Before he became a Georgia legend he was almost OU's coach
Before he became a Georgia legend he was almost OU's coach

In December 1965, Oklahoma offered its football job to 33-year-old Vince Dooley. Most everyone thought the two-year Georgia coach would make the move.

A Georgia radio station reported that Dooley had accepted OU's offer, and fabled Atlanta Journal sports editor Furman Bisher wrote: "They'll probably make it so attractive for him he can't turn the offer down. I hope I'm wrong because I think this young man, in time, could become a legend in Georgia. He's a great football coach.”

Bisher was wrong and then he was right. Dooley did reject the Sooners and did become a Georgia legend.

OU turned to Jim Mackenzie and college football history was changed. Georgia became an elite program under Dooley; Mackenzie brought Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer to Norman, and you know the rest of that story.

Oklahoma State plays at Georgia Saturday night, and the Bulldogs owe much of their exalted status to Dooley, who spent 25 years as head coach and another 15 beyond that as athletic director. Dooley won 201 games at Georgia, six SEC titles and the 1980 national championship.

But it almost didn't happen. After Gomer Jones stepped down following the 1965 season, OU sets its sights high. Texas' Darrell Royal turned down the job, then Tennessee's Doug Dickey declined to interview.

So Dooley became the prime target, having led a Georgia revival, a 13-7-1 record after three straight losing seasons before his arrival.

"Bud Wilkinson actually called me,” Dooley said from his Athens, Ga., office this week. "Suggested I go out and take a look.”

Dooley met with several OU officials and boosters, and in the basement of the president's home, George Lynn Cross offered Dooley the job.

"He said where I was standing was the same spot Bud Wilkinson stood when he accepted the job,” Dooley said. "I gave it a lot of serious thought. Bud Wilkinson was always one of my heroes, my idols.”

Dooley's Georgia package totaled about $25,000 then. OU offered around $35,000. But Dooley returned to Athens, Georgia upped the contract and fans rallied to keep him.

"I guess if there was not such an outpouring for me to stay, I would have gone,” Dooley said. "It was quite a response.”

Dooley said he was tempted to leave Georgia only one other time, after the 1980 national title, when his alma mater, Auburn, came calling. Dooley had been an Auburn quarterback, and his college roommate, Fob James, had become Alabama's governor.

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