler (Buffalo Bills), and Don Porterfield, but also gave One Old Dawg a mention for recovering a fumble in the end zone. 

Both Jerry and his roommate Fred Barber received a shout out from sportswriter, Sammy Glassman, in Jerry's hometown paper, The Valdosta Times, "The Georgia coaches now say Varnado is in the line for extensive duty next season. One of Georgia's top halfback prospects is . . . Fred Barber. They say college stardom just might be his reward in the fall."

One Old Dawg says, “After Spring practice, we actually believed we could beat Alabama.” He leans back in the recliner and goes on, “If you’re not playing to win, there’s no use playing.”

In June of 1964, Dooley visited Valdosta. 

According to Valdosta Times sportswriter, Glassman, Dooley said, “All I can guarantee is that we (the coaches) will work hard to bring Georgia back to a position as a respected team in the Southeastern Conference.”

Glassman commented on the brevity of Dooley’s remarks, which included, “We do have some good football players and it just might be we are going to surprise some people next year. One reason I was hired was to win a reasonable number of football games. Given time and with your full backing, I believe the job can be done.”

Dooley concluded his speech with accolades for two Valdosta natives, “Both Jerry (Varnado) and Stan (Reaves) have a real desire to play football. If you have any more like them, then please send them over. Jerry had a good spring practice. He will play a lot for us next fall, especially on defense.”

One Old Dawg says, “When we deboarded the bus in Tuscaloosa for the opening game, one of the senior players on the team who had experienced the previous losing seasons at Georgia, said, ‘Alabama always beats us thirty points.’”

Alabama’s quarterback in the fall of 1964 was senior Joe Namath,  

who later signed with the New York Jets and received the unprecedented bonus of $427,000. One Old Dawg played every play on defense that game and had opportunity to hit Namath several times. “I tried to sack him and thought I had him a time or two, but I’d look down at Namath on the ground and realize he’d already thrown the ball. An end would have it thirty yards down the field. Namath was quick.”

The score that game was 31-3. As he boarded the bus back to Athens, that same senior player who’d made the earlier prediction said,  “I’ll tell you one thing, it’s the first time since I’ve been at Georgia that I knew who I was supposed to block on every play.”

One Old Dawg smiles. “That’s when I knew the players were beginning to gain confidence in the staff. Eugene Peterson translates Zechariah 4:10 this way, 'Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings?' That Alabama game was a small beginning for us at Georgia. Alabama only beat us by twenty-eight points, not thirty."

Something good was happening in Georgia football.

Something very good. 

Most fans hoped for a break even season.

  

But, even the best sports prognosticators couldn’t have guessed what was about to unfold.

One Old Dawg predicts something very good is about to happen in Sanford Stadium this Saturday. He says Georgia is going to win this week. He still hasn’t gotten over last year’s loss to Clemson, and he thinks it’s time beloved mascot, Uga, has a new tiger skin rug in his dog house.

Though, the Bulldogs have a bye week, we'll still be here next Wednesday .

Remember, you can always count on us at One Old Dawg for the finest mostly true Bulldog lore.

One Old Dawg on being a blocking dummy and other less than desirable experiences

One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado, describes his experience after moving up from the freshman team to the University of Georgia varsity with five words:

“I was a blocking dummy.

I was so beat up and tired, I wanted to do something to get out of the last week of spring practice in 1963. I decided I’d fake sick. Everybody knew what the symptoms of the flu were. I went to the infirmary; a nurse stuck a thermometer in my mouth, and when she left, I rubbed the thermometer on my shirt to drive up the temperature. When she returned, it read 103 degrees. The doctor came in, and I gave him symptoms of the flu. He said ‘I can’t release you back to the dorm.’ So he put me in the flu ward with about eight other guys who had it.

 

The food was terrible, so the next day, I called a friend of mine to bring me a hamburger from the Arctic Girl.”
 
Later in the night, that call proved to be ill advised when that hamburger made another appearance. He had the flu."Those nurses wondered where a hamburger came from," One Old Dawg laughs. He stayed in the infirmary a week and though still weak, was released the night before the G-Day game.

