New AD Joel Eaves was a former Auburn coach and administrator and he was quick to contact Vince Dooley, the thirty-one year old former Auburn quarterback and assistant coach who accepted the Georgia head coaching job. He put his stamp on the Georgia program with a new uniform design, changing the traditional silver helmet to red with a white one-inch center stripe. Coming during the era of the NFL's Green Bay Packers' years of excellence and popularity, Dooley added a black Packer-like "G" overlaid upon a white oval to each side of the helmet. Easy-to-read white two-inch player's numerals were placed on the back of the helmets. He immediately elevated the intensity of the team's preparation and with the talent on hand, turned the team around in one season to a 7-3-1 record and a 7-0 win over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl. He pushed "Big Ray" Rissmiller to play to his potential and the tackle was named the Jenkins Award winner as the team's best lineman, All SEC, and was a second-round pick of the Eagles with whom he began his three-year NFL career. Tackle Jim Wilson teamed with Rissmiller on the All SEC squad, and with second-team All Conference T George Patton, there was a lot of power up front. HB Don Porterfield and QB Lynn Hughes did enough to insure that the offense contributed to the turnaround and Wayne Swinford led the conference in punt returns. 

1965 brought a 6-4 slate with an opening day 18-17 win over national champion Alabama, a defeat of Michigan who was coming off of a Rose Bowl year, and a season ending victory over hated Georgia Tech. The season featured great play by middle guard George Patton who repeated as an All SEC choice. Lynn Hughes was converted from '64's QB role to an All SEC DB while another former QB Preston Ridelhuber ran from HB well enough to earn a three-year NFL stint with three different teams. End Pat Hodgson flashed his 1963 All SEC form again and then managed to spend '66 with the Redskins. The 1966 season began after Coach Dooley rebuffed Oklahoma who wanted him as their new head coach, and ended with the SEC Championship and the Bulldogs first visit to the Cotton Bowl where they put the sticks to SMU. Once again it was "General" George Patton who led the defense before heading off to the Falcons, with the help of T Bill Stanfill. DB Lynn Hughes repeated as one of the best in the South and later played for the Giants. The per-game give of 8.0 points was reminiscent of the '59 team. HB's Kent Lawrence and All SEC Ronnie Jenkins ran behind the steam-rolling blocks of guard Edgar Chandler. Patton, Stanfill, Chandler, and Hughes received mention on one or more All American teams. For the second time in three seasons, Dooley was the SEC Coach Of The Year. 

By 1967 Dooley had quelled the controversy originally surrounding the decision to hire him as such a young coach. Attendance was at an all-time high and the team had ability and depth. The 7-4 squad lost to NC State 14-7 in the Liberty Bowl but Georgia was competing in a vicious SEC and still was bowl eligible in two of Dooley's first three seasons. End Dennis Hughes joined HB's Kent Lawrence and Ronnie Jenkins (All SEC) to utilize the protection of All American guard Edgar Chandler, a consensus All American and he played with the Bills at LB. Stanfill was again unstoppable at DT and the secondary was boosted by soph safety Jake Scott. 1968 was the year that Georgia became the team to beat and Dooley once again was the SEC Coach Of The Year.  6'5" Stanfill controlled the defense, was a consensus All American, and later contributed to the Dolphins' Super Bowl defenses. The Outland Trophy winner as the nation's best lineman was also an Academic All American and the DE next to him was William Payne who won accolades for first winning the bid for Atlanta to host the 1996 Olympic Games and then serving as the Games' top administrator. He is currently the Chairman of the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club. The secondary was covered by first-team All American Jake Scott who passed up his final year of college eligibility to join the CFL but returned to join Georgia teammate Stanfill with the Dolphins where he enjoyed a nine-year career as a dynamic punt returner and free safety who went to five consecutive Pro Bowls and was Super Bowl VII MVP. The QB to TE combo of Mike Cavan to Dennis Hughes pushed the offense to a number of thirty-plus-points games with a big fifty-one coming against the Gators of Florida and forty-seven against rival Georgia Tech. The final tally was 8-1-2 with the loss against SWC power Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, 16-2 and a number-four national ranking. With major graduation losses and an off-year from QB Mike Cavan, the 5-5-1 team of '69 was still invited to the Sun Bowl where they took a major hit from Nebraska, 45-6. Talented TE  Hughes went on to a few years with the Steelers and the WFL Jacksonville Sharks.

