her ass right away.’ I said if that had been a male coach moving in with a married woman, the male coach would have been fired. The press would have been all over it. There’s no way they could let that story alone. But it seems that it’s totally different with a female. It’s just amazing.”
Barbara Dooley’s sense of outrage wasn’t felt at the highest levels of state government where money apparently talks more loudly than traditional morality, even in the heart of Baptist Bible belt.
Barbara Dooley has kept up with her friend Betsy vicariously through mutual friends and relatives. “She quit returning my calls a couple of years ago. I feel very confident that Don told her to stay away from me, and because he pays her bills . . . But her daughter came into our box during one of the games and literally had tears in her eyes and said she missed us terribly. She said, ‘I just want you to know that we love you.’ And I have to say, every time I get sick—and I’ve been sick a lot in the last three years—I always get flowers from Betsy. I always get a card from Betsy on my birthday saying I miss you and I love you. But she won’t call me. I find it very interesting.”
Vince Dooley was Yoculan’s direct superior and tried to maintain a casual friendship with Leebern even after the couple moved in together and the affair became the topic of dinner conversations in Athens and Atlanta. Meanwhile, the athletics department was concerned about the NCAA watchdogs. The school was already in trouble with the NCAA for rules violations in the men’s basketball program. The UGA Athletics Department’s mission statement on integrity declares:
By their very nature, athletics inevitably involve character development; for this reason, especially, we must conduct ourselves with utmost integrity. All programs and the activities on our behalf by alumni and friends must be consistent with the policies of the university and the athletic bodies which govern us. We are to be at all times honest and forthright in our dealings with each other, the public, and the media.
The question was whether Leebern’s actions in living with a university system employee constituted a conflict, since the Regents have oversight of the entire university system.
Georgia’s NCAA compliance coordinator, Amy Chisholm, wrote to the Southeastern Conference in July 2001 inquiring whether Leebern and Yoculan’s living arrangement could be a violation of NCAA rules because of Leebern’s role as an athletics booster:
Specifically, a head coach [Yoculan] is engaged to a representative of Georgia’s athletics interest [Leebern]. The coach and representative have purchased a house together and will be sharing this house as of August. The coach would like to host meals for prospects and current student-athletes during official visits at their house without it being perceived as impermissible contact with an athletics representative. Although, legally at this time the representative is not considered a spouse . . . the NCAA has never legislated fiancés and other personal relationships.
Chisholm’s letter didn’t mention that the coach’s fiancé was already married. A few days later Chisholm received a reply from Beth DeBauche, then SEC associate commissioner for compliance, informing her that such contact would, in fact, be an NCAA violation: “According to the NCAA Membership Services staff, the answer to this issue is no. The athletics representative’s status is not changed by the fact he is engaged to the head coach. Accordingly, he cannot be involved in any recruiting activities.” A fiancé should not be present at any recruiting meals or activities either on or off-campus, DeBauche replied. The upshot was that the SEC and the NCAA said that Yoculan could host recruits at her house but Leebern should not be present.
This novel situation posed increasing challenges for the man who was the coach’s boss and the booster/fiancé’s longtime friend. By coincidence, Dooley’s relationship with Leebern began to sour just as Dooley was negotiating with Adams on a contract extension in 2001.
Riding the crest of her women’s gymnastics team’s SEC and national championships, Yoculan began angling for a promotion to become assistant athletic director. Her counterpart at the University of Alabama, Sarah Patterson, was an assistant AD and was using the title to aid in recruiting. Dooley ignored Yoculan’s complaints, feeling it would have been unfair to elevate her over other coaches who had more seniority.
Afterwards, Leebern dropped by Dooley’s office. Barbara Dooley recounts the conversation as her husband told it to her:
“‘Buddy, I need a favor.’ Of course Vince said, ‘Sure, what do you need?’ And he said, ‘Well, you know, Suzanne really wants to be assistant athletic director.’”
Barbara Dooley said Leebern brought up that the Alabama gymnastics coach was an assistant AD and was flaunting it over Yoculan. Vince was against it but in his fairness to his longtime friend he said that he would look into it. Vince called the Alabama athletic director, Mal Moore, and found out that at one time Patterson had been an assistant AD with additional administrative duties, but that was no longer the case and she was no longer on the senior administrative staff. However, she didn’t drop the title and used it to her advantage. Vince told Leebern all that, but Leebern still wanted the favor. Vince told him that he would do almost anything for him in light of their longtime friendship, but he could not compromise his responsibilities, especially since Andy Landers, Jack Bauerle, and Manuel Diaz, all with similar great coaching records as Yoculan, could make the same case to become an assistant athletic director.
“Vince stood on his principles on this decision and Don left there, and I’m convinced—Vince is not convinced, but I’m convinced—that Leebern left there that day and made a pact with the devil—Adams. Because Vince told him no, and I’m not sure anybody had ever told Don Leebern no,” Barbara Dooley said.
6
Vince Dooley and Michael Adams
Senior faculty at Centre College say that while president there, Michael Adams had shown a keen interest in the school’s athletic programs. He not only attended games but became directly involved with NCAA matters. That was considered a plus by some members of the Georgia search committee.
Vince Dooley felt certain that he would hit it off with the new president and began to reach out even before Adams arrived on campus, telephoning him congratulations from a hospital bed where Dooley was recovering from knee-replacement surgery. As previously noted, Adams didn’t return the call. When Dooley called again and got through a few days later, the conversation was pleasant with Dooley offering congratulations and Adams saying he looked forward to meeting the legendary coach.
Dooley was satisfied that he would get along fine with the new president. “I’m a person that whoever is given the responsibility as president, my tendency is to go all out to support them,” said Dooley. “I am a good soldier in that respect.”
But Dooley and Adams were soon on a collision course which would reverberate across Georgia. Ironically, it was Adams’s fondness for athletics that led to the dispute, and Dooley now recalls that he received early warnings of trouble ahead.
Shortly after Adams arrived at Georgia, Dooley made a presentation to the athletics board about adding sky suites at Sanford Stadium. Dooley said he didn’t notice, but afterwards Dick Bestwick, the respected senior associate athletic director, commented on Adams’s body language and red-faced expression as Dooley was speaking. Bestwick warned him after the meeting that he had better be wary of Adams.
“That was the first indication that this person was going to be different than any [president] I had dealt with. And I’m glad he was the fifth one and not the second or third one or I might have had a much shorter tenure at Georgia,” said Dooley.
Bestwick
