Dooley: Tebow in a class by himself

Ugh. From a front page story in USA Today:

Vince Dooley has seen Tebow pile up nine passing and rushing touchdowns in two lopsided wins in the last two years against Georgia, a rival SEC program that Dooley once coached for 25 Hall of Fame seasons. "Football. Athleticism. Leadership. Charity work. His faith. You name it. I've never seen anybody who had all that in one package," he says.

"That's what puts him in a class by himself."

Coach Dooley: 2009 Dawgs united

Vince Dooley was in Macon today signing books. He predicts a win against Oklahoma State, as do I.

Much has been made about the chemistry on this year's team. With Knowshon and Stafford leaving early, you had to expect the "team is the star of the team" narrative to take hold. But I found this comment from Coach Dooley particularly heartening:

"I think Coach Richt is gonna have more fun with this team than any team he's had in a long time. ... I don't know if they'll be champions, but they'll be champions in his mind. ... The coaches and the players are as united as I've ever seen a football team."

You know, Oklahoma State may be falling apart before our very eyes with injuries, distractions and a defection. Maybe I'm just feeling what I hope, but the closer we get to the season, the more I feel like there may just be a little magic in the air.

The last time we played Michigan State was Dooley's last game.

It's the only time we've met, and we're 1-0. We let these dudes tie it, it might stay that way for a long, long time. So pay freaking attention, Georgia.

From GSB:

The game will feature two of the nation's best running backs in Jevon Ringer of Michigan State vs. Knowshon Moreno of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Personally, I think this is the most appropriate bowl destination for this team given the season we've had so far. MSU hasn't beaten anyone of note this season, and neither have our Bulldogs. It's a test to see who is most legit.

The renaming of East Campus Road

In lieu of talking about not tackling.

It's been on my mind for a while. Current possibilities:

1980 Boulevard
Dooley-Walker Road
Walker-Dooley Road
Steel Chair Street

Considering the world's agreement that Herschel Walker might be The Greatest College Football Running Back of All Time, it's pretty staggering that there is no statue of the guy at the stadium.

It's not like everyone can't think of a good pose. He could be doing this. Or this. Or this. Potentially this. Or this. This might be over the top. But maybe this.

Or this, which has sound.

We might have to name the entire campus after Munson.

The Dooley garden seems nicely done. Tim Tucker at The AJC had this at the bottom of a piece he did last week:

A noted lover of plants, Dooley... accompanied renowned horticulturist and former UGA professor Michael Dirr and Atlanta landscape architect Alex Maddox to a nursery in Hickory, N. C., to personally select many of the trees and shrubs that have been planted in the plaza.

Maddox said visitors “will see plants they don’t normally see — weeping plants and variegated pines,” among others. And plenty of Dooley’s beloved Japanese maples.

The center of attention, though, is the bronzed Dooley, held aloft by players wearing Nos. 64 and 88. The numbers represent the first (1964) and last (1988) seasons that Dooley coached the Dogs. On the back of the bronzed jerseys, the players’ names are “National” and “Champions."

I'll tell you a secret about reporters: We like to put cool stuff at the end.

The Dooley Garden is fine. Until President Adams leaves and we can move the statue to the stadium and keep the park, too. The Michael Adams Athletic Complex Dawg Park. That has a certain ring to it.

The Dooley statue

When plans were announced to honor Coach Dooley with a statue and park near the practice fields, I thought it sounded like a nice honor. I had no idea it was really a thinly veiled slap from University President Michael Adams.

Insider Advantage polled "594 Georgians - 325 of whom identified themselves as individuals who 'watch, listen to, or attend University of Georgia football games and are a fan'" and came up with this opinion split on honoring Dooley:

Add name to stadium: 48%
Name field for Dooley: 45%
Erect statue and name complex after Dooley: 7%

Personally, I like the statue and the complex, though I might have chosen to put the statue just outside of the stadium. And I might have named the student section at Sanford Stadium in Coach Dooley's honor. And for years I've wondered why we haven't renamed East Campus Road "Dooley-Walker Boulevard."

But, when it comes to renaming the stadium... I can't believe it, but I'm going to agree with President Adams for quite possibly the first time ever.

The stadium already has a name. Hyphenating stadium names is something Auburn and Alabama do. Naming the field at the stadium is something Georgia tech does.

It's not that Coach Dooley doesn't deserve just about any honor we can give him, because he does. It's just that we don't do it that way here. Let's name the park and the statue, then let's do something else for Coach Dooley as well.

But save something real big for Coach Richt, because after he wins 17 National Titles and cures cancer in the next 20 years, we're going to need to have that ready to go.

Honoring Coach Dooley

I think this is fitting, and I particularly like the statue. It's one of the most iconic images of Coach Dooley. I initially wanted to see this statue placed closer to the stadium, perhaps at the southeast entrance that was redone a few years back, but this sounds like it will become a nice corner of campus.

I don't know exactly what the statue will look like. There are a few well known pictures of Coach Dooley on his player's shoulders, but this is the one I found online through the University of Georgia Library:












How 'bout this Dawg.