The Peach State once again saw a sound defeat of former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley. In 2010, when he led his Vols in Athens, the Bulldogs blew out Tennessee 41-14. But this time, he lost his first political campaign inside the state’s borders despite running with the backing of Georgia’s top executive.

Dooley returned home sixteen years later to launch his political career and lost immediately. On June 16, he lost the Georgia Republican nomination to U.S. Representative Mike Collins after a primary race concluded on May 19 without a clear winner. Dooley won 30.1% of the vote, while Collins got 40.5%. Following the lack of a majority for any candidate, the high-stakes primary runoff for the Georgia Senate was held in June.

The former CFB coach was beaten. He got roughly 44.1% of the vote, carrying 12 counties. In contrast, Collins captured roughly 55.9% of the vote. He carried 147 of the Peach State’s counties after securing late-stage endorsement from President Donald Trump.

“I don’t know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person,” said Trump about Dooley, as reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel. “Unfortunately, he has lived outside of Georgia for most of his life…”

Outgoing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp endorsed Dooley and even backed him with his political staff; the former Tennessee head coach’s “Georgia First” campaign, which focused on local community safety, wasn’t enough to overcome Collins’ “America First” campaign. Even Dooley’s political ad, claiming that “in football, your film is your resume,” backfired on him.

The opposing political group flooded social media with “rewind” ads. They highlighted his 15–21 record at Tennessee and his 4–19 SEC mark, calling him one of the ‘biggest disasters in SEC history.’ They also claimed the ex-Tennessee head coach “never fights, never wins, never Trump.”

With his victory, Collins will challenge Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who has represented Georgia since 2021, in the general election in November. To make matters worse for the former Tennessee head coach, his loss resurfaced his failed journey in Tennessee.

Another layer in the ex-Tennessee head coach’s loss story

After Lane Kiffin abruptly left for USC, Tennessee hired Derek Dooley. But his tenure was a disaster for the Vols, with three consecutive losing seasons from 2010 to 2012. He became the first coach in Vols history to have such a losing record since 1911. In 2010, the Vols lost to Georgia and suffered an infamous 13-men-on-the-field penalty against LSU.

During his head coaching tenure at Louisiana Tech from 2007 to 2009, Dooley led the team to victory in the Independence Bowl, finishing with a 17-20 record. After failing to elevate these programs to a national ranking, he continued his coaching career as a coordinator or position coach.

Dooley’s political loss was also notable because his father, Vince Dooley, had a successful coaching career at Georgia with 201 wins. Moreover, the ex-Tennessee head coach earned a law degree from Georgia. Despite that, voters chose Collins, given that Dooley spent most of his career away from the state.