Vince Dooley says losing Isaiah Crowell ‘best thing to happen’ for Bulldogs
ATHENS – Isaiah Crowell getting arrested and kicked off the team may have been a blessing in disguise for the Georgia Bulldogs.
So thinks former Georgia coach and athletic director Vince Dooley. I was interviewing Coach Dooley on Monday for another project I’m doing for the AJC when the subject of Crowell came up. Crowell, a rising sophomore and former 5-star recruit who was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher last season, was dismissed by head coach Mark Richt following Crowell’s arrest on felony weapons charges. Crowell has since transferred to Alabama State, an FCS program in Montgomery, Ala., and started classes on Monday.
That chain of events may help the Bulldogs in the long run, Dooley contends.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on them, but losing that guy may have been the best thing to happen to them,” said Dooley, who coached the Bulldogs to six SEC championships and one national title in 25 seasons. “It was a bad-apple type thing, if you ask me.”
“Bad apple” was the second term Dooley used to describe Crowell’s effect on the team. The first was more effective but he asked me not to use it.
Dooley said Crowell undoubtedly is a talented football player and probably was the Bulldogs’ best option at tailback. But the negative effects as far as being a troublemaker and a distraction far out-weighed any skills he brought to the field, Dooley said.
Now that Crowell is gone, “That kind of thing will unite a team many times,” Dooley said. “Historically when things like this have happened in the past, they tend to have a unifying effect on teams. They go on to have an even better season than they were predicted to have.”
Georgia, of course, is generally considered the favorite to repeat as the SEC Eastern Division champions and play in the SEC Championship. That is, if the Bulldogs are still able to field a team. With Crowell out and linebacker Brandon Burrows’ recent decision to transfer in search of more playing time, Georgia has dipped below 70 scholarship players heading into next season. The NCAA allows 85.
At least one person agrees with Dooley. Alabama State coach Reggie Barlow said the last three SEC teams that sent high-profile transfers to play for him — Florida, Auburn and Alabama — went on to win national championships the following season.
Dooley recalled that Georgia had a great player that left after the 1958 season and turned pro as a junior — very unusual in those days — and that rallied the rest of the team, which went on to win the 1959 SEC championship. Dooley could not immediately recall that player’s name, though I deduced it must have been center/linebacker Dave Lloyd, who was drafted in the fourth round that year by the Cleveland Browns. I couldn’t find anyone who knew for sure, but you get the point.
“This guy was a heck of a player, but he was a real problem on the football team,” Dooley said. “When he decided to leave, Coach [Wally] Butts went into a depression; he knew he had lost his best athlete. But as it turned out it unified the team. That often happens.”
Dooley also offered what I thought was one of the more insightful observations I’ve heard about Crowell as a running back last season. As we all know, Crowell’s toughness was questioned as he often pulled himself out of games or found himself sidelined with minor injuries. Dooley thought there might have been a good solution for that.
“Looking back at it, he would have been a great second-half running back,” Dooley said. “I never wanted that guy around in the fourth quarter if he started the game, because it seemed like he’d had enough by then. But I would’ve loved to have him around in the third or fourth quarter if he hadn’t played any to that point. Imagine once the defense gets tired and he comes in. He could’ve been a superstar second-half player. Herschel [Walker] got stronger in the fourth; this guy got weaker. So I would’ve waited until the second half to play him. He was pretty doggone good when he was fresh. That might’ve been a good idea looking back at it.”
Dooley has always had a great football mind.
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395 comments Add your comment
gbal
July 9th, 2012
8:06 pm
V Cat….. Pray he gets his life in order…. Yes…
Respect…. Your an intitlement nutcase too. You earn respect, it is not just handed to you. Im guessing your……????? Under 26? Am I right, Be honest now.
gbal
July 9th, 2012
8:08 pm
Enter your comments here
Ted Striker
July 9th, 2012
8:10 pm
After watching a drunken Coach Dooley groping a coed (skysuite hostess) in the elevators at the south tower skysuites the year before Michael Adams declined to renew his contract, I don’t give a tinkers damn what he says. Coach Dooley was a good coach and administrator however he needs to get off his high horse.
Richt, not Tebow, is Jesus
July 9th, 2012
8:17 pm
Coach gave this young man an opportunity to live his life for Christ and play for the University of Georgia and he rejected both therefore he may burn in hell everlasting while Coach continues to win National Championships!