1970 began with a new hire. Assistant coach Fred Pancoast who would later be the head man at Vanderbilt, was brought in from the Florida staff to spice up the offense but the material wasn't there to do more than match the 5-5 record of 1969. The 'Dogs 31-17 upset of the Pat Sullivan-led Auburn team was the season highlight. Guard Steve Greer received some All SEC honors and young OT Royce Smith showed promise. Led by SEC Sophomore Of The Year Andy Johnson at QB, the '71 version of the Bulldogs stormed back from their two mediocre years in a huge way at 10-1 and then added to it with a Gator Bowl victory over the Bill Dooley coached North Carolina Tar Heels, 7-3. Only a loss to the Sullivan-to-Beasley Auburn team marred the record. The 11-1 mark came with the outside running of TB Jimmy "The Greek" Poulos who was second to teammate Johnson in the Soph Of The Year voting. The two youngsters teamed to give the Bulldogs one of the most exciting last-second wins over Georgia Tech in the history of the rivalry. First-team All American guard Royce Smith (Saints number-one draft pick) paved the path. Defensive coach Erk Russell's defense gave up but twenty-eight points in the first eight games which included four shutouts. All SEC DB Buzy Rosenberg managed the secondary well.

Falling off the '71 pace to 7-4, Poulos was injured much of 1972 and the great O-line needed rebuilding. Losing the major games of the season to Alabama, Tennessee, and Auburn, QB Andy Johnson was forced to run for 671 yards with Hal "Missle" Bissle trying to fill the shoes of Poulos. The 1973 squad that went 7-4-1 was probably the most unpredictable of the Dooley era. The opener against Pitt and their new coach Johnny Majors was a 7-7 game considered to be a loss among Georgia players and fans as the Dawgs went in as a four TD favorite. Losing to top ranked Alabama was understandable but dropping two in a row to weak-sisters Vanderbilt and Kentucky had the fans howling. The team battled back to upset Tennessee with QB Johnson and a healthy Jim Poulos at TB delivering more yards than any other Bulldog backfield tandem. Frosh LB Sylvester Boler was the defensive stalwart in the topsy-turvy season that ended with a Peach Bowl victory over Maryland, 17-16. Johnson, who had been such a productive QB, went to New England in the pro draft and played RB and returned kicks for seven years.

The hiring of Bill Pace, former Vandy coach as O-coordinator for 1974 gave the 'Dogs the second best offense in the conference with QB Matt Robinson throwing for 1317 yards (tops in the SEC) and All Conference RB Glynn Harrison rolling up 959 on the ground. The defense however was the worst in the SEC, resulting in a 6-5 record, made worse with a 21-10 loss to Miami (OH) in the Tangerine Bowl. '74 star LB Sylvester Boler went out with a knee injury and disciplinary suspension which hurt the team. Earning the nickname "The Junkyard Dogs", D-coordinator Erk Russell's crew led the way to a comeback 9-2 record in 1975. LB Ben Zambiasi and DB Bill Krug (All SEC) kept opponents at a yield of fifteen points per-game. QB's Ray Goff and Matt Robinson split the chores at signal caller with All Conference RB Harrison and young Kevin McLee (806 yards) the top rushers. Guard Randy Johnson was the hole-opener up front with All Conference and First Team All American honors. Losing to Arkansas 31-10 in the Cotton Bowl did little to tarnish a fine season. Breaking Alabama's dominance in the SEC, the Bulldogs were crowned SEC champs for '76 by virtue of their 10-2 record that included a lone conference loss to Ole Miss. DB Bill Krug and LB Zambiasi earned All American notice as Russell's defense put up four shutouts and led the nation in scoring defense. Big Ben's 72 tackles were a key. QB Ray Goff and RB McLee were an All Conference combination in leading the Bulldog attack. McLee rushed for 1058 yards, primarily behind All American guard Joel Parrish, and Goff was the SEC MVP. He would come back to Georgia as their head coach from 1989 to 1995 while backup QB Matt Robinson went on to an up-and-down NFL career that spanned six years and three teams. Pitt put it to the Bulldogs 27-3 in the Sugar Bowl to win the National Championship while Georgia finished at number ten.