Career
Tuberville started his coaching career at the 'Hermitage High School' in Arkansas. He later became an assistant coach at the 'Arkansas State University.'
Tuberville then joined the 'University of Miami' as a graduate assistant and left as a defensive coordinator in 1993. During his tenure at the university, he led the team in three national championship victories (1986–1994).
In 1994, Tuberville began his service as a defensive coordinator under coach R. C. Slocum at the 'Texas A&M University.'
He made his debut as a collegiate head coach in December 1994, with the 'Ole Miss Rebels' football program at the 'University of Mississippi.' He was appointed primarily to bring back the form of the team. In 1997, under Tuberville's mentorship, the 'Rebels' delivered their best performance since 1992, with a record of 8–4, an 'Egg Bowl' victory over 'Mississippi State,' and a 'Motor City Bowl' win over 'Marshall University.'
Tuberville started the successful movement to ban students from waving ‘Confederate’ flags while watching home football games inside a stadium.
During his tenure with the 'Rebels,' he earned the nickname "The Riverboat Gambler." In 1997, the 'Associated Press' named him the 'Southeastern Conference (SEC) Coach of the Year.'
The 'Rebels' suffered their first setback in 1998, when Tuberville made the controversial move of leaving the team to join the ‘SEC’ rival team, 'Auburn University,' despite repeated assurances that he would never leave the 'Rebels.'
Tuberville joined the 'Auburn Tigers' of 'Auburn University' as the head coach in 1998. After his team won the ‘SEC’ title and the 'Sugar Bowl,' he was honored with the 2004 'Walter Camp' and the 'Bear Bryant Coach of the Year' awards. However, his team was out of the 'BCS National Championship Game.'
He had guided the team to the top of the ‘SEC’ list. He also led the team with an 'SEC Championship' victory and earned the ‘Western Division’ title in 2004. The 'Tigers' appeared in eight consecutive bowls, of which five were 'New Year's Day' bowl berths. The team registered six straight wins against their in-state rival Alabama, the longest winning streak since 1982, when the 'Tigers' broke ‘Alabama's nine-year winning streak.
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In 2006, the 'Tigers' defeated two top-five teams. Under Tuberville's coaching, 19 players were selected in the ‘NFL Draft.’ Tuberville has been the only ‘Auburn’ coach in the team's history to beat in-state rival ‘Alabama’ six consecutive times.
He has coached eight ‘All-Americans’ and a 'Thorpe Award' winner, the ‘Carlos Rogers.’ Thirty-four of his players were named to the 'All-SEC' first team, while 18 were named to the 'All-SEC’ freshman team. He had two ‘SEC’ players of the year and one 'SEC Championship' game ‘MVP.’
On October 6, 2007, Tuberville scored his 100th career win, defeating ‘Vanderbilt.’
Organizations such as the 'Associated Press,' the 'American Football Coaches Association,' the 'National Sportscasters,' the 'Sportswriters Association,' and the 'Walter Camp Football Foundation' presented Tuberville with their respective 'Coach of the Year' awards. In 2008, he was inducted into the 'Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame' and the ‘Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame.'
Even though Tuberville had established himself as one of the most successful football coaches for big games, he also had a reputation for losing matches in spite of having the better team. In 2001, his team suffered a 24-point loss to a comparatively weaker ‘Alabama.’ They also lost to ‘Vanderbilt’ in a match that saw ‘Auburn's first defeat in the hands of the ‘Commodores’ in over 5 decades.
After three consecutive ‘SEC’ defeats in 2003 and just before the 2003 ‘Alabama’ game, ‘Auburn’ booster Bobby Lowder, the team president, and the athletic director expressed their interest to hire ‘Louisville’ head coach Bobby Petrino in case Tuberville ended up being fired. The media came to know about the meeting and termed it the "JetGate."
On October 8, 2008, Tuberville fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. Soon, ‘Auburn’ asked Tuberville to resign after the shameful 2008 season. However, ‘Auburn’ athletic director Jay Jacobs later claimed that it was Tuberville's personal decision to resign. He received a pro-rated buyout of $5.1 million. He received $3 million of the said amount within 30 days of his resignation and the rest within a year.
During the 2009 season, Tuberville joined 'Buster Sports' and ‘ESPN’ as a sports analyst. He was also seen in a cameo in the 'Academy Award'-winning feature film 'The Blind Side.'
In December 2009, Tuberville expressed his interest to fill in the vacant position of the 'Texas Tech Red Raiders' head coach, after former head coach Mike Leach was fired. The team officially announced him as the new head coach on January 9, 2010.
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On January 1, 2011, while Tuberville was in his first season with the 'Raiders,' he led the team to register a bowl game victory. With that, he became the second 'Raiders' head coach (after DeWitt Weaver's first season bowl win in 1951–1952) in the history of the team to win a bowl in the maiden season.
On January 18, 2011, the 'Raiders' extended Tuberville's contract for a year and gave him a raise. The team's ticket sales for the first season increased. He recruited the highest-rated class in the history of the 'Raiders,' including the 18th-ranked recruiting class in 2011 and the 14th-ranked class in the country.
Tuberville had a physical brawl with graduate assistant Kevin Oliver during a game against the 'Kansas Jayhawks' on November 10, 2012. After the game, he clarified saying that he had actually just wanted to pull Oliver off the field and had thus aimed to grab his shirt, but had unfortunately ended up slapping him. He later apologized and expressed his desire to set an example for his two sons, one of whom was playing for the team.
Tuberville's exit from 'Texas Tech' was quite similar to his exit from 'Ole Miss.' He abruptly left a recruiting dinner mid-way and traveled to Cincinnati. On December 8, 2012, he officially resigned as the head coach of 'Texas Tech.'
He became the 38th head coach at the 'University of Cincinnati.' Tuberville has been a friend to ‘Cincinnati's athletic director, Whit Babcock, for several years. The two had previously worked together at ‘Auburn.’
In 2014, ‘Cincinnati’ won an 'American Athletic Conference' co-championship, with the league's best score of 7–1. The following year, he became the president of the 'American Football Coaches Association.'
On December 4, 2016, Tuberville resigned as the head coach of ‘Cincinnati,’ with an overall record of 29–22 and 18–14 in ‘AAC’ conference play. In 2017, he worked as a color analyst for the ‘ESPN’ college football coverage.
Family & Personal Life
Tuberville married Vicki Lynn Harris on December 19, 1976.
He then married Suzanne Fette of Guilford, Indiana, in 1991. They have two sons, Tucker and Troy.
Tuberville has actively participated in the 'Auburn Church of Christ' and has made donations to other Auburn organizations, such as the equestrian-based program 'Storybook Farm' that offers free therapeutic care to children.
He has also hosted several charity golf tournaments for 'Camp ASCAA,' the 'Auburn University Marching Band,' the 'Alabama Sheriffs' Youth Ranches,' and the 'Girls and Boys Club of Montgomery.' Tuberville is the director of 'Morale Entertainment,' an organization that offers ‘NCAA’ members for tours among extended U.S. service members.
Apart from football, Tuberville's other interests are ‘NASCAR’ and golf. He enjoys hunting and fishing, too.
In 2010, Tuberville and John David Stroud were involved in a lawsuit filed by investors against their firm, 'TS Capital LLC,' accusing them of running a hedge fund and committing fraud. Stroud was found guilty and was ordered to pay an amount as compensation and serve 10 years in prison. However, Tuberville settled his case on October 10, 2013, without disclosing the terms of the settlement.
