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Former Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Derek Dooley announced his 2026 Republican bid for the United States Senate in Georgia against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff in a campaign launch video shared on Monday (August 4).
Dooley, 57, the son of late legendary Georgia Bulldogs head coach Vince Dooley, is backed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and has teased a senate bid since June, joining a Republican race that already includes U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, as well as activist Reagan Box.
“Professional politicians like Jon Ossoff are the problem,” Dooley said in his launch video. “Lawlessness, open season on the border, inflation everywhere, woke stuff, that’s what they represent. We need new leadership in Georgia. That’s why I’m running for Senate.”
Kemp, who backed Dooley after deciding not to run for the Senate seat himself, recentl met with President Donald Trump and said they would try to agree on a preferred candidate, with anyone anointed by both presumed to be the Republican front-runner. Kemp confirmed his support of Dooley on July 24, which led to Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King to drop out of the race, however, Trump hasn't yet publicly endorsed a candidate.
Dooley, who has never held elective office, is running as a political outsider, claiming he would bring “good, old fashioned Georgia common sense" and "work with President Trump." Tennessee hired Dooley days after former head coach Lane Kiffin accepted the same position at USC after one season in January 2010.
Dooley went 15-21 in Knoxville, which included a loss in his only bowl game appearance during his first season and a winless record in SEC play during his final season in 2012. The Georgia native had previously worked as the athletic director and head football coach at Louisiana Tech, where he went 17-20 (12-12 Western Athletic Conference) with a win in his only bowl game appearance.
Dooley last worked as a senior offensive analyst at Alabama from 2022 to 2023 and previously served as a wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys from 2013 to 2017, an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri from 2018 to 2019 and both a senior offensive assistant (2020) and tight ends coach (2021) during two seasons with the New York Giants.