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Derek Dooley has traded his coaching headset for a suit and American flag pin. Last fall, the former Tennessee head coach mounted 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 primary and the general election. He is leaning on 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.
Over a decade under Smart, Georgia has reached three College Football Playoff national championship games, winning consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022. Yet that success has at times been overshadowed by off-field headlines, particularly speeding-related incidents involving players — at least one of which resulted in a fatality.
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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart tells the students section to calm down during the fourth quarter of an NCAA football game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 1, 2025. (Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
“The best thing Kirby has done is he’s won a lot of games,” Dooley told Fox News Digital Tuesday in an exclusive sitdown interview.
“I worked with Coach Smart at two different locations. I’ve known him for a long time and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s doing for the program. But when you’re dealing with young people and young people make mistakes. I’m very confident that Coach Smart is teaching them the right values and teaching them how to act right and has a disciplinary system that corrects that behavior.”
Dooley continued, noting that athletics serves as a vehicle for instilling values in young adults and introducing preventive measures to help them avoid decisions that could negatively affect their futures. “That’s what athletics is good for … 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 a senior offensive analyst at Alabama, again working on a staff led by Saban.
Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley looks on during the Orange and White Game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 21, 2012. (Adam Brimer/News Sentinel Syndication)
In 2024, then-starting linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. and offensive tackle Bo Hughley were arrested on separate misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, booking records from the Athens-Clarke County Sheriff’s Office showed at the time. The Philadelphia Eagles selected Mondon in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Please understand this: I’m defending the program, but I’m not defensive,” Smart told reporters at SEC media days in 2024. “I am going to stand up for my program because we have good kids in our locker room. We gotta do a better job.” Smart also confirmed that Georgia’s NIL collective had begun issuing fines to players as punishment.
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Those incidents surfaced more than a year after Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed in a car crash in 2023. Then-Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter was driving with a suspended license during the night of that fatal wreck 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 attend 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 leading up to the crash.
In March 2025, multiple Georgia players, including wide receiver Nitro Tuggle and offensive lineman Marques Easley, were indefinitely suspended by Smart. Last November, another offensive lineman, Nyier Daniels, was dismissed from the team following a high-speed, police-involved chase. Daniels allegedly drove more than 150 mph while attempting 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 hotly debated issue across Georgia and the broader college landscape.
As federal lawmakers weigh a greater role in regulating college athletics — a topic highlighted by former President Donald Trump’s recent “Saving College Sports” roundtable at the White House — Dooley cautioned against congressional intervention, arguing the NCAA should be given room to address its own challenges.
“Everybody should really care about (this issue). You’re looking at a guy whose been involved in athletics my whole life. I’ve seen what college athletics does, not just football, college athletics as whole does for young people. A lot of the values that it teaches, hard work, teamwork, accountability, personal responsibility, discipline (and) overcoming adversity. … I don’t not believe Congress should go in and try to fix college athletics…. We know what their track record is on that. But the NCAA does need some protection, we’ve got to give them a chance to fix themselves.”
Pivot from football to politics
Later this month, Georgia voters will decide which Republican candidate will advance to a likely June runoff, with the winner joining Independent candidates in the general election to face incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.
Former football coach and Republican Senate candidate Derek Dooley speaks to supporters of President Donald Trump at an event hosted by Vice President JD Vance in Peachtree City, Georgia, on Aug. 21, 2025. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Dooley is among the Republican candidates in the race. He explained to Fox News Digital why he believes the timing is right to shift his focus from the gridiron to the political arena.
“I’ve (had) a 28-year career coaching football and just loved the impact you made on young people every day from all walks of life. And I was all in, never looked up for air and thought I was going to do that my whole career,” Dooley said. “But two things really happened… it started really 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 lifetime, and it jarred me a little bit. It made me want to really get more engaged.”
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 Dec. 2, 2017. (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)
He added: “As I became more engaged, I realized Congress had changed. Not working for the people the way it used to. We’ve always had a lot of passionate debate, a lot of bitter disagreement. We always will and that’s okay. But at some point serious leadership would get in a room, we’d work together for the people and keep the ball moving forward for our country. That’s just not happening today.”
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Georgia’s midterm primary election is scheduled for May 19. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters will advance to a June 16 runoff.
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