Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley running for U.S. Senate in Georgia
Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, where he wants to bring together factions of Gov. Brian Kemp and President Donald Trump.
Dooley, 56, received a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1994. And he has name recognition in the state of Georgia. His father, Vince Dooley, is the winningest coach in Georgia Bulldogs history with 201 victories.
The seat targeted by Dooley is held by first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Kemp was an obvious choice for the Senate seat, but he passed. Dooley hopes to reclaim the seat for Republicans in a state up for grabs in recent years. Joe Biden won Georgia in the 2020 presidential race, and Trump won it in 2024.
Kemp and Trump have often been at odds, but Dooley hopes to bridge that gap, NBC News reported.
"Georgia deserves strong, common-sense leadership in the U.S. Senate that represents all Georgians and focuses on results — not headlines," Dooley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in June, when he was considering a Senate run. "I believe our state needs a political outsider in Washington — not another career politician — to cut through the noise and partisanship and get back to real problem-solving."
In his three seasons at Tennessee, Dooley led the Vols to a 15-21 overall record. His best season was his first in 2010, when UT went 6-7, capped by a loss in the Music City Bowl.
Following his tenure at Tennessee, Dooley spent four seasons in the NFL as the Dallas Cowboys' wide receivers coach before returning to the college ranks to be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri from 2018-19.
His most recent coaching job came as a senior offensive analyst at Alabama for Nick Saban across the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville ran for U.S. Senate in Alabama and won as the Republican nominee. He has held the post since 2021. Tuberville also coached at Ole Miss, Cincinnati and Texas Tech.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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