Amidst morning traffic and students on their way to class, the family of the late University of Georgia head football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley gathered with Gov. Brian Kemp, Ga. Rep. Houston Gaines, and others in downtown Athens on Aug. 28 to name the intersection of Broad Street and Lumpkin Street after Dooley — who won a record-breaking 201 games during his 25 years at the school.
Gaines, an Athens native who said he has known the Dooley family since childhood, introduced the Vince Dooley Memorial Intersection in the Georgia house. He spoke about the bulldog coach’s legacy.
“The naming of this intersection is a recognition of Coach Dooley’s impact on the Athens community, and I think it’s fitting that we’re at the intersection of campus and the community,” he said.
Gov. Kemp, also from Athens, remembered Dooley as an icon.
“Especially when we were growing up, Coach Dooley was such a big influence on us. This really was one of the most prominent parts of Athens-Clarke County,” Kemp said.
Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz explains why he supports this dedication and its impact.
“To think about an Athenian like Vince Dooley who's just given so much to this community and obviously so much to the state, it’s a small thing to support the renaming of an intersection in his name,” Girtz said. “And it’s a way for future generations to understand — here’s somebody whose shoulders we stand upon.”
Broad and Lumpkin Streets are where downtown Athens and the university meet. Dooley’s wife, Barbara, went into more detail about why this spot — and downtown — are the perfect area to dedicate to her husband.
“He loved every part of Athens, and I don’t care where we were. When we came back to town from a trip, the first thing he wanted to do was ‘drag the main,’' she said. “And ‘dragging the main’ was going up and down the three main streets of Athens to see what was going on that night.”
She said that when you’re downtown, take a look around because she could be out dragging the main.
“I might be on the street here at any given time to think about my man and the Vince Dooley Intersection,” she said.
