'Legendary Incompetence': Derek Dooley Campaign Launch Overshadowed by His Abysmal Coaching Record
August 8, 2025
USA Today: “It was one of the most disastrous coaching tenures in SEC history.”
Failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley officially jumped in the Georgia U.S. Senate race this week, but coverage of his campaign launch was quickly dominated by mentions of his “disastrous” coaching record, which sports writers, experts, observers — and even his Republican opponents - agree was “widely seen as a failure” due to his “legendary incompetence.”
Read for yourself:
USA Today: Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley has new goal of Georgia Senate race
Dan Wolken | August 4, 2025
- [Dooley] often seemed as if he was cosplaying the role […]
- Dooley was fired after three seasons and a 4-19 SEC record, his legendary incompetence dragging Tennessee’s proud program into a cycle of dysfunction that would last nearly a decade.
- Dooley, if he’s remembered for anything in Georgia, it’s as the coach who had 13 men on the field for LSU’s final snap from the 1-yard line in 2010, handing the Tigers the one extra chance they needed to win.
- He was the first Tennessee coach to lose to Kentucky in 27 years.
- He lost to Vanderbilt by 23 points, the worst margin in that rivalry since 1954.
- He was the first Tennessee coach to suffer three consecutive losing seasons since 1909-11.
- And in Dooley’s 2012 recruiting class, he didn’t sign a single offensive lineman. Not one. For an SEC program, it’s unheard of.
- The Vols paid for that mistake for many years to come. It was one of the most disastrous coaching tenures in SEC history.
- Dooley tangents […] made him the **** of jokes around the SEC […]
On3: When Georgia US Senate candidate Derek Dooley put 13 men on the field to cost Tennessee a win at LSU
August 7th, 2025
- “It was Tennessee, they weren’t any good…they were awful.”
- “And now that’s the man that wants you to trust him to put him in the U.S. Senate.”
- “Derek Dooley’s decision making within that entire ordeal does not inspire confidence.”
ESPN: Ex-Tennessee coach Derek Dooley running for Senate in Georgia
August 4, 2025
- Dooley has never held elective office before. He says he’ll run as a political outsider…
- Derek Dooley was widely seen as a failure during his three years as head coach at Tennessee, compiling a 15-21 record with the Volunteers before he was fired in 2012.
CBS Sports: Former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley announces Republican bid for Senate seat in Georgia
Brad Crawford | August 4, 2025
- After consecutive losing seasons, Dooley was fired after starting the 2012 campaign with a 4-7 record. Dooley went 4-19 against SEC competition and had lost 14 of his final 15 league games prior to his dismissal.
Bleacher Report: Former NFL, CFB Coach Derek Dooley to Run for U.S. Senate in Georgia as Republican
Andrew Peters | August 4, 2025
- His time with the Vols was mostly unsuccessful as he put together a 15-21 record before being fired in 2012.
National Football Post: Ex-Vols coach Derek Dooley running for U.S. Senate
August 4, 2025
- Dooley was head coach of the Volunteers for three seasons from 2010-12, compiling a 15-21 record with one bowl appearance. He was fired after a 4-7 season […]
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- Dooley posted a 17-20 record in three seasons at Louisiana Tech (2007-09) before struggling at Tennessee.
