The Nominees are In: Texas Tech’s Tuberville

By November 28, 2012

Tuberville

Tommy Tuberville was born 58 years ago in Camden, Ark. He’s one of the few native Arkansans in the conversation when it comes to the next head coach at Arkansas.

Tuberville is the head coach at Texas Tech where he is being paid $2 million per year.

He is most known for spending 10 years as the head coach at Auburn before resigning in 2008. He then took the Texas Tech job before the 2010 season and is now in his third season there.

Tuberville is also vice president of the American Football Coaches Association.

Tuberville started his coaching career in 1980 at Arkansas State as a defensive ends and linebackers coach. He then spent time as an assistant at Miami and as a defensive coordinator at Texas A&M before taking a job as the head coach at Ole Miss. He spent three years in Oxford, Miss., before departing for Auburn.

While at Auburn, Tuberville won five Southeastern Conference Western Division titles and played in eight consecutive bowl games.

He left Auburn after going 5-7 in the 2008 season, even though he had gone undefeated in 2004. That 2004 team was left out of the BCS National Championship game.

In 2004, Auburn won the SEC and Tuberville won the Walter Camp and Bear Bryant Coach of the Year awards. Tuberville has been named SEC coach of the year twice, once during the 2004 season at Auburn and once during the 1997 season at Ole Miss.

Tuberville’s Auburn Tigers dominated cross-state rival Alabama during his tenure, beating them six times in a row in his last six years.

He has been known for aggressive play calling and excellent decision making in big-game situations, but has also been known for losing the games he has no business losing. Tuberville had a 5-2 record versus top five teams at Auburn.

Bobby Petrino, Gene Chizik and Will Muschamp all coached under Tommy Tuberville at one time or another.

Tuberville is also doing some good things at Texas Tech. He won a bowl game in his first season in Lubbock, something that has not been done by a first-year coach there since 1951.

During his tenure at Texas Tech, season ticket sales have increased by more than 50 percent. He is also responsible for bringing in the highest-ranked recruiting class in Texas Tech history.

However, the 2011 Red Raiders went 5-7 and missed the bowl season. This year the Red Raiders are 7-5. Some negative press has been swirling around Tuberville lately as he allegedly hit one of his assistants during the Kansas game this season.

Tuberville is married to Suzanne Tuberville and they have two sons, Tucker and Troy.

The thing about Tommy Tuberville is that he actually wants this job and it would take little to no convincing to get him to Fayetteville. Plus, unlike most of our other candidates, he has experience winning in the SEC. And as an added bonus he has Arkansas ties. Sounds like a great deal right? Wrong, in my opinion at least.

This is the hire that would make me think “eh, OK.” And the Arkansas fan base is absolutely not looking for “eh, OK.” To move on as a program, Arkansas needs someone who is on the rise in his career and it is pretty obvious that Tuberville is not.

I like his style and his record is hard to argue with, but he is not the young, innovative, exciting force that Arkansas so clearly needs. I honestly think he is Jeff Long’s last resort, but it could be a whole lot worse than Tommy Tuberville.

  • BryanLeaves

    Please take him.  Everyone at Tech hates him.  

  • Mdj Jenkins

    We should pay Arkansas to take him.

  • Georgegant

    Please, please, please offer him a job….as soon as possible.

  • Richard Wiid

    Please leave Lubbock, please…

  • Realredraider

    Most red raider fans would trade the winning power ball ticket if you would take this loser off our hands!

  • txlass

    Has he left yet????

  • guest

    Has he left yet???

  • Stvram47

    First Tech must fire Kent Hance.  Second…….pull out all the stops and get Mike Leach back.  He probably would never return to Lubbock after the way Tech treated him….but its worth a shot.  Best coach we ever had.

  • Raider Alumn

    Arkansas please hire him and get him out of Lubbock!

  • Jeff223

    Tuberville going to Arkansas would be in the best interest of Tech. Thanks Hogs!

  • Tommy

    I am a loyal Texas Tech Ex, but I think Tuberville deserves better than to be second guessed all the time by a bunch of uninformed Tech Exes that don’t understand present day “college football”.  The dynnamics of college football have changed and the future will be more like the NFL with seasons where teams win and lose and there’s no aparent explanation except there’s more parity and more problems today than ever before.  Good luck to Tommy if he goes to Arkansas — I hope he will be more apprecaited.  I hope he stays at Tech, because we would be hard pressed to replace him.  Tech Exes need to suck it up and be loyal to our school, program and head coach — discard the negative attitudes. 

  • Jeff223

    Guy is a loser and gives up when his team is down by more than 7. Good Riddance! 

  • Jeff223

    Is that you Chancellor Hance?

  • Hughjones

    Idk I’ve watched a few Tech games this year. The guy seems senile. I remember a few instances where his team was down and it was 3 and 20 and the guy would just run the ball up the middle for a yard. I respect that he is from Arkansas but I hope he is not a realistic option

  • Weaver1970

    Leach sucks doing a great job at Washington St LMAO…….forget him never..never..  never ever will be at Tech again. I hope one day Kliff will come back to Tech as coach he’s a great offensive Cordinator.

