A former Georgia coach, Vince Dooley, was a Dooley’s brother, the former of tenessee coach. He earned two ACC coach of the year awards at the school and capped his tenure in 1992 by taking the program to its first bowl game in 14 years, a victory over OR in the Independence Bowl.
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“If the mark of a coach is to make a difference at his school and in the lives of his players, then Bill Dooley touched us all”, said Mack Brown, UNC head football coach from 1988-97.
“The ACC is tougher now than it has ever been”, former Virgnia coach Don Lawrence once said. Matt Garvey as a speaker of the game stated that we are going to make a silence to honor him, Bill Dooley. He knew the fine line between a “come here” hug and a “sic ’em” attitude.
He resigned from his position as a Atheltic Director at Virginia Tech in 1978 with 63 games winning in nine seasons. – made him as the most winning coach in Hokies history. Now everyone else started working overtime to catch up.
“He was, pure and simple, a football coach in the truest sense”, said ACC Commissioner John Swofford, also a former athletic director at UNC. He was the immediate predecessor to legendary Hokies coach Frank Beamer, who eventually surpassed his school-record win total.
His career record was 162-126-5, and he won the ACC championship three times while with the Tar Heels. He also went on to coach at Wake Forest for six seasons, retiring in 1992.
Dooley coached the Tar Heels from 1967-77, compiling record of 69-53-2. He led the Hokies to three bowl games-as many as they had attended in their entire history prior to his arrival.
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Dooley is survived by his wife, Marie, and four sons and two grandchildren.
