Ex-college coach Derek Dooley launches GOP bid to challenge Democratic Sen Ossoff in Georgia

Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley on Monday launched his bid in the GOP primary race to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia next year.

Dooley played college football before coaching, The Hill news outlet reported. After coaching at Tennessee, Dooley was a coach for the Dallas Cowboys. He has a career head coaching record of 31-40.

He is the son of former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, whose Bulldogs teams won a national championship and six SEC titles between 1964 and 1988.

In Dooley's video ad, he discussed family values he learned from his father, his history as a coach and being a political outsider.

“I spent three decades in coaching, probably doing the exact opposite of what a lot of D.C. politicians were doing,” Dooley said. “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.”

Dooley also mentioned campaign issues he's focusing on, such as keeping transgender women out of women’s sports, cutting government spending, and border security. He praised President Trump, saying he “campaigned on things, and he’s turning them into results.”

He also criticized Ossoff's track record, including voting with former President Biden 97% of the time.

Dooley joins the primary race with Republican Georgia Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is supporting Dooley in his bid for Senate.

Collins' campaign attacked Dooley after his launch, saying in a video that “when President Trump took on the establishment in 2016, Derek Dooley just stayed in the locker room. He didn’t even vote.”

Senate Democrats came out against Dooley in the growing Republican primary field.

“The latest addition to Georgia’s messy and chaotic GOP primary is a failed football coach who has only ever spoken out to cheerlead Medicaid cuts that hurt Georgians,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Maeve Coyle said in a statement.

“As this primary gets even more crowded and devolves into a proxy war between President Trump and Governor Kemp, Senator Ossoff is fighting for working families in Georgia and will hold his seat in 2026,” she added.