TOMMY TUBERVILLE

Age:  54

School:  Auburn

Alma Mater:  Southern Arkansas, 1976

Conference:  SEC

Salary:  $2,825,000

Official Bio:   www.auburntigers.com

Years Coaching:  13

Career Record:  105 - 53   .665

Years at School:  9

Record at Auburn:  80 - 33   .708

2007 Record:  9 - 4   .692

2007 Cost per Win:  $202,818

Attorney/Agent:   Jimmy Sexton

Contract:      

December 2008 Buyout:  $6,000,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Over the past four years Tommy Tuberville has very quietly put up a record of 42-9, and Tubby also has a 6 game winning streak over cross-state rival Alabama.  During most of Auburn football history those kinds of numbers would make Tuberville a legend, but as Dickens so aptly observed in Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," which certainly applies to Auburn right now.  In the midst of a domination of Alabama and the piling up of wins at a record rate, the Auburn fans are uneasy, which is mainly caused by the arrival of Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa and the still lingering resentment on all sides of the coup d'état attempted against Tuberville at the end of the '03 season.  Let's be honest here, several power brokers and a majority of Auburn fans wanted Tubby out in 2003, and it must really gall the group of people that wanted him out that Tuberville still has the reigns of the Tiger football program.  That resentment is obviously still with Tuberville as well, because Tommy took a hard look at several vacant jobs after last season, and we have no doubt that if his Tubby's buyout had been in the $2 million dollar range or less, he would probably be the head football coach at Texas A&M or Arkansas right now.  After Tuberville's near death experience in '03, his agent worked hard to get a long-term contract in place that gave Tubby plenty of security, but that security came with a price, and that price is that Tuberville is locked in at Auburn for the foreseeable future. 

Where exactly does Tuberville fall among the great coaches of this era?  Well, we don't rank all the coaches like Tom Dienhart of the SportingNews.com recently did, but if you take a look at our current Coaches Hot Seat Ranking you will see that Tuberville checks-in at the #103 spot, which is pretty damn good company.  Tuberville could very easily be right with all of the other active national championship coaches if only the BCS hadn't jobbed Auburn in 2003.  Tuberville certainly belongs to be mentioned with the top 30 or so coaches of this generation, and we believe that sometime after he completes his coaching career, he will get a call one day telling him that he is to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Tuberville has had a lot of coaching changes on his staff since he has been at Auburn, especially at the coordinator position.  Tubby is now on his 5th offensive and 4th defensive coordinator, and both new coaches, Tony Franklin on offense and Paul Rhodes on defense bring a lot of change to the Auburn program.  Tony Franklin who runs about as close as one can get to a pure spread offense, will certainly look to implement an offense that will take advantage of all the great athletes that Auburn recruits, and Rhodes will have a similar approach on the defensive side of the ball.  Change is always difficult, but we do see Auburn getting off to a very good start with their easy early-season schedule, and then it will just be a matter of keeping the momentum going.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Tommy Tuberville and Auburn will have an 10-2 record in 2008.  With two new coordinators Auburn needed a light start to the 2008 season, and they get that with La. Monroe and Southern Miss in the first two games.  2-0 to start, but the third week brings a tough trip to Starkville to play the improving Miss. State Bulldogs.  Auburn has more talent than the Miss. State, so they should find a win this game to run their record to 3-0.  The fourth game is against defending national champions LSU, but in Auburn, and we see Tubby and Tigers finding a way to get a win in this very close game.  Next up is Tennessee, which will also have a new offensive coordinator, and after the win against LSU, Auburn will have to fight against a letdown when the Vols come to town.  Auburn wins another close one against Tennessee, and their record is now 4-0.  Another tough game in week 6 with a trip to play Bobby Johnson's Vanderbilt team.  Vandy gives all SEC teams a tough time in Nashville, but Auburn will be focused after two big wins over LSU and Tennessee, and they will find a way to beat Vandy as well.  Bobby Petrino and the Hawgs descend upon Auburn next, in what will be one of the most entertaining games of the year, as Petrino and Tubby face off for the first-time.  Petrino was once Tuberville's offensive coordinator and almost his replacement, and no doubt the Auburn players will be fired up to win this game for their coach.  A win against Arkansas runs the Auburn record to 7-0.   A breather is needed at this spot, and there is indeed an open week, but the next game is a trip to Morgantown to play a very talented West Virginia team.  Both sides of the ball will have great athletes in this Auburn/WVU matchup, but the advantage goes to Auburn in the coaching battle, and Auburn wins another close one to run their record to 8-0.  The Auburn fans are really fired up now, with a trip to play Houston Nutt and Ole Miss next in Oxford, and in another very close game Auburn beats the Rebels.  Just when another breather is needed, Tennessee-Martin is on the schedule, before the final two games against Georgia and Alabama.  After a win against Tennessee-Martin, Auburn is 10-0, and probably in the Top 5 in the country.  Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs are up next for Auburn at home, but in this series where the visitor usually wins, Auburn plays very tough, but falls to the Bulldogs which takes their record to 10-1.  To finish the season a trip to Tuscaloosa is on tap to try and run the series win streak against Alabama to 7 straight.  Nick Saban will need a win in this game very badly to continue the momentum he has built at Alabama and in a very close Iron Bowl game, the Tide ends the streak and beats Tuberville and Auburn.  All of that adds up to a 10-2 record for Auburn in '08, which would be very good considering the coaching changes and the very tough schedule the Tigers will have to play.  A loss to Alabama in the last game is a downer, but we see another good if not great year for Tuberville in 2008

Several years from now when Tommy Tuberville reflects back on his career in coaching and his time at Auburn he no doubt will find the words that Charles Dickens used to end Tale of Two Cities comforting:  "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        10-2

Will Tommy Tuberville be back for the 2009 season?       YES