THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994 TAG: 9408090521
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ABE GOLDBLATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Bill Dooley, a highly-successful football coach at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, told the Norfolk Sports Club Monday that he doesn't have any intentions of returning to coaching.
``If I did,'' he said, laughing, ``I would like to coach at Notre Dame or Alabama, where you don't recruit - you select.''
Dooley retired from coaching after leading Wake Forest to a 39-35 victory over Oregon in the 1992 Independence Bowl. He also coached bowl teams at North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
He noted that players from Virginia, especially Tidewater, were largely responsible for his coaching success, singling out local products Mike Voight, Lawrence Taylor, Famous Amos Lawrence and Bruce Smith for making him a winner at every school he coached.
``Fifteen of the 22 starters for Wake Forest in the Independence Bowl were from Virginia,'' he said. ``See, I made my living in the state of Virginia.''
Dooley is now director of sports development for North Carolina. He's also director of personnel for the annual Blue-Gray All-Star football game at Montgomery, Ala., and he's a college football TV commentator.
As a TV commentator he's still a close observer of the game. He gives talent-rich North Carolina an excellent chance of overtaking Florida State in the ACC race, and predicted Virginia Tech will be in the thick of the running for Big East laurels.
Dooley says his major mission as director of North Carolina's sports development office is bringing sports attractions to North Caroline. ``Sports is big business and it has tremendous economical impact on a state. As a result, sports commissions are springing up in states all over the country.
``We already have the Charlotte Hornets (NBA) and the Charlotte Panthers (NFL), and I predict Charlotte will have a major league baseball team, too. Charlotte is definitely a major league city.
``Youth sports is most important in our program. ``I feel the best way to curb violence and crime is to keep the kids involved in sports and off the streets.''
TENNIS AWARD: The Norfolk Sports Club named Stuart Evans of Maury as the Metropolitan scholastic tennis player of the year. A repeat winner of the E.T. Penzold Memorial Award, Evans played No. 1 for the Commodores and had an 18-2 record in singles and 17-2 in doubles. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Bill Dooley
by CNB