As he exits UGA, Adams should rename stadium for Dooley
Vince D. and Mike A., good buddies of long standing, share a hearty laugh. (AP photo)
Michael Adams is set to leave the University of Georgia in June 2013, which would mean he’ll have outlasted Vince Dooley by nine years. In the overheated summer of 2003, it wasn’t clear who would lose (or win, depending on your slant) the race to be last out the door.
At an institution of higher education, there was little edifying about their bitter struggle. Dooley, the athletic director, wanted to stay a little longer. Adams, who could never give a compelling reason as to why Georgia needed a new AD, wanted this one gone. Two smart and powerful men were reduced to bickering over half-years.
Dooley loyalists rallied, and such was their outrage that it seemed possible the president would be forced out before Dooley. But Adams managed to hold his job, mostly because he was, as a college president, delivering the goods. Dooley left quietly on June 30, 2004, to be succeeded by Damon Evans, and the bizarre saga reached its end.
Dooley lost his job but claimed overwhelming victory in the court of public opinion. He stamped himself as the wronged party, and when he gave the nod for his supporters to cool it — the 2003 summer convocation of the Bulldog Club of Greater Atlanta had been an embarrassment of pro-Vince overkill — he came away as statesmanlike. In the years since, Dooley has taken solace in having weakened his nemesis on campus and off. (If not for the memory of the Dooley feud, Adams might have received greater consideration to succeed Myles Brand as NCAA president.)
To say that the two men hated one another would not be overstating. Dooley considered Adams a meddler and a hothead, and Adams resented Dooley for trying to use a moment of presidential weakness — the AD asked for a contract extension not long after Adams had run off football coach Jim Donnan — as personal leverage. To suggest that either man has forgotten, much less forgiven, is a stretch.
Asked by colleague Chip Towers for a reaction to Adams’ announced departure, Dooley offered this beautifully meager kiss-off: “First of all, I commend President Adams on his retirement, his service and his contributions to the University of Georgia. I do believe it is time for a change and I look forward to the Bulldog Nation uniting under new leadership in the near future.”
Note that commendation for Adams’ “retirement” came two spots ahead of any note of his “contributions.” Note also that “time for a change” came in Sentence No. 2.
Dooley has always taken pains to note that Adams’ doctorate is in political communication, as if the only game the president had ever mastered was one that valued style over substance. But here’s where Dr. Adams can spring the ultimate bit of political jiu-jitsu: As a parting gift, he can name the football stadium after his adversary.
There were those of us who believed that should have happened a decade ago, but there was no way Adams would grant that favor at a time when Dooley’s forces were trying to get him fired. But now it’s 2012, and there could be no gesture more statesmanlike that this.
The school did affix Dooley’s name to the facilities on the southwest corner of campus in 2008, but that was thin gruel: It involved little more than transporting a statue someone had already made and holding a dedication ceremony on the morning Georgia played Tech. (Further indignity: Tech won the game.) Asked back then about naming the stadium for Dooley, Adams sniffed that the stadium “already has a name.”
But few Bulldogs fans would recoil at the notion of Sanford Stadium becoming Sanford-Dooley Stadium. (I’m of the opinion that “Dooley-Sanford Stadium” would sound funny. But maybe that’s just me.) It would be the right way to honor the greatest figure in the school’s athletic history, and it would be the right political move for a president who hasn’t always been seen as presidential.
Honoring his enemy would be a way for Adams to show that, this once if not always, he’s capable of being the bigger man. It would enhance Dooley’s legacy, but it would burnish Adams’ more. If this president left today, he’d be known as the guy who was right on academics but wrong in his handling of a popular AD. If he leaves after renaming the stadium for that AD, he’d become the guy who, in his final act, was wise enough to admit he’d gotten one big thing wrong.
That would, as even Dooley would be forced to admit, be one heck of an exit line.
By Mark Bradley
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529 comments Add your comment
Queen Noor
May 4th, 2012
12:27 pm
No. Build something new and wonderful for Coach Dooley. Develop policies to help athletes and name that after Coach Dooley. President Sanford deserves his tribute. Let’s not get ridiculous!
Spanky
May 4th, 2012
12:27 pm
GT Dude, How about “Dooley Stadium at Grant Field”?…rather than “Joke by the Coke”??since we have a better record in ATL than the home team!…anything else to say after the lst decade??
Matt
May 4th, 2012
12:27 pm
Coach Dooley was a good coach who did not maximize his talent.
azdawg
May 4th, 2012
12:27 pm
Two 800 lb gorilla’s in the same room fighting over the only bananna. They both come out bruised and lost something of themselves in the process. Herschel Walker made Dooley and Adams made his own bed the way he handled Dooley’s departure. We’ll remember both with mixed feelings but time to move on and up. Go Dawgs.
Spanky
May 4th, 2012
12:27 pm
…that’s last decade…
Are you serious?
May 4th, 2012
12:29 pm
Let’s see.
