CLASS OF 1965
ROBERT (BOBBY) DODD
Robert L. (Bobby) Dodd grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee and played college football at the University of Tennessee. He became an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 1931, and was named head coach in 1945. He remained in that position until 1966. As the Yellow Jackets’ head coach, he compiled a record of 165-64-8, posting 2 undefeated seasons and a National Championship in 1952. His teams were SEC Champions twice and went to 13 bowl games. He was the Athletic Director at Tech from 1950 through his retirement in 1976. He is one of a select few men selected to the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. The football stadium at Georgia Tech is named in his honor.
BRYAN "BITSY" GRANT
Atlanta native, Bryan M. “Bitsy” Grant, earned notoriety as a tennis star and the nickname “Bitsy” because of his small stature. Between 1930 and 1941, Grant was ranked nine times in the U.S. Top Ten (USLTA). He was third in 1935 and second in 1936. Grant won 8 of 11 tournaments entered in 1935, and did not lose one match on clay courts. He was National Clay Court Champion in multiple years during the 1930s. He was also part of the U.S. Davis Cup in 1935, 1936, and 1937 and made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1936 and 1937. Grant was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1972. Atlanta's largest tennis center, the Bitsy Grant Tennis Center, was named for him in 1954.
WILLIAM "YOUNG" STRIBLING
Sam At the tender age of 16, Macon native W.L. “Young” Stribling had his first professional fight, in Atlanta. Over the next nine years, he moved through seven weight divisions before settling as a heavyweight in 1929. An 18,000-mile barnstorming tour across the country in 1925 earned Stribling the moniker “King of the Canebrakes.” Writer Damon Runyon invented the nickname to reflect Stribling's popularity in the rural areas of America. Despite a career record of 221 wins that included 125 knockouts (a record later broken by Archie Moore) and an armory of punches, Stribling never fulfilled his potential as a fighter. Experts from outside Georgia believed that his father was a poor manager and arranged too many bouts for his son. Hard to argue, Stribling participated in 285 professional fights in just twelve years. Stribling was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1966.
CHARLEY TRIPPI
Charley Trippi was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania and found his way to Athens and the University of Georgia where he became a star football and baseball letterman in the 1940s. Trippi was an All-American in football and baseball, and was the Most Valuable Player of the 1943 Rose Bowl game, leading the Bulldogs to a 9-0 victory over UCLA. Trippi was awarded the 1946 Maxwell Award as the nation’s best all-around player. He played professional football for the Chicago Cardinals where he was part of the 1947 NFL Championship team and was a Pro Bowl Selection in 1953 and 1954. He also played professional baseball for the Atlanta Crackers in 1947. Trippi coached Georgia’s baseball teams in 1948 and 1949 and was assistant football coach from 1958-1962. He is one of the most legendary sports figures in the history of the University of Georgia.