The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Vince Dooley

Followed Johnny Griffith. Vince Dooley took Georgia from National Program I to Blue Blood.

201–77
1964–1988 · 1 stint
Georgia
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerGEORGIABlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyGeorgia, 1964: 7-3, National Program I1964Georgia, 1965: 6-4, National Program IGeorgia, 1966: 10-1, Power Program IIIGeorgia, 1967: 7-4, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1968: 8-1, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1969: 5-5, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1970: 5-5, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1971: 11-1, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1972: 7-4, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1973: 7-4, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1974: 6-6, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1975: 9-3, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1976: 10-2, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1977: 5-6, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1978: 9-2, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1979: 6-5, Power Program IIGeorgia, 1980: 12-0, Power Program IGeorgia, 1981: 10-2, Blue BloodGeorgia, 1982: 11-1, Blue BloodGeorgia, 1983: 10-1, Blue BloodGeorgia, 1984: 7-4, Blue BloodGeorgia, 1985: 7-3, Blue BloodGeorgia, 1986: 8-4, Power Program IGeorgia, 1987: 9-3, Power Program IGeorgia, 1988: 9-3, Power Program I1988+28.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 18th career season — faster than 4% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #95 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Georgia, 25 seasons
+28.9
National Program I → Power Program I.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

64–30 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bill Yeoman.

Rivalry record
64–30–3
66.0% · 4 rivals
One-score games
69–39–10
58.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–0
100.0%
Rivalry ledger
Florida17–7–168%
Auburn11–13–144%
Georgia Tech19–676%
South Carolina17–4–177%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bill Yeoman0–2–1
3 meetings, 1967–1974
’67 L’68 T’74 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
1–0 100.0%
Blue Blood
3–6 33.3%
Power Program
52–38 57.8%
National Program
81–23 77.9%
Regional Program
56–10 84.8%

Coaching career

1964–1988
Georgiatransformer
National Program I → Blue Blood
Vince Dooley took Georgia from National Program I to Blue Blood.

2nd-best Georgia tenure of 9 by the numbers.

Followed Johnny Griffith (1961–1963) · succeeded by Ray Goff (1989–1995).

201–77