As GOP Senate fray sputters, will ex-TN coach "Volunteer" to challenge Ossoff?

Republicans aim for "Hail Mary" in Senate primary mired in uncertainty

Derek Dooley

Since Republican Gov. Brian Kemp told us this spring that he would not challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year, his party has been left scrambling to find a strong alternative to take on the first-term lawmaker.

In the hours since his announcement, several statewide officeholders and members of the congressional delegation quickly began formalizing campaigns. But it’s a former University of Tennessee football coach’s sudden interest that threatens to add more drama to the contest.

Derek Dooley, who has a lengthy resume on the gridiron that includes a coaching stint with the Tennessee Volunteers, has reportedly been making calls and hiring new staffers as he gears up for a possible run.

If Derek Dooley’s name doesn’t ring a bell in Bulldog Nation, his father’s name certainly does: the late Vince Dooley was the “Top Dog” in Athens for more than 2 decades and helped lead the team to a national title in 1980 — a mountaintop the Bulldogs wouldn’t reach again for another 40 years — with a starting lineup that included famed running back and future political candidate Herschel Walker.

The younger Dooley was a coach at Tennessee from 2010 to 2012. Before that, he was a head coach at Louisiana Tech and a tight ends coach at the University of Louisiana. He has also worked with the University of Alabama as well as some professional teams, including the Dallas Cowboys.

His time on the sidelines in Georgia, however, has been limited. He spent a year as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia in the late 1990s, while his father was still the athletic director. He spent his college days at the University of Virginia, where he was a walk-on wide receiver.

On a possible Senate run, Dooley told the AJC in June that Georgia needs a “political outsider — not another career politician — to cut through the noise and partisanship and get back to real problem-solving.”

The 56-year-old has never run for office before, but his sudden interest in the race comes as the party continues searching for a consensus candidate. Two Republicans have announced bids so far but are struggling to gain traction: U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter was the first to enter the race, followed by state Insurance Commissioner John King. U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (who happens to be Kemp’s congressman) is likely to join the race soon, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is said to be eyeing his next move.

Dooley’s emergence also comes as Gov. Kemp is said to have been making several trips to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans as the search for a unity candidate intensifies. Despite the rather complicated relationship between the two leaders, they are on the same page when it comes to making Ossoff a one-term-wonder and helping Republicans expand their Senate majority. And Dooley is quietly building out a political operation that reportedly includes some of Kemp’s closest advisers, signaling a quiet but coordinated effort by the governor’s inner circle to upend the contest.

But privately, some Republicans are unhappy with the current crop of candidates and think the governor is trying to solve a problem he himself created by staying out of the race. Though they are all working to win back this Senate seat, some aren’t sure if Kemp, who boasts high approval ratings in the closely divided state as his second term winds down, should be acting as the “kingmaker” in a primary he could have had all to himself.

And while College Football Saturdays are practically early church services in a lot of Georgia households, it’s not clear if Dooley, who spent most of his coaching career outside of the state and has no political record to attack, is ready for the national spotlight in what will be one of the most competitive Senate races on the map. After all, Georgia Republicans don’t have to look far back to find the last time they fumbled the ball with an untested football figure: Herschel Walker’s failed Senate candidacy in 2022 is still fresh on a lot of minds.

Ossoff, meanwhile, is gearing up for a competitive contest: he raised an astonishing $10 million during the previous quarter and has $15 million stashed away. That far outpaces both of his announced Republican challengers, who must first spend their money attacking each other (and possibly Dooley) before they can direct any of it toward the incumbent.