There’s no question that the University of Georgia has produced some of the finest players in college football history. Certainly the coaches played no small part in that. While there are too many players to include, here are some important names to know when talking about the Bulldog legacy.
Most people familiar with pee-wee/youth youth football have heard of Pop Warner. The non-profit Pop Warner Little Scholars reaches more than 425,000 youth aged 5-16 years-old in several nations and is the largest youth football organization in the U.S. What many may not know is that Glenn “Pop” Warner was Head Coach at Georgia for its first undefeated season in 1896.
Coach Vince Dooley
Coach Wally Butts headed up the Bulldogs from 1939-1960 and stayed on as Athletic Director until 1963. Under his coaching prowess, the team achieved success it had never previously known, appearing in six bowl games, earning four SEC Championships, 140 victories, and a remarkable undefeated season in 1946. He coached some of college football’s best players, including Heisman winning halfback Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winning halfback Charley Trippi, as well as “Peerless Pilot” Fran Tarkenton.
It was just last year that we lost one of Georgia’s most beloved coaches, Vince Dooley. The most successful coach in UGA history, Dooley’s career at the helm of the Bulldog football program spanned more than a century (1964-1988), earning 20 bowl game appearances, 201 victories, and one national championship. Aged 90 at the time of his death, he was one of the best known and most highly regarded coaches in the country. His players included Heisman trophy and Maxwell Award winning RB Herschel Walker, Outland Award winner Bill Stanfill, and College Football Hall of Fame kicker Kevin Butler, as well as 40 First-Team All-Americans and 10 Academic All-Americans. He was named SEC Coach of the Year seven times and NCAA National Coach of the Year by every major poll in 1980. Dooley was inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and is also a member of the Georgia and Alabama Sports Halls of Fame. Dooley’s teams were known for sound fundamentals, outstanding toughness, and always finding a way to win. We’ll miss seeing him here during Georgia-Florida week.
Patriarch of the Pedigree
Illustration by Steve Penley
Sonny and Uga
Another man who left an indelible mark in the Bulldawg legacy and recently joined Vince Dooley between the heavenly hedges at age 90 was Frank W. “Sonny” Seiler. A “double dog” who held undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia, the former Savannah barrister (immortalized as Jim Williams’ attorney in John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and was not only the father of St. Simons Island resident Bess Thompson and patriarch of the Seiler family, but also of the team’s well-known “Uga” bulldog mascots. It all began in 1956 when Coach Wally Butts asked Sonny and his wife Cecelia to bring their English bulldog to the football season opener. From that first pup through the present, Sonny and the Seiler family have raised a continual line of bulldog mascots. And no matter which number “Uga” we are on, this bulldog unfailingly retains his rank at the top of the “best college football mascot” polls. UGA Athletic Director Josh Brooks said of Seiler, “He was an iconic figure at the University of Georgia for the past almost 70 years. Because of his generosity, Uga is the most beloved and recognizable mascot in all of college athletics. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for building a legacy that will continue for years to come.”
In 2018, Sonny was honored by UGA and named to the school’s Circle of Distinction, the first inductee added to a mere ten previous distinguished inductees since 2015. He was recognized for his extensive contributions to the University of Georgia and its athletic programs, including in his roles as president of the University of Georgia National Alumni Association and chairman of the Georgia School of Law Board of Visitors, and serving on the boards of the athletic association, the Georgia Student Educational Fund, and the University of Georgia Foundation. Though not a player or coach, Sonny’s impact on Georgia football will live on through the Bulldogs forever.
Wingate Downs
Sonny Seiler with son Charles, daughter Swann, family friend Bobby Lenihan, and UGA X “Que”
Sonny Seiler with son Charles, daughter Swann, family friend Bobby Lenihan, and UGA X “Que” (Photo by Wingate Downs.) Illustration by Steve Penley, penleyartco.com.