The Hawks are about to play 2 of the largest games in decades this weekend. The Braves are playing great ball and would be in the playoffs right now. The Falcons draft is less than a week old and you can even stretch it out to a race at Talladega Sunday and a Mayweather prize fight Saturday.
With all that going on, Mr. Bradley, could you please give us the insight as to why you wrote about this which (a) won’t happen and (b) Adams is still at UGA for another year before retiring.
Your mentor Furman Bisher just rolled over in his grave the minute you posted this ridiculous article.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
May 4th, 2012
12:29 pm
66…you must be kidding Coach Bryant made the statement the 66 Bama team was his best ever! You’re lucky you didn’t have to play Bama in 1980 otherwise you wouldn’t have the One! Name the stadium after Dooley after all he’s all you got.
Jim Bitner
May 4th, 2012
12:29 pm
I think this is a great idea – and I’m a Cornhusker fan! It also goes along with my current one-man crusade; rename Turner Field to Aaron Stadium at Turner Field. I know it’s a digression of the main point, but it’s a parallel thought to YoungDawg’s comment. Just like Dooley’s impact and greatness, Hank Aaron is that and more to baseball.
We now return you to the Dooley conversation…thanks for your time!
George Stein
May 4th, 2012
12:30 pm
Grow up, Spanky.
Dawg Haus
May 4th, 2012
12:30 pm
I like it, Mark! There are some of knowledgeable Georgia fans out there who don’t know who Dr. Steadman Sanford was, but there isn’t a Dawg in the house that doesn’t know Dooley.
Freedom
May 4th, 2012
12:30 pm
NO
Why Name it after someone living
May 4th, 2012
12:30 pm
Why not call it Munson Field at Sanford Stadium?
I dropped my fried twinkie
May 4th, 2012
12:31 pm
Hahaha WHY?
Sanford Stadium @ Herschel Walker field makes more sense.
Tide Rising
May 4th, 2012
12:31 pm
I have a hard time figuring out what the guy did to earn a stadium being named after him. Ya’ll got some pretty low standards at uga. One national title in twenty something years? Not impressed
On top of that the man simply didn’t give a hoot about educating his players. That’s the dirty truth that dawg fans don’t like talking about. Wasn’t it Georgia that had the controversy about graduating players who were functionally illiterate. And then the Jan Kemp controversy that proved it.
The truth is that the man ran a shameful, renegade program that didn’t give a dang about producing young men with a semblance of having been educated.
GTanner
May 4th, 2012
12:31 pm
It’s not just you. Sanford-Dooley it should be.
G-Dawg
May 4th, 2012
12:32 pm
Dooley would be nothing without H. Walker…Should call it Walker Field!!
Snellville Jacket
May 4th, 2012
12:32 pm
I think we’ll see the Israelis name a new freeway in Tel Aviv the Yasser Arafat Parkway before Adams will rename the stadium after Dooley. Just saying…
GTanner
May 4th, 2012
12:32 pm
Jim Bitner. Sign me up.
Freedom
May 4th, 2012
12:33 pm
How about every generation we just rename everything after someone in that generation? Lets call Atlanta – Barak Obamaville, etc.
Leave the names as the people who built them intended. If something new is built, then consider naming it something that is meaningful to the generation that builds it.
Mark Bradley’s “… and, a pony” moment | Get The Picture
May 4th, 2012
12:34 pm
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GT Dude
May 4th, 2012
12:34 pm
@Spanky – it was really a cut at the Adams – Dooley relationship, but I couldn’t resist a little jab
G-Dawg
May 4th, 2012
12:34 pm
Maybe rename the entry points into teh stadium after some UGA greatest though. Dooley tunnel, or something.
Matt
May 4th, 2012
12:35 pm
Keep Sanford Stadium as is. Maybe add Vince Dooley Field in silver letters either behind the Bulldog statue or on the first “overhang” on the North side upper deck.
GT
May 4th, 2012
12:36 pm
They tell me Adams doesn’t like Greek life on campus or cares that much about football. His goal was to improve a university that was controlled by a group of non academics who could care less about the education going on there. I always look at Auburn who had all that power in one man’s hand on the athletic board, and bet Adams noticed it too. Auburn which is not a bad little school academically, certainly better than some in the SEC, damn near lost it accreditation and was placed on probation. Not much was written about this probation, dare say the Tech football probation go more ink, but the Auburn thing was a warning to Adams that he took seriously.
Now I like Greek life and I like football, but I like my diploma meaning something too. If you are a old rich man who has yours, I can see you not caring about the future, you want it now. Adams saw the forest and their probably should be something named after him on that campus, even before Dooley, who was a might good football coach.
Russ
May 4th, 2012
12:37 pm
I certainly thank Vince Dooley for all he did for the University of GA and the athletic department, but the stadium is Sanford Stadium and should remain so IMHO.
Spanky
May 4th, 2012
12:38 pm
Stein, don’t like it?..leave!
ROCK STEADY FREDDY
May 4th, 2012
12:38 pm
That’ll be a big NO there good buddy! Over
Jan Kemp
May 4th, 2012
12:38 pm
Let’s name the stadium after all the mailmen and welfare recipients Coach Doodley flooded the school with during his tenure.
