Former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley makes an admission that has Vols fans saying, 'I told you so'

Former Tennessee Vols head coach Derek Dooley made waves earlier this offseason when he announced that he's running for a U.S. Senate seat in the state of Georgia.

Dooley, who was the head coach at Tennessee from 2010 to 2012, was born in Athens, GA. He's the son of legendary former Georgia Bulldogs coach Vince Dooley.

During Dooley's time as the head coach at Tennessee, many Vols fans -- mostly when they were unhappy with the on-field results -- would point to his connection to the Bulldogs and refer to him as a "Georgia guy."

Those fans, of course, were spot on. Dooley has always been a Georgia guy at heart. He admitted as much during a recent sit-down interview with Fox News.

"You're going to get a Georgia helmet and I'll give you a [Dallas] Cowboys helmet," said Dooley to show host Will Cain. "Because you always want to bring up all these other teams. I started my career in Georgia. I bleed red and black. And that's why I'm back in the state I love. That's been my life, and I'm proud to watch them play."

Dooley served as a graduate assistant at Georgia in 1996. That's the only year he worked at UGA, though he obviously grew up around the program when his dad was the head coach.

Some Vols fans are certainly saying, "I told you so" about Dooley's admission. And those same fans aren't surprised that a coach who bleeds red and black didn't find much success while wearing orange and white.

Former Tennessee Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt made a similar admission a few years ago

Dooley isn't the only former Tennessee coach to later admit he's a diehard fan of another SEC program.

Former Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt pointed out in early 2023 that he's an "Alabama guy."

"Make no mistake, I'm an Alabama guy," said Pruitt.