Gotta go
July 9th, 2012
8:31 pm
Why does the Ajc keep mentioning a linebacker who never played as if he was a key player? Regardless, I am a huge Uga fan who knows this year will be just like 2008…disappointing.
WestOfAthens
July 9th, 2012
8:32 pm
I respect the Man, and i respect his opinion.
Looking forward to what 2012 brings, as mysterious as it may be.
HBTD
WestOfAthens
July 9th, 2012
8:38 pm
“huge Uga fan”
It’s “UGA”, and if you were a “huge fan” you would show support, or at the least optimism, and lack effot on criticism.
Go Dawgs, Thrive
gbal
July 9th, 2012
8:40 pm
Hoping this is a great season no doubt… as always.
But note…. The press is who is giving UGA thes lofty expectations for this season……
The same press will be bashem UGA if they do not meet these espectations.
Will they crtitize themselves for making stupid predictions??? NO.
DO you hear anyone from UGA making these high predictions? NO
Expect a good season and hope for some luck like in 80. But too many holes to fill this year to expect or predict a NC.
UGA Attracts So Much Attention...You Guys Are Obsessed
July 9th, 2012
8:41 pm
To every fan of the opposition, bow down and worship the Dawgs! You know it. You obsess with our program. Our State. Our City…Athens/Atlanta. Our academic ascension. 11th all time in NCAA Division I wins. #1 SEC with NFL players past 11 years. Best campus. Best stadium (not loudest; think Masters (prettiest)). Best city (Athens). Prettiest coeds. Best Logo. Best colors. Best of everything.
Keep obsessing!
Joesnopy
July 9th, 2012
8:42 pm
I said when it first happen UGA was wrong but after thinking about the boy having the three freshmen in the car UGA had to kick him off the team. He understood that rule. The gun thing in Georgia does not worry me as much as having the freshmen in the car. I mean it is legal to have a gun in Georgia. BAD APPLE just like Dooley said. He was on his way spoiling those freshmen. He has to start leading one day. Hope it is soon.
Laughing out Loud
July 9th, 2012
8:44 pm
@ LGrange1975, IC is still innocent until proven guilty in the court system which is yet to be played out. One of the possibilities is that he pleads guilty in the court of law and ends up with only probation. That is the court of law and the way it works in this country, not on this blog. However, IC’s dismissal from the UGA football team is not dependent on his guilt or innocence in the court system. His dismissal from the football program and the university is an entirely different matter and has entirely different considerations. I’ve read comments on this blog regarding Coach Richt blaming him for being to easy going or compassionate in the handling of football players indisgressions. The Coach is the last one throwing a young man under the bus. Yet, when one is dismissed he is criticize for doing so. I personally think the Coach and the University did the right thing with regards to IC for all the reasons they had. However. IC has not faced the court of law yet, only the University program and the Court of Public Opinion. I’m one to allow the leadership of an institution to do their job for I think generally they are professional and do an outstanding job. Although, there are sometimes “bad apples” among the coaches ie Sandusky and that bunch who conspired to cover up criminal behaviour. Georgia is fortunate to have men of integrity at the helm. Proud to be a Bulldog fan even though I graduated from a small liberal arts, Christian college in Tennessee. Just my opinion.
Lizard-King Dawg
July 9th, 2012
8:46 pm
If you lay down with the dogs…. you bound to get some fleas… ba-buy I-ay-ah
flying tiger
July 9th, 2012
8:52 pm
How hypocritcal. uga recruits, pursues, gives these kids everything and fosters some and I said some of this attitude and then when a IC pulls a stunt like this then they pounce on him…they enjoy eating their own. Dooley needs to shut up.. If Richt was the “great” man most of you claim, he would quit bowing to the pressures of this world and stop recruiting alot of the thuigs and riff raff he seems to have had over the years. Look if that is what you want go ahead fine by me, but don’t tell me what a fine fine man he is when he keeps giving schlorships to alot of the guys like IC that he does. Quit being such a hypocrite.
Laughing out Loud
July 9th, 2012
8:55 pm
@ “Richt, not Tebow, is Jesus” what a foolish statement. Surely you can do better than scarcasticly comment on something you know so little about. You “name” and comment reveal your ignorance.
BruceW1978UGA
July 9th, 2012
9:07 pm
One loser here – if he’s still alive is D. Loyd. Looks like he played 10 plus years in the NFL – has probably long since sowed any wrong oaks – now Vince decides to call him out 50 years later. I’m sure he and his family are thrilled.
