Bill Dooley, a longtime college football coach and the founder of the NFF Bill Dooley Chapter in North Carolina, passed away Aug. 9 in Wilmington, N.C. He was 82 years old and died of natural causes.
The Dooley family issued the following statement: “Coach Bill Dooley passed away this morning. He will be missed by his family and friends and will be remembered by all of us whose lives he has touched so deeply.”
Dooley was the head coach at North Carolina for 11 seasons from 1967-77, the longest tenure of any head football coach in UNC history, and posted a record of 69-53-2, which set the school record for career wins. Subsequently, only Dick Crum ever surpassed Dooley’s win total at Carolina (Crum won 72 from 1978-87). Mack Brown also won 69 games from 1988-97.
“Coach Dooley was a great coach and an even better man who made a lasting impact on the game of football,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “He touched the lives of the young men who played for him and countless others through his work with the NFF chapter that bears his name. We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing and send our thoughts and prayers to his friends and family.”
Known as the “Trench Fighter,” Dooley is the only Carolina football coach to win multiple ACC championships. He led the Tar Heels to ACC titles in 1971, 1972 and 1977. The Tar Heels set the school record for wins in a season by going 11-1 in 1972. Carolina played in six postseason bowl games under Dooley – the 1970 Peach, 1971 Gator, 1972 Sun, 1974 Sun, 1976 Peach and 1977 Liberty.
Dooley was the ACC Coach of the Year in 1971 when he led the Tar Heels to a 9-3 record and the ACC championship. He came to Chapel Hill at age 33 from the University of Georgia, where he was the chief offensive assistant for three seasons under his brother, College Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley.
He served as the head coach and director of athletics at Virginia Tech from 1978-86, where he posted a record of 63-38-1. From 1987-92, he was the head coach at Wake Forest and led the Demon Deacons to a 29-36-2 mark in six seasons in Winston-Salem. Combined, Dooley was a head coach for 26 years and won 162 games.
On Aug. 23, 1995, Dooley invited athletics directors, coaches and representatives from the University of North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina Central and North Carolina State University to join him and N.C. Governor, Jim Hunt, at the State Capitol Old Senate Chambers. It was at that meeting that the universities pledged their support to the newly formed National Football Foundation Chapter and its mission.
From its inception until his passing, Dooley served as executive director of the chapter and worked to promote its growth. In 2012, East Carolina University joined the chapter. Each year in July, the chapter hosts its "Pigskin Preview" featuring the five head coaches from the local universities in a season preview. The chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Banquet annually honors more than 20 area high schoolers for their outstanding achievement on the field and in the classroom with each receiving a $1,000 scholarship. Each local university also showcases one top football scholar-athlete for his achievements at the event.
In 2014, the chapter’s board of directors unanimously voted to name the chapter after its founder. Today, the NFF Bill Dooley Chapter ranks as one of the largest in the country. For all of his great work with the chapter, he was honored with one of the NFF’s prestigious Chapter Leadership Awards in 2001.
Born in 1934 in Mobile, Ala., Dooley earned All-SEC honors as a lineman in 1955 at Mississippi State. He has been inducted into seven halls of fame, including the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
He is survived by his wife, Marie Dooley; four sons – Jim Dooley of Chapel Hill; Billy Dooley of Atlanta; Sean Dooley and his wife, Courtney; and Ashton Dooley, both of Wilmington; and two granddaughters – Hayden and Caroline Dooley, also of Wilmington.
