Old-timers' game
At the University of Georgia and other winning schools, veteran coaches are the key to victory
ATHENS, GA.--Bulldog football fans may bleed red and black--the school colors--but the hue critical to the school's athletic success is gray.
That's gray as in the gray hair of University of Georgia coaches, many of whom have been at the school for more than a decade. Vince Dooley, the school's athletic director, acknowledges that coaching--more even than money or fan support--is a crucial factor in the overall success of an athletic program. "When you get down to competing at this level," says Dooley, "you have to start with good coaches." And the more gray hair on the sidelines, the better. "Tenure and stability in the coaching staff are key," says Lee McElroy of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Though football is king at the University of Georgia, and largely funds the school's other 20 varsity teams, the football team isn't winning championships. The Bulldogs--though successful--haven't taken a Southeastern Conference title on the gridiron in two decades or a national championship since freshman Herschel Walker marched into the end zone 15 times in 1980.
Yet Georgia's other sports are consistently hitting the ball out of the park, having won nine National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in the past three years and 12 over the past decade. The men's and women's tennis, women's swimming, men's and women's golf, and women's gymnastics teams compete annually for national and conference titles. The baseball team won its conference last year, and the men's and women's basketball teams are consistently among the nation's top 25.
A stable of veterans. Other schools with winning programs over a range of sports also rely on coaches with more than a touch of gray at the temples. Stanford University has eight coaches who have headed their programs for at least 14 years. The University of California-Los Angeles, which has one of the nation's storied collegiate athletic traditions, also boasts a stable of veteran coaches. "By and large," says Peter Dalis, UCLA's athletic director, "our coaches have been here a long time." Great coaches attract great players, adds Dalis, pointing to legendary volleyball coach Al Scates, in his 40th year at UCLA, with 18 NCAA titles under his belt. "Kids," says Dalis, "want to play for him."
For winning coaches, much of the real work is done off the field, after athletes have returned to their dorms. Georgia's Dooley encourages his staff to assume much of the responsibility for their programs. If that means raising millions for new facilities, then he tells them to pick up the phone and start dialing.
The coaching standard at Georgia was set by Dan Magill--the "Bear Bryant of college tennis"--who coached Georgia's men's team from 1961 to 1995, building a championship program from the ground up and becoming the winningest college tennis coach ever. Through Southern charm, he lured the NCAA tennis championships to Athens 22 times and financed major facilities with donations from celebrities like Kenny Rogers and Kim Basinger.
Suzanne Yoculan and Chris Haack are continuing Magill's tradition. Now in her 19th season as Georgia's gymnastics coach, Yoculan, 46, was a four-time state champion gymnast in high school. A dynamic woman who bounds with as much energy as her "Gym Dogs," Yoculan has led the team to five NCAA and 11 conference titles, and she has been chosen NCAA coach of the year three times. The Gym Dogs sell out home meets and generate more revenue than any other Bulldog team save football and basketball. "The job of coaching has changed," says Yoculan. "If we think we need something more than what we have, we go out and get it."
Happy coaches. When golf coach Haack, 41, arrived at Georgia in 1996, he found the facilities sorely wanting. With Dooley's blessing, he proceeded to raise over 80 percent of the money needed to build a $1.5 million practice range and a plush $800,000 clubhouse. Georgia men's golf won the national championship in 1999; the women's team won it last year.
Keeping those coaches is another challenge. Dooley has had to raise coaches' salaries to ward off suitors from rival schools and has given most of the coaches multiyear contracts.
Coaching longevity seems to be the Georgia rule, though football--again--is the notable exception. The golden goose of Bulldog sports is on its third head coach in seven seasons. If that trend continues, the other coaches may have cause to worry. "To a lot of Georgia people, you can talk about nine national championships," says Dooley, "but if football isn't doing well, they don't hear you."
Winners and losers
Determining wins and losses isn't as easy as it may seem. The first list provides a school's winning percentage for all men's and women's school-to-school contests--such as football, basketball, and soccer. The second list is the school's ranking in NCAA tournaments dominated by multi-school competitions, such as gymnastics and tennis. In figuring a school's rank, the winning percentage counted 75 percent and the tournament rank 25 percent.
School Winning Tourney percentage sport
r ank
TOP
1. Stanford University (CA) 72.2 1
2. University of Arizona 69.8 5
3. University of Southern California 71.3 12
4. University of California-Los Angeles 69.1 9
5. University of Nebraska-Lincoln 73.7 29
6. University of Florida 67.6 6
7. University of Notre Dame (IN) 76.0 37
8. Louisiana State Univ.-Baton Rouge 66.7 8
9. Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 68.4 31
10.University of Miami (FL) 68.6 43
11.University of Wisconsin-Madison 65.8 30
12.University of Oklahoma 65.2 21
13.Ohio State University-Columbus 64.1 3
14.Brigham Young University-Provo (UT) 64.6 19
15.Clemson University (SC) 65.5 38
16.Pepperdine University (CA) 67.4 54
17.Florida State University 67.8 65
18.University of Tennessee-Knoxville 66.8 57
19.University of Alabama 64.0 22
20.University of California-Berkeley 62.7 10
BOTTOM
302.Fordham University (NY) 35.3 None
303.Virginia Military Institute 35.0 None
304.Nicholls State University (LA) 34.6 None
305.Univ. of North Carolina-Asheville 34.3 None
306.Lafayette College (PA) 34.0 None
307.University of Missouri-Kansas City 34.0 None
308.Mount St. Mary's College (MD) 33.8 None
309.High Point University (NC) 33.5 None
310.Centenary College of Louisiana 32.7 None
SUNY-University at Buffalo 30.4 185
312.SUNY-Albany 32.0 None
313.Canisius (NY) 31.4 None
314.Tennessee State University 31.0 None
315.Portland State University (OR) 27.1 193
316.University of Tennessee-Martin 28.5 None
317.Mississippi Valley State University 28.2 None
318.Chicago State University 26.9 None
319.Coppin State College (MD) 25.6 None
320.University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff 16.4 None
321.Univ. of Maryland-Eastern Shore 12.3 None
The men's, women's, and coed NCAA tournaments dominated by multischool competitions include the following sports: fencing, gymnastics, riflery, swimming and diving, track and field (indoor and outdoor), wrestling, cross-country, golf, rowing, and tennis.
This story appears in the March 18, 2002 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.