They knew
July 9th, 2012
9:12 pm
Georgia knew the kid was a P I T A when they were recruiting him, so Georgia got what they recruited… a bum. Next.
Fan of the Game
July 9th, 2012
9:14 pm
The integrity of college football is really suffering. Clemson recruit supposedly said he would sign if Clemson would offer his teammate. It is about give me, give me and give me by these recruits. A monster has been created with this new culture and it is alot like society. It is all about what can you give me with alot of these recruits.
guy
July 9th, 2012
9:18 pm
Dooley saying playing I.C. only in the second half might have been a good idea is a bunch of bull. He should never put his two cents in about things he is too far in the past to understand.
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
July 9th, 2012
9:19 pm
What’s Wrong with This? A photo of Coach Dooley and this headline just below: “Dooley Weighs in on Crowell” “Could Face Prison” Even I know better than that and I am just a little dog.
olddawginsanjose
July 9th, 2012
9:21 pm
Was Crowell given multiple opportunities to step up and be counted as dependable? I think so. Was he driving with several freshmen recruits when stopped? I think so. In my opinion Dooley is spot on in his assessment of IC being the bad apple which starts the spoilage in the barrel. I agree with both VD and CMR. He had to go.
m
July 9th, 2012
9:23 pm
why you be hating on IC?
JB
July 9th, 2012
9:24 pm
Many many regulars on here predicted as the season unfolded last year that Crowell would be a short timer in Athens. Many saw this coming a mile away.Didn’t like work or contact.
Steamer Lane Bulldog
July 9th, 2012
9:31 pm
I am ready to move on from the IC story. The O lines performance will make or break the 2012 season. The Bulldogs have plenty of depth, at TB.
dbc
July 9th, 2012
9:41 pm
Just saw a replay of the 2011 UGA vs. SC game on ESPN U. Still trying to figure out how they lost that game. Murray, Richt and that 4th quarter swiss cheese defense should still be running stadium steps.
bitter spoiled recruit
July 9th, 2012
9:48 pm
thanks coach dooly for telling the truth—-the fragil young generation hood hate to here
anything that points to them being acountable for there bad behavour
——————ole school—put that in your pipe—–SPOILED YOUNG PUNKS
Mak
July 9th, 2012
9:55 pm
Class is not a word that describes UGA football and their low standards. The Hurricans of this decade
JaxStateAlum
July 9th, 2012
10:01 pm
LaGrange1975 I bet you feel the Same about Tra Blackmon!!!! What happened to him… He wasn’t treated fairly either huh???
Dawg Bite
July 9th, 2012
10:14 pm
Who gives a rats arse what Dooley says. One of the most embarrassing things to happen to the University of Georgia happened on his watch. He should have gone back to API back in 1980, and saved us the abuse we took because of his sleazy program. Thank goodness for Jan Kemp to come forth with what she did! As far as his coaching ability, without HW, Dooley would have had zero National titles. Yes, he did win some SEC titles or shared them, but never had to face Bama during most of his tenure. His bowl record was dismal as well.
gbal
July 9th, 2012
10:18 pm
Lookin for four TB’s to poor it on when camp opens to earn play time…. SOmeone set the bar nad run…. Will make all others better.
DawgNole
July 9th, 2012
10:21 pm
Swamp Thing
July 9th, 2012
4:02 pm
Beast From the East – How I remember those days and T-Shirts that your name comes from. As a 28 year season ticket holder, I know the conference determines the schedules – usually 5 or so years in advance – but with Mizzou and Texas A & M coming in the SEC, schedules were quickly changed..UGA has a great influence in the SEC, and how BAMA was gone (haven’t played them in 3 years) and Missouri was scheduled makes me wonder why OLE MISS wasn’t dropped.
_______________________
It’s been explained to you repeatedly, dope–even by one of your fellow gators (”Beast”). No SEC team has any say in its conference schedule. Only the conference itself determines the schedules of its teams.
So let it go already. You sound dumber with every post.
