quietfan 233 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Kinda cool: http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/m....xml&coll=1 Once upon a time, Tuberville coached 'The Rock'Thursday, September 28, 2006 Back then, Tommy Tuberville couldn't smell what The Rock was cookin'. Dwayne Johnson was a quiet kid, "low key," Tuberville says. He was a bit smallish - in size and personality - when he first arrived at the University of Miami, especially for a defensive lineman. It was the heyday of Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis and other bad hombres when Tuberville was a Miami assistant coach, and, he says, Johnson "didn't quite fit the background of a Miami defensive player." Tuberville now goes into fast-forward mode. "I'll never forget this, God's honest truth, I was at Ole Miss and I was at home watching TV. I had lost track of Dwayne in the last five or six years. I'm flipping through channels and I kinda hit wrestling. I saw a guy hanging on the top of the rope and he jumps out and does a belly-flop on the floor. "I look at him and go, 'My gosh, that's Dwayne Johnson. And he's made it.' He's already made a name for himself. And I had no clue." Dwayne Johnson evolved into "The Rock" and made it into an internationally famed pro wrestler, with the "Can you smell what The Rock is cookin'?" catchphrase, a signature and sinister facial expression where his eyebrow curls into a large rainbow and the sort of fame that has landed him at a podium at the Republican National Convention and center stage on "Saturday Night Live." And, of course, in Hollywood. A half-dozen movies already, mostly with The Rock as a new-millenium Stallone, but with more talent. A new one is out. "Gridiron Gang." It's based on the true story of a coach who puts together a football team made of teenagers serving time in a detention camp. The Rock plays the coach. "I drew from all the greats I've played under (for inspiration)," The Rock recently told Sports Illustrated. "Dennis Erickson, Greg Marks and Tommy Tuberville - I borrowed from their intensity and passion." Tuberville saw Johnson's own intensity at Miami in the early 1990s. "The biggest thing about him I can remember was every day we'd walk through the weight room and he'd be in there lifting. "His grandad and his dad were both wrestlers and the players would say, 'Yeah, he's getting ready for that wrestling career,' " Tuberville says. "His personality was never a wrestler. His body looks like a tough guy, but he was very smart, low-key, never any problems. He made very good grades. He was clean-cut. No jewelry, short hair, always dressed