We’ll call it Food Stamp Stadium.
Tommy Dudley
May 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
I totally agree. What a wonderful statement President Adams would make as he steps down from the presidency of UGA. Coach Dooley is absolutely the greatest and most important leader the University athletic Dept. has ever had. I agree with your name of the stadium, Sanford-Dooley stadium. Let’s get it going
Dawgs1965
May 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
Ha ha ha. Way to stir the pot, Mark.
Danny J
May 4th, 2012
12:39 pm
Dr.Adams …knows best……Dooleys name SHOULD NOT go on the stadium…..
evil empire
May 4th, 2012
12:40 pm
hey wet willie, you are correct…they wouldn’t have beaten Bama in 1980..thet wouldn’t have beaten Miss State in 1980..the two best teams in the conference and they didn’t even play them…uga’s history is based on quirky schedules and lucky bounces…it would be more fitting to name sanford and son stadium after jan kemp, the most influential person in the history of uga athletics…
Debbie
May 4th, 2012
12:41 pm
Absolutely. Without a doubt. Dooley Field. It’s the right and honorable thing to do.
Spanky
May 4th, 2012
12:41 pm
GT- yeah, Adams is like “Dean Wermer” at Faber University (National Lampoon’s Animal House). He wanted to put Dooley on Double-Secret Probation…
DIT
May 4th, 2012
12:41 pm
Dooley field @ MUNSON Stadium!
good ideas
May 4th, 2012
12:43 pm
how about…
jan kemp field at fred sanford and son stadium
kd10kd
May 4th, 2012
12:48 pm
People, people, people, come on, have you forgot #34
The young man put you on his back, reason for the expansion of the
stadium and he gets’ no billing at the university.
markie mark
May 4th, 2012
12:49 pm
For those of you who forget, Dooley was more than a football coach. He was the most successful AD in NCAA history when he was forced out. We had more top caliber teams, both male and female, than any other university out there. Dooley deserves whatever honors he gets, cause he damn sure earned them. And Adams has done a good job as president, but this was one time that he went personal, instead of rewarding a great employee who had a great legacy. Giving Dooley another 6 months or a year would have in no way diminished the program, Smith, or Dooley.
markie mark
May 4th, 2012
12:50 pm
sorry, last sentence I had a brain lapse….”would have in no way diminished the program, Adams, or Dooley.”
mcdavidawg
May 4th, 2012
12:52 pm
The stadium name is just great as it is. Dooley without Erk and Hershel would have been far less than great and even with them he turn out just good. Leave it alone.
Adams the Magnanimous
May 4th, 2012
12:54 pm
Seriously doubt it.
gdawginkalamazoo
May 4th, 2012
12:54 pm
LOOK carefully at the picture. See Dooley’s left hand? See the look on his face? See Adam’s face, right there, right there….. can’t hit him if he isn’t looking at me can I?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
May 4th, 2012
12:59 pm
Adams should rename the stadium to Sanford-Dooley Stadium, because Dooley is the only coach to ever win a national title, and this will never be repeated in Athens.
CT in CP
May 4th, 2012
12:59 pm
Never name a monument after a living person. See Pete Rose Way and Cynthia McKinney Parkway.
(The exception is if they write a big fat check to buy the naming rights.)
stupid name
May 4th, 2012
1:00 pm
are the both married?
evil empire
May 4th, 2012
1:00 pm
sorry to harp on uga’s 1980 schedule..you guys did defeat a 1-10 tcu squad, a 1-10-1 gtech team, and a 2-9 vandy powerhouse, along with a battling 3-8 kentucky squad…a 3-8 ole miss team, a 4-7 tamu squad…a 5-6 auburn squad…a 5-6 tennessee team…got lucky with clemson, sc, and the luckiest of all wins, florida…you beat a notre dame team in the sugar bowl that got rolled by 17 at home against usc and tied gtech…three teams with winning records is all you played in the regular season…some champions you were. ..nebraska, usc, oklahoma, or fsu would have been a more respectable champion…1980…the year of the fluke…american college football’s weakest champion in history…the 1980 georgia bulldogs…dawg fans, you wear the crown of undeserved rewards with pride…losers…
Vince The Prince
May 4th, 2012
1:01 pm
They should rename the stadium Sanford-Dooley, or maybe Sanford-Goof, or Sanford-Donnan, or Sanford-Spurrier.
I like Sanford-Spurrer, since the Ole Ball coach holds the record for hanging 52 on the Dogs in 1995 between the hedges.
Vampire Bill
May 4th, 2012
1:02 pm
If Adams changes the stadium name it would be to SANFORD-ADAMS
dan
May 4th, 2012
1:02 pm
Adams could rename the stadium but would remain a jerk.
Call It Like It Is
May 4th, 2012
1:02 pm
Lets see, Walker Field at Sanford stadium, with Dooley goal posts and Buck Belue rest rooms, yeah thats it.