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Derek Dooley traded his coaching helmet for a suit and an American flag pin. Last fall, the former Tennessee head coach launched a bid for one of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats in this year’s high-stakes midterm elections.
Dooley said he plans to be “the last man standing” after the primaries and general election. He draws on the leadership skills developed during his coaching career – primarily in the Southeastern Conference – as he continues his pitch to undecided voters. His time in the SEC also allowed him to build relationships with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
In a decade under Smart, Georgia has reached three College Football Playoff national championship games, winning back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. Yet that success has sometimes been overshadowed by off-the-field headlines, particularly speeding incidents involving players — at least one of which resulted in a death.
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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart tells the student section to calm down during the fourth quarter of an NCAA football game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, November 1, 2025. (Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
“The best thing Kirby did was he won a lot of matches,” Dooley told PK Press Club Digital on Tuesday in an exclusive interview.
“I’ve worked with Coach Smart in two different places. I’ve known him for a long time and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he does for the program. But when you’re dealing with kids and kids make mistakes. I’m very confident that Coach Smart teaches them the right values and teaches them how to do the right thing and has a disciplinary system that corrects that behavior.”
Dooley continued by emphasizing that athletics serves as a vehicle to instill values in young adults and introduce preventative measures to help them avoid decisions that could negatively affect their future. “That’s what athletics is about…And at some point there’s only so much you can do, but I’m very confident in what Coach Smart is doing, and I know Georgia fans love the success we’ve had over the last few years.”
Dooley and Smart worked together as assistants at LSU beginning in 2003 under then-head coach Nick Saban. Dooley last coached in 2023 as the lead offensive analyst at Alabama, again working on a Saban-led team.
Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley watches the Orange and White game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 21, 2012. (Adam Brimer/Syndication News Sentinel)
In 2024, then-starting linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. and offensive tackle Bo Hughley were arrested on separate misdemeanor reckless driving charges, according to Athens-Clarke County Sheriff’s Office booking records at the time. The Philadelphia Eagles selected Mondon in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Please understand this: I defend the program, but I’m not defensive,” Smart told reporters at SEC media days in 2024. “I’m going to defend my program because we have good kids in our locker room. We have to do a better job.” Smart also confirmed that the Georgian collective NIL had started fining players as punishment.
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These incidents surfaced more than a year after recruiting staff Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy were killed in a car crash in 2023. Jalen Carter, then a Georgia defensive lineman, was driving with a suspended license the night of that fatal crash in Athens, Georgia. Carter was later charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and racing. He pleaded no contest in March 2023 and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine and community service. He was also required to complete a state-approved defensive driving course.
Carter’s attorney, Kim Stephens, said in a statement that her client’s actions did not cause the January 2023 crash. Police alleged the SUV LeCroy was driving raced Carter’s vehicle in the moments before the crash.
In March 2025, several Georgia players, including wide receiver Nitro Tuggle and offensive lineman Marques Easley, were suspended indefinitely by Smart. Last November, another offensive lineman, Nyier Daniels, was dismissed from the team following a high-speed chase involving police. Daniels allegedly drove more than 150 mph while trying to flee police in Commerce, Georgia.
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Weighing the federal government’s role in college sports
Name, image and likeness (NIL) has become a highly controversial issue in Georgia and the broader academic landscape.
As federal lawmakers consider a larger role in regulating college sports — a topic highlighted by former President Donald Trump’s recent “Saving College Sports” roundtable at the White House — Dooley cautioned against congressional intervention, arguing that the NCAA should be given room to address its own challenges.
“Everybody should really care about (this issue). You look at a guy who’s been involved in athletics his whole life. I’ve seen what college athletics does, not just football, college athletics as a whole does for young people. A lot of the values that it teaches, hard work, teamwork, responsibility, personal responsibility, discipline (and) overcoming adversity. need some protection, we need to give them a chance to repair themselves.”
Moving from football to politics
Later this month, Georgia voters will decide which Republican candidate advances to a likely June runoff, with the winner joining independent candidates in the general election to take on incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.
Derek Dooley, former football coach and Republican Senate candidate, speaks to supporters of President Donald Trump during an event hosted by Vice President JD Vance in Peachtree City, Georgia, August 21, 2025. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Dooley is one of the Republican candidates in the running. He spoke to PK Press Club Digital about why he thinks now is the time to shift his focus from the field to the political arena.
“I had a football coaching career for 28 years and I just loved the impact you had on young people from all walks of life every day. And I was all for it, I never looked for air and I thought I was going to do it my whole career,” Dooley said. “But two things really happened… it really started after COVID and what happened under the last administration. I started seeing things in our country that I thought I’d never see in my life, and it shook me a little bit. It made me want to really get more involved.”
Dooley’s father, the late Vince Dooley, was the legendary coach and former athletic director at Georgia. Vince Dooley coached Georgia to the 1980 national championship, a team on which All-American Herschel Walker was the standout running back. Walker won the Heisman Trophy in 1982.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart hugs Vince Dooley after defeating the Auburn Tigers in the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on December 2, 2017. (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)
He added: “As I became more involved, I realized that Congress had changed. He no longer worked for the people as before. We’ve always had a lot of heated debates, a lot of bitter disagreements.
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Georgia’s midterm primary elections are scheduled for May 19. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff on June 16.