The first and fourth teams were paired against the second and third teams. This was in the days just before the NCAA changed the rules, and players still went both ways. Jerry was at the bottom of a list of eight ends and was confident that position insured he wouldn’t see a minute of playing time. He still hadn’t fully recovered from his unfortunate illness.

However, halfway through the first quarter, the end coach benched the first end, and pointed to Jerry. He went in with the first string.

One Old Dawg says, “Larry Rakestraw (All SEC, Chicago Bears) was the quarterback, and I’ve never seen anybody who could throw the ball harder.” He holds up a hand. “I had broken blood vessels on my hands from catching four of Rakestraw’s passes. I ran one of those passes thirty yards just to keep somebody from hitting me.”

At the end of the game, that guy who caught the flu earlier in the week and had just left the infirmary caught some press including a mention on television.

The unexpected events of that G-Day game were perhaps a personal foreshadowing of what would happen in the years ahead, those first years with Vince Dooley at the helm when One Old Dawg saw the star of University of Georgia football rising in the SEC and in the nation.

Jerry would hitch his wagon to that star.

However, physical setbacks continued to plague Jerry in 1963.

Just before reporting for fall practice, Jerry and a high school football buddy, Rusty Griffin, dropped by the Valdosta High School summer camp at a 4H facility in South Georgia. 

Rusty and Jerry

One of the coaches asked them to dress out and scrimmage with the players.

“The third team quarterback got hurt, and coach asked me to play quarterback which I’d never played before. Coach called a pass, and I dropped back to throw one. The lineman broke through, blocked the pass, and the ball came back and hit me on the end of my ring finger. Man, did it hurt. My finger wound up being broken in several places. 

I went to the trainer at UGA, and he sent me to Atlanta, because there was no orthopedic surgeon in Athens. The doctor first tried to splint it, but the next day, they did surgery and put pins in to hold the bone together. I asked the doctor about (UGA) football camp. 

‘Absolutely no way do you go to camp, and you stay home till school starts. I’ll tell the coaching staff what the situation is.’

I got in my car and drove home to Valdosta.”

Doctors told him that if he further damaged the finger, he might lose it. In every practice during that fall of 1963, trainers taped a big white X on One Old Dawg’s shoulder pads meaning he was ineligible for contact. The week of the Auburn game, he finally came off the sidelines, when someone was injured on the B team. His return to practice was short-lived as Jerry slipped on steps and sprained his ankle.

Because of his injuries, by the end of that fall, he had practiced only one day the entire season. The Bulldogs had another losing season ending at 4-5-1.

Head coach Johnny Griffith resigned.

When One Old Dawg was asked what he learned that first year on the varsity besides never to lie about having the flu, he laughed and said, “Back to Romans 5. Persevering through those first couple of years and being willing to stay in there to do what I had to regardless of adverse circumstance—that builds your hope— I made it through this, so maybe I’ll make it next year and get playing time. I began to look forward to the next year and the possibility I’d do better. I proved to myself that I could make it. I learned the truth of what Bazemore said, 'When you get knocked down, get back up. . .'

 

You can’t let this moment’s failure block your vision of tomorrow’s victories. You’ve got to put the game behind you, and say that’s over and done. Next week we’re going to do better.”

Though no one knew it at the time, things were definitely about to get better.

Headlines in the Athens paper broke on December 3, 1963.

“Vince who?”

Put on your red and black as One Old Dawg holds court again next Wednesday. He’s getting ready for the big event—the kickoff against Clemson between the hedges at Sanford Stadium.

Remember, you can always count on us here at One Old Dawg for the finest mostly true Bulldog lore.

One Old Dawg and how he almost didn't make it to Georgia

Fifty Years.

That’s how long it’s been since Vince Dooley coached his first game for the University of Georgia, and One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado, ran out on the gridiron for that inaugural game.

Dooley’s arrival back in December had been somewhat unheralded. Not exactly the warmest welcome.

No one was cheering, either, when Jerry arrived at Georgia two years before in 1962. He was little, 165 pounds, “dripping wet,” as he says. He wasn’t very fast, and he didn’t have a scholarship.

