Ex-Football Coach Enters Senate Race in Georgia

Former college football coach Derek Dooley entered the race for a Senate seat from Georgia on Monday, aiming to unseat Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff and marking the beginning of what he hopes will be his political career.

In his announcement video, Dooley leans into the reputation of his father, Vince Dooley, who was head coach of the University of Georgia football team from 1964 to 1988.

“You watched him roll up his sleeves and work hard and have respect for everybody he encountered,” Dooley says of his father in the ad. “He always followed through, and it taught me to do the same. To me, those are Georgia values. The only thing that matters to me is the people of Georgia are proud with who’s representing them in Washington, D.C.”

“I spent three decades in coaching,” Dooley added. “Probably doing the exact opposite of what a lot of D.C. were doing. I sat in kitchens and living rooms with people from all walks of life. The only thing that mattered was trying to create hope and opportunity for them and that family. That’s leadership, is how you represent people.”

Dooley is a longtime friend of incumbent Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who for weeks has been rumored to be supporting Dooley’s run for Senate.

The former University of Tennessee coach, who does not have experience in elected office, will compete against two Republican members of Congress in the GOP primary—Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins.

A Collins campaign-affiliated account hit Dooley with an early jab Monday on the social media platform X, writing “[that feeling when] you’re about to be 0-4 vs. Georgia,” next to an image of Dooley as the head coach at the University of Tennessee.

The Collins team released other videos, including one that accuses Dooley of spending “his life on the sidelines” during President Donald Trump’s political career.

Dooley’s campaign did not provide comment to The Daily Signal in response to the attacks.

Kemp and Trump have yet to issue endorsements in the Senate race, with the primary set for May 2026.

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