Today marks one month since failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley launched his U.S. Senate campaign, which has been defined by constant “infighting” and an inability to win over skeptical Republicans opposed to the idea of nominating an untested “experiment” with “no rationale for his candidacy” – even after an official endorsement from Gov. Brian Kemp.
See for yourself:
As soon as Dooley jumped into the race, his 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.”
- USA Today: “It was one of the most disastrous coaching tenures in SEC history.”
- On3: “Derek Dooley’s decision making within that entire ordeal does not inspire confidence.”
- ESPN: “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.”
Right-wing radio commentators spent time on the air bashing Dooley for his terrible record at Tennessee, and for being absent on the campaign trail.
- [BILL CRANE, WDUN] “I don’t see a path unless he has some sort of message that really resonates because he’s unknown to the party, he’s unknown to most Georgians, he coached at Tennessee.”
- [TIM BRYANT, WGAU-AM] “There’s no reason to be pro-Derek Dooley. Because you don’t know him!”
- [ERIC VON HAESSLER, WSB-AM] “Everything I’ve read about him doesn’t seem all that impressive.”
- [STEVE GILL, The Todd Starnes Show] “I hope he campaigns better than he coached.”
- [NANCY BABBITT, The John Fredericks Show] “Oh, isn’t he the one that coached every other team in the SEC, but never in Georgia? And oh, isn’t he the one with the losing record?”
After one of his first campaign stops, Dooley found himself in the hot seat of FOX 5’s Georgia Gang for fumbling policy questions and reporting that he didn’t vote for 20 years of elections:
- [PHIL KENT] “He was asked the question, ‘What do you think of the H-2A visa?’ He didn’t know what it was. He had to ask an aide. This is terrible. He wasn’t prepped on some of these key things? Unbelievable.”
- [THARON JOHNSON] “The question that Derek Dooley is going to have to answer is, what have you been doing since you left Tennessee? […] He was fired from there in 2012 […]”
- [LORI GEARY] “When you’re running for office […] how do you justify not voting in elections, especially presidential elections?”
The day after being officially endorsed by Gov. Brian Kemp, a political commentator from Dooley’s own party outlined how badly Dooley has been doing during the first month of his campaign and making the case that there is “no rationale for his candidacy.”
- [DAVID JOHNSON] “The problem is there’s no rationale for his candidacy.”
- “He’s been hitting some of the Republican organizations already and it’s been lukewarm at best.”
- “Your key Republican in the media personalities are saying he’s not ready for primetime.“