The Dooleys

The Dooleys came to our morning class and each gave equally motivational speeches. Vince Dooley spoke about being a leader as a football player, coach, and community leader in athens. To describe his techniques he used an acrostic poem of PRIDE: Preparation, risk, integrity, determination, everybody. He told us that he would tell the UGA football team that "proper preparation prevents poor performance". Then he touched on risk. He used a quote that went something like this:

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.”

He then went on to tell a story of how he was behind the bidding for the Atlanta Olympics and how he and his partners risked a lot of money, time, and ego to bid for it but it ended up paying off. The quote/ this part of the speech really inspired me because I realized I have taken very few risks in my life. This feeling came at a good time because adventure week is the following week and my opportunity to take some risks like jumping off of the tallest bridge in Africa with just a flexible rope attached to my feet. oh and swimming with great white sharks with only a few metal bars between you. I'm super excited!! Vince also eluded to risk when he told the story of being just 31 and the junior coach at the rival school of UGA, Auburn, and then taking the head coaching job in one of the biggest droughts in football in UGA history. (sounds like we need another young vince to come along again for this season).

I also liked the segment of his speech on determination (and drive). He described that through his experience as a football coach he learned that talented people work. Period. Hershal Walker was not the fastest in high school and did not have access to a gym but did hundreds of pushups every night until he collapsed to the ground. Vince spoke about how Olympic athletes are not always the most talented athletes in their family but all have the common theme of working the hardest.

Vince also spoke about the concept of "everybody" and selflessness of a team. He said that when he was coaching, no one could ever accept an award as an individual. You must always contextualize your defeats and realize how you got there.

His speech definitely motivated me to be a more powerful leader. I was able to figure out what skills I lacked and what skills I could sharpen and am really excited to see how his advice aids me on the rest of the trip.