Rick James
July 9th, 2012
10:27 pm
@GTBob
No, Tech has very little chance this season. UGA’s problems aren’t enough to drag them down to Tech’s level, they are just bad enough to keep UGA from ever jumping to a championship level
—————————————————————————————————————————–
You never elaborate on UGA’s problems..Tell us what they are.Maybe one of the coaches will read this blog and pass your solutions along..Better yet, why dont you take a one dollar a year consulting job with Tech and get them on track..There has to be a market other AJC blogs for all of your knowledge..
leave it to a dimwit like dmr
July 9th, 2012
10:33 pm
to bring up politics in on a sports blog in the hopes that mentioning the word liberal raises his iq with the rest of the bloggers.
sorry dmr but it didnt work. your still stupid.
Rick James
July 9th, 2012
10:36 pm
@GTBob
One is already gone. He flunked out of school right after Crowell was dismissed. Nothing fishy about that at all.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
My understanding was that the other kids in the car were incoming freshman..How can anybody flunk out if they have not started clasess? Name Please..
What the....
July 9th, 2012
10:42 pm
6 SECs and 1 NC in 25 years??? Had it not been for Herschel, he wouldn’t have the NC and any SECs they won while he was here. Was the beau to lindsay lucky ass play during that time or right before?
What a low bar this school has always had when it comes to football…..Roll Tide and our accounting program is, or was better too.
What the....
July 9th, 2012
10:49 pm
Herchel was the funnest (yeah, so) ever to watch. He would lower that head right on impact. Bill Bates still is wondering what hit him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nc2XsimM90
Cobb Dawg
July 9th, 2012
10:49 pm
As long as we’re recruiting players who are generally from single-parent homes (no dad), this problem will continue. I heard the quote about his mom saying that she only wanted to talk to God. Where’s OC’s dad? 75% of black kids are born to single-parent (no dad) homes. Until this trend reverses, we’ll continue to have much bigger problems in this country than losing a football player. We’ll continue to have the largest population on inmates in the world, the highest crime rates, one of the highest illiteracy rates, etc. Black men need to change their ways.
Jack
July 9th, 2012
10:53 pm
Every bridge needs a bum living under it. Crowell will find his one day.
Mobile Dawg
July 9th, 2012
11:19 pm
IC would be well served to join the Marines, the discipline would serve him well. Those thinking they are above the team are the weak links. I think it goes back to the lack of “strong” leadership of this team.
Dawgsfan
July 9th, 2012
11:21 pm
The first term Dooley probably used was “N*G**R”
Pitchitfield
July 9th, 2012
11:30 pm
Marvin probably believes IC was predestined to be kicked off the team…idiot
Observer
July 9th, 2012
11:53 pm
Could be mistaken, but if DAve Lloyd was on the 1959 team, he wasn’t the best player…..by a long shot.
THAT WOULD BE ONE…….FRANCIS TARKENTON.
Observer
July 9th, 2012
11:55 pm
FRANCES TARKENTON
Von Trapp
July 10th, 2012
12:04 am
Refreshing to hear Vince Dooley give his insight on Crowell. The guy was flat stinkin the team spirit. Team concept was not what IC was about. Good riddance to the brother
blazerdawg
July 10th, 2012
12:07 am
to some earlier comments by lagrange1975 about kids being wild in college and just having fun. yes, we all had fun in college and did things we wouldn’t do in front of a police officer. however, we were not all carrying a weapon that has been altered in such a way as to not be detectable after committing a crime. not saying that IC had any plans to commit a crime, but you just can’t have an untraceable gun. and as far as the gun “being left in the car” by the previous occupant, crowell is an adult. it is his responsibility to know the contents of a vehicle that is in his possession
whiskey breath
July 10th, 2012
12:15 am
Go ahead and pile on the kid bulldykes. The kid would not have been in this mess
If he would have gone to bama. Saban would have provided structure and discipline.
tide roll
July 10th, 2012
12:31 am
What an effin racist. That a-hole has done more to destroy UGA football than a nuclear war mistle.
tide roll
July 10th, 2012
12:32 am
missile
Dog Days Behind Us...Dawg Days Ahead!
July 10th, 2012
12:37 am
Uga was gonna go undefeated with or without IC…good luck to him…he has got the talet and needs to find the right attitude.
Cobb Dawg
July 10th, 2012
12:49 am
tide roll, don’t you have a trailer to get home to (surely you don’t have internet in your mobile home) We don’t really give a “crap” what some inbred from Alabammer thinks about UGA. We’re not just a football team with a second-rate technical school attached like Alabammer or Awbarn.
what of it?
July 10th, 2012
1:08 am
was the first term energy vampire? it was, wasn’t it
I think the best thing that could have happened would have been not wasting to effort on the recruit in the first place