  • Dwall

    Is that you coach Leach?

  • Markus

    Lord, some of you Leacher’s are embarrassing.  That dumb-a$$ didn’t win a thing while at Tech and looked for a job every year.  I would like Tubs to stay and get us back on track, but to want Leach back is just stupid. 

  • suckitteamleach

    This comment section reeks of Team Leach.

  • Baldassare489

    LEACCHERRSSSSSSS suck

  • Lgripp

    Let them have him, and bring Sonny Dykes or Kliff Kingsbury home. Momma is calling!

  • TTNBgottago

    Don’t let the door hit ya Tommy. Thanks for taking a winning team to one that got trashed by our Big 12 South Rivals.

    Ofer against UT, Oklahoma St and A&M, 1-2 against Oklahoma and Baylor.

  • Deshonsigurd

    If he wants to go to arkansas then good riddance. Hes had three years and we suffered some of the worst losses in school history. This year we r again tailing off toward the end of the year. We need some new blood. Ive supported the tech athletic program for 35 + years and dont need a lecture on loyalty or negative attitude. Very simply i dont want a coach who thinks, probably unrealistically anyway, that there r greener pastures.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-M-Greer/749590319 David M. Greer

    i’m all for bringing kingsbury back to lubbock.

  • ExTechPlayer

    Hey clueless Tommy (maybe you’re actually Tuber . . . nah), This isn’t the NFL, nor do the dynamics even remotely resemble it. There are no player contracts or owners calling the shots. But you knew this already?

    The college dynamic is that you recruit the best players for the positions needed and some that can be developed (they don’t develop in the NFL or you already knew that?), have a proven offensive and defensive scheme, takes full responsibility for failure, scouts and evaluate film well and commit yourself to the players and program. Tubbs can recruit but falls on his face in each of the rest of these. Everyone knows he can’t wait to get back to the SEC and is using Tech as a stepping stone. Arkansas can have his sorry A$$.

  • go away tommy

    Sure marky & tommy it is all about leach. The hell it is. Only you clowns keep bringing him up. He is gone. Lets talk about the present.

    And by the way, tele-tubby did  not increase season tik sales by 50%.

     
    We are gong backwards with tele-tubby and that is a fact. 9 Big 12 wins in three years  does not cut it.  The only team tele-tubby has beat more than once in conf is  morbid ku.

    That is not acceptable. He has done so bad that even his home state team will not want him.He even screwed that up.  Come on Arky help us out.

  • rred

    We can only hope!

  • Cstevens416

    I’m seriously laughing my a$$ off at you people. Half of you have no idea what you are talking about. I’m saying this right now, and remember it very clearly, because when it happens I want you all to realize how stupid you really are: tommy will produce a winning team at tech, some coaches need 3-4 seasons before they get the feel of things, and we are definitely on the up and up. What you “wise, elderly” tech fans lack is patience, and you’re playing the sports game like Nixon politics, looking for a public hanging when we show progress, just not the progress you want to see. I mean did you guys really expect to go 11-1, 10-2, this season? It was possible, but I thought 8-4, 7-5. Next season is a different story, we’ll have a different game, and I expect at least 9-3 or 8-4.

  • txpackfan

    I’ve always been a big fan of Tubby, and he’s done a fine job coming in after the previous mess, no matter how entertaining old what’s his name handled Craig James kid. tubby’s just finishing his third year, and results are starting to show. It’s hard enough to get opposing teams to come to Lubbock, let alone proven coaches. Give the man a raise, but keep him a Reed Raider! You won’t regret it!

  • txpackfan

    Seriously….Kliff kingsbury?? Johnny football’s main cheerleader? Is it because he knows where Lubbock is? Is that a main requirement now….wow i’m not sure y’all will ever have a winning program with that attitude. You already have the2 time SEC coach of the year!

  • txpackfan

    You seriously think that kingsbury is, right now, a better coach that Tubby? Wow. The man’s only claim to fame is that he has Johnny Football. Hell,I could call his plays….Johnny, get the ball and do something good with it! Y’all gotta stop being a homer, and realize that you maybe have something good already…if you don’t run him out of town. He’s already recruited TTU’s top class, and increased ticket sales by 50%….what a bum!

  • texasamerica

    Txpackfan is an idiot. Run tubs out of tow, he is a horrible coach.

  • Techster64

    Why wait? Tech had a winning football program before Tubby came to Lubbock. It seems some smart people thought that Mike Leake wasn’t too good. Tubby has yet to produce teams as successful as what was here before he came. He may, if he stays, but the smart people should have left it alone.

  • Guest

    Txpackfan is a troll. Tuberville is a piss motivator and a terrible clock manager. Tech gets down by ten you might as well change the channel the kids look defeated. That’s a coaching issue.

  • Guest

    * piss poor