In late 1963, Georgia was experiencing another forgettable football season when UGA President O.C. Aderhold scheduled a meeting with Joel Eaves, the retired basketball coach at Auburn.
Owing to a heart attack, Eaves had decided to give up coaching and suddenly became interested in the vacant athletic director’s position at UGA. Eaves and Aderhold met in LaGrange on the day of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Eaves was offered the job.
That was a dark moment for the nation, and the Georgia advocates did not well receive Aderhold’s decision. Not sure whom they would have chosen if they had had a say in the matter, but they certainly didn’t think it was a good decision to hire the basketball coach at Auburn to run the UGA athletic program. They wanted a seasoned football man to take over.
However, Eaves was a seasoned administrator and an outstanding basketball coach. He would bring about change, most of it good for the program. Financially, Georgia was hamstrung by red ink, and Eaves was the perfect person to remedy that situation. His logic — don’t spend it if you don’t have it — has always stood the test of time. Coming through the Great Depression, he knew how to manage when times were hard.
While Eaves was monitoring expense accounts and purchase orders with the keenest eye and the sharpest pencil, 31-year-old head football coach Vince Dooley was trying to kick-start the football program by underscoring fundamentals. He also wanted to give the Bulldogs a new image, which included changing the gameday uniforms. He chose white pants, red jerseys, and red helmets, which replaced the silver headgear of the past.
Additionally, he wanted to add a black “G” to the red helmet. He asked Eaves to contact the Green Bay Packers and request permission to use the “G” that the NFL franchise had adopted for its helmets.
The original Packer “G” was designed in-house and was more of a “block” style “G.” Anne came up with a design that fit the contours of the helmet.
Initially, there were complaints about getting away from the traditional silver helmet. Still, when the team began to embody the “Fighting Bulldogs” in the strictest sense, longtime fans and supporters warmed up to the new uniforms — and to the 1964 team. However, not a championship team, became one of the most popular ever to play between the hedges.
Except for the opening season loss to Joe Namath and Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 31-3, these new Bulldogs could have won every game. As it turned out, they won seven games, including a 7-0 victory over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl at El Paso.
The new image complemented the team's play on the field and won over the hearts of Bulldog alumni and fans. Georgia was the first Southeastern Conference team to use a decal on its helmets, and it resonated like no other. You wear that “G” across the country, and you would hear people shout out, “Go Dawgs.”
Anne was proud of her contribution to the football team's image. She was never out front calling attention to herself, but was proud to have played such an important role in Georgia’s “G,” which gave UGA a nationally recognized image.
Television made its foray into college football about that time. When the networks showcased the Bulldogs’ “G,” it became so prominent that it enhanced the University of Georgia’s image in college athletic competition as much as Uga, the mascot, did.
Often, there are behind-the-scenes players whose contributions to an athletic program's success are monumental. Anne Donaldson, a charming small-town wife of a Georgia assistant coach, brought great respect to the program at the start of the Dooley era, and UGA has been the fortunate benefactor.