Ex-NFL Coach Derek Dooley Joins Georgia Senate GOP Primary to Challenge Ossoff

Georgia voters will choose later this month which Republican and independent candidates advance to a June runoff or the general election to challenge incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in the 2026 midterms.

Former Tennessee head coach and NFL assistant Derek Dooley is running as a Republican. In an interview with Fox News Digital, he said the timing felt right to leave football for politics.

"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 our lifetime and it jarred me a little bit. It made me want to get involved."

Other Republicans in the race include Rep. Mike Collins and Rep. Buddy Carter, both of Georgia.

Dooley was born in Athens, Georgia, near the University of Georgia campus. After graduating from law school at Georgia, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs football team.

Dooley took a firm position on transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports. "I have a lot of respect for all people... But I don't have to be a sociologist or a doctor to know that it's simply not fair to allow biological men to compete with women," he said.

He added that including transgender athletes risks undoing progress in women's sports. "We've made tremendous progress in women's sports over the years... and I don't want to go backwards."

In 2025, President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. It directed federal agencies to interpret Title IX based on biological sex at birth.

Federal agencies have authority over entities receiving federal funds that do not comply, though legal challenges followed quickly. Trump said shortly after signing that "the war on women’s sports is over," but the matter was not settled.

Less than 24 hours later, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The probe covered reported Title IX violations tied to transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

Dooley last coached in 2023 as a senior offensive analyst at Alabama under Nick Saban.

His father, the late Vince Dooley, was a legendary coach and former athletic director at Georgia. Vince Dooley led Georgia to the 1980 national championship with All-American Herschel Walker as the star running back. Walker won the Heisman Trophy in 1982.

Walker ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022 and lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff. Trump nominated him, and the Senate confirmed Walker in October 2025 as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.

In 1989, Walker was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikings in a lopsided deal. Dallas gained draft picks and players that helped build its 1990s dynasty. Walker rushed for 2,264 yards over three seasons in Minnesota before leaving after 1991.

Georgia's midterm primary is set for May 19. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two advance to a June 16 runoff.