by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Another football celebrity with ties to the University of Georgia could be headed for the state’s political big leagues, as former University of Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley weighs a run for U.S. Senate.
The son of legendary Bulldogs coach Vince Dooley is considering an effort to take down Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year.
Dooley said Friday he may run in the Republican primary, in news first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Georgia deserves stronger, common-sense leadership in the US Senate that represents all Georgians and focuses on results—not headlines,” Dooley said in a statement his spokesman shared with Capitol Beat News Service. “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.”
Dooley was the head coach for the University of Tennessee until he was fired over a decade ago after a losing streak. He continued coaching college and NFL football over the next decade.
He wouldn’t be the first football name to pursue a political career in Georgia, particularly in the U.S. Senate. In 2022, Donald Trump backed former Bulldog Herschel Walker’s bid for the Senate, leading to a sound defeat by Democrat Raphael Warnock.
The GOP lane to the Senate seat is wide open after Gov. Brian Kemp, who had been considering a run against Warnock, backed off last month.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons, was the first major political figure to jump into the race, followed a month later by John King, the elected state insurance and safety fire commissioner.
“This is going to be the most watched, most expensive race in the United States,” King said Friday of the contest against Ossoff, while speaking at the state Republican party convention in Dalton.
Dooley will decide whether to enter the race soon. “My family and I are continuing conversations,” he said, “and will make a decision in the coming weeks.”
