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Tommy Tuberville on being Auburn's next AD: 'Don't think there's anyone more qualified'

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By Mark Heim

mheim@al.com

Well, Tommy Tuberville is throwing is hat in the ring ... again.

Last time, the former Auburn coach was testing the waters for a run as the governor of Alabama.

This time, however, it appears the now-TV analyst is ready to help Auburn's athletic programs.

Tuberville, who joined me on The Opening Kickoff on WNSP-FM 105.5 on Thursday, was asked if he would be interested in the Auburn's athletic director position.

"I would love to help Auburn's athletic program," Tuberville said. "I don't think there's anyone more qualified than me. I know it. I know the people. I know the boosters, the alumni. I know the city, the community. I would love to talk to the president, whether I am a candidate or whether I can help."

Last week, current Auburn AD Jay Jacobs informed Auburn University president Steven Leath he would step down on June 1, 2018, "or sooner if my successor is in place."

Per my AL.com colleague James Crepea:

Jacobs' nearly 13-year tenure as Auburn's athletic director ends with the department mired in numerous scandals.

There is still one charge outstanding from the federal wrongful termination lawsuit by former baseball coach Sunny Golloway, anongoing Title IX investigation into allegations of abuse and sexual harassment of softball players, the FBI's case against assistant basketball coach Chuck Person that has led to the program indefinitely sitting Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy and the federal discrimination lawsuit filed by former track assistant coach Adrian Ghioroaie.

"They are way underachieving in that athletic program, as we speak," Tuberville said. "There are a lot of great things and a lot of good people.

"Everywhere I go - I'm going to Ames, Iowa, this week to do Oklahoma State-Iowa State - I will get questions about 'What in the world is going on at Auburn?' I'll get that in the airport in Atlanta."

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 The governor thing didn't work out, so I'll campaign for another job i'm not qualified for.

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41 minutes ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

I can already see the boosters and Tubs butting heads again. That’s exactly what we need! Less unity haha.

I literally laughed out loud when he said he knows the boosters well

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12 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I was telling you guys, it was/is the easy move and the BOT loves easy moves...

BOT doesn’t like him. They know that if they hire Tubberville, it will actually be Tubberville running the athletic department, if you can imagine such a thing.

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30 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

Why do people want Tuberville? I still just don’t understand. 

Cause he beat Bama six years in a row. The man's a saint. A saint I say!!!!   LOL

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I wonder why the hell random people all over the country ask TT what's going on with AU?  He hasn't a part of Auburn in close to 10 yrs, how the hell would he know the inner workings of baseball/Galloway, softball/Myer's, Track/Guairlloe (sp), basketball/Person or any other athletic program? 

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When I look at Tuberville's body of work as a college football head coach, I do not see things that would lead me to believe he should be running an entire athletic department.  Aside from his group of friends, the infamous BBQ Gang, he had a revolving door of assistants.  He replaced a very competent offensive coordinator with two members of the BBQ Gang, which resulted in 2003's Nallsminger, and that nearly got him fired, for good reason.  He left Ole Miss two days after his pine box statement, and he left recruits at dinner to take the job at Cincinnati.  His football teams were consistently mediocre, so he never built and maintained something impressive like Saban's machine.

I have seen people championing Tuberville as athletic director for a few years, and it is truly baffling.  2004 was great, I loved those random and inexplicable big wins too, and the streak over Alabama was awesome.  That said, what do those have to do with running an athletic department that equates to a $100 million business that encompasses multiple sports and massive facilities?  He did not manage Auburn's football program any better than the coach people want fired now, and some people want to let him manage the entire athletic department.

I have no interest in seeing Hugh Nall, Steve Ensminger, or Eddie Gran announced as Auburn's next head coach or directors of football operations.

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1 hour ago, AU-24 said:

BOT doesn’t like him. They know that if they hire Tubberville, it will actually be Tubberville running the athletic department, if you can imagine such a thing.

Not advocating for him in the least, but that is a true statement for sure. BOT would never hire him anyway. 

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Auburn people set fire to the athletic department and I think it's time we hire a non-AU person to fix this mess with an unbiased set of eyes and who doesn't give a damn about the good ole boy network.

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2 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Auburn people set fire to the athletic department and I think it's time we hire a non-AU person to fix this mess with an unbiased set of eyes and who doesn't give a damn about the good ole boy network.

I'd rather have a successful CEO of a large company with no coaching experience than a coach with no experience running a large organization or athletic department. 

Auburn ties shouldn't be a pre-req or even a consideration, in my opinion. That being said, if the right man for the job has Auburn ties, I won't complain. Just get the best person.

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Just now, Barnacle said:

I'd rather have a successful CEO of a large company with no coaching experience than a coach with no experience running a large organization or athletic department. 

Auburn ties shouldn't be a pre-req or even a consideration, in my opinion. That being said, if the right man for the job has Auburn ties, I won't complain. Just get the best person.

I agree. What I meant to get at was I hope that someone's AU ties does not make them more qualified in the eyes of the decision makers.

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Just now, Tiger said:

I agree. What I meant to get at was I hope that someone's AU ties does not make them more qualified in the eyes of the decision makers.

I completely agree with your comment. 20 years ago the good-ole-boy thing could fly. Today, it's a totally different ball-game. We need people who understand how run a 150 million dollar organization.

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No to TT.. He would be the second coming of JJ. I liked the fact he won 6 against the turds and went undefeated in 2004 but his work habits sucked in recruiting. Also didn’t like the way he played the administration flirting with jobs every offseason and his duck hunting in Arkansas. Also saw what he does with responsibility. He caters to his buddies whether they can do the job or not. You think JJ screwed up the AD just imagine how much worse Tommy would be. Totally unqualified.

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President Leath has a golden opportunity before him. Our Athletic Department is a total disaster and if he hires the right person he can restore it to order, then to the excellence we seek. We cannot sustain the hits we are taking with the old guard in charge. Time for a purge. 

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