Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley has new goal of Georgia Senate race
As the football coach at Tennessee, it often seemed like Derek Dooley was in the wrong business.
Sure, he had the right surname and the right resumé to be a head coach in the Southeastern Conference, thanks mostly to his father Vince, who led Georgia to the national championship in 1980 and whose influence reached across a wide swath of college football.
But when it came time to actually do the job, Derek Dooley – with his coiffed side part, fancy law degree and University of Virginia education – often seemed as if he was cosplaying the role, like he would have fit in better as a professor, an attorney or perhaps even future politician.
“Right now we’re like the Germans in World War II,” Dooley said in 2010 as he descended into an infamous soliloquy comparing Tennessee’s 2-5 record to the confusion of Nazi forces as the Battle of Normandy began with commanding field marshall Erwin Rommel back in Germany visiting his wife. “Here comes the boats, it’s coming, the binoculars like, ‘Oh my god, the invasion is coming.’ That’s what they did. They were in the bunkers. ‘It’s coming.’ They call Rommel. They can’t find Rommel. ‘What do we do? I’m not doing anything until I get orders. Have you gotten Rommel yet?’ And the Americans were the exact opposite.”