He had played football for the legendary Wright Bazemore at Valdosta High School. His senior year, the Wildcats were state champions, the middle year of a three year streak of state championships. The polls put them at number two in the nation--an illustrious launching pad.

Yet, Jerry, a self admitted “late bloomer” only started for the varsity that one year. He began his high school career on the humble JV—years fraught with adversity.

“Freshmen year in high school was rough. Early in the year at practice, I had a collision with another player, and the bar of his face-mask hit me right in the nose. Broke my nose. Had to go to the doctor, have this packing put in, and had to breathe through my mouth. I went back to practice that  day and asked Coach Bazemore if I could have another face-mask that'd protect my nose so I could still practice. They put another face-mask on there, but a day or two later I had another collision.

That face-mask broke, and it raked up my face. When it did, the tape on it grabbed my two front teeth and pulled them to a right angle. I had to go back to the doctor; he cut out the teeth and stitched up my gums. I went to Bazemore, again, and this time I got a big cage like the lineman wear, so I finished up the year. But that year started pretty rough.”

After two years on the JV, One Old Dawg made the varsity as a junior, but didn’t see playing time until his senior year. An injury caused him to be assisted off the field.

Here’s Jerry again, “I told Dr. Branch on the sidelines I hurt my back in two-a-day practice before the season started, but it got better and didn’t bother me too bad until someone hit me directly in the back during that game. The severe pain came back, but it did get better. Dr. Branch wanted to see me in his office Monday morning.”

Turns out, x-rays indicated Jerry had two vertebrae that had been cracked so long, they were already showing signs of healing. Dr. Branch told him he didn’t know if he’d ever play football again.

One Old Dawg says, “I left the doctor's office and drove around crying for two hours.”

A week later on his return visit, the doctor took more x-rays and when he looked at them he said, “Well, it’s not as bad as I thought. You’re cleared to play.”

Jerry went on to play in that state championship with Valdosta High.

Bazemore was fond of saying, “When you get knocked down, get up. You lay on the ground, you get stepped on, or you get the ground itch.” Jerry took that to heart and his senior year, Coach Bazemore gave him The Sportsmanship Award, because he never forgot how Jerry had played through his injuries across the years. Bazemore said of him, “You can’t beat that kind of sportsmanship.”

Jerry wanted to play football at the University of Georgia and attended Cowboy Ball at the Kappa Alpha house at UGA the spring of his senior year. Later, after he played in the high school all-star game, he was offered the promise of a scholarship at another SEC school. But he made another trip up to UGA. Previously arranged members of the Georgia Girls showed him and other prospective players around the Classic City. Jerry’s escort was a beautiful young woman who would later become a television personality and the wife of a well-known country music singer. That pretty much cinched his desire to come to Georgia.

So, with the promise of a scholarship later in the year, Jerry turned down that other SEC school, came to Georgia, and walked on.

When asked what spiritual lesson he derived from his injuries during high school. He said, “It’s Romans 5, ‘suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character hope.’ Perseverance is a discipline. If you stick with something, it leads to character and hope.

I wasn't all that good at football anyway. Those positions I was fast enough to play, I was too small, and those I was big enough to play, I was too slow.

I had encouragement, though. One practice, Coach Bazemore chewed me out a lot. I was down in the dumps. In the locker room, I heard, 'Hey Doc.' (He called everybody Doc but somehow you knew when he was talking to you.) 'Don’t worry about it when I chew on your tail, that just means I haven’t given up on you.' I figured if he hadn’t given up on me I shouldn’t either. After all, he was the one of the most successful coaches in the country. 

And there was my dad. Many a day I'd see him slip into the stadium after a long day at work  to watch practice. He never once said a word about my being on the JV squad."

It's  true Jerry didn't have size or speed or many other things one would look for in a scholarship player. However, he had tenacity. 

It had served him well at Valdosta High, but he couldn’t have known in the fall of 1962 how much he was going to have to dig down into that same well in the years ahead.

Join us here every Wednesday through football season at One Old Dawg. He’s warming up the recliner, stocking up on the popcorn, and getting ready to spin some of the finest mostly true Bulldog lore you’ve ever heard. 

We’ll be watching for you.

Go Dawgs!