Dodd, "Bobby" (Robert L.)
Football
b. Nov. 11, 1908, Galax, VA
Dodd is one of only two men enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame both as a coach and as a player. The other is A. A. Stagg.
As a quarterback at Tennessee and a coach at Georgia Tech, Dodd was dedicated to the proposition that football should be fun. Ironically, Dodd wanted to play for Georgia Tech but was denied a scholarship, so he went to the University of Tennessee instead and became a starter in the fourth game of his sophomore season, 1928.
Dodd threw a touchdown pass in that game to tie Alabama, 13-13. Then he punted out of bounds inside the Alabama 1-yard line and Tennessee got a safety on the next play to win, 15-13. In the 26 games Dodd started, Tennessee won 24, lost 1, and tied 1. He was named to Grantland Rice's All-American team in 1930.
After serving as an assistant to Bill Alexander at Georgia Tech for fifteen years, Dodd became head coach in 1945. He believed in short, non-contact practices because he didn't want his players to get bored or stale and he insisted that they spend more time studying than practicing. Dodd was fond of telling parents, "We're not miracle workers, but if you send us a good boy to Georgia Tech, we will send you a good boy home."
He is usually credited with inventing the "belly series," in which the quarterback puts the ball in a running back's belly and reads the defense to decide whether to give the ball to him or pull it back and keep it. Dodd retired from coaching after the 1966 season. He served as the school's athletic director from 1950 through 1967.
In 23 seasons, his teams won 165 games, lost 64, and tied 8. He took Georgia Tech to 13 major bowl games, winning 9 of them, including 6 in a row.