Bobby Dodd, 79, Dies; Lung Cancer

Robert Lee (Bobby) Dodd, the legendary football coach and athletic director at Georgia Tech, died Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.

Dodd, who overcame prostate cancer in 1975, was diagnosed in March as having lung cancer. He was admitted to West Paces Ferry Hospital June 6, suffering from shortness of breath and side effects from chemotherapy.

He retired as coach after the 1966 season and as athletic director in 1976.

Dodd’s teams were powers during an era of great teams and great coaches in the South, including Alabama’s Bear Bryant, Clemson’s Frank Howard, Georgia’s Wally Butts, Tennessee’s Robert Neyland and Auburn’s Ralph (Shug) Jordan.

Under Dodd, Tech became the first team to win six consecutive major bowl games, beginning with a 17-14 victory over Baylor in the 1952 Orange Bowl.

The Yellow Jackets won the 1953 Sugar Bowl, 24-7 over Mississippi; the 1954 Sugar Bowl, 42-19 over West Virginia, the 1955 Cotton Bowl, 14-6 over Arkansas; the 1956 Sugar Bowl, 7-0 over Pittsburgh, and the December 1956 Gator Bowl, 21-14 over Pittsburgh.

“Coach Dodd’s impact upon college football and the young men he coaches was close to the best,” said current Tech Athletic Director Homer Rice. “He has to be one of the very few that came to a major college and remained there his entire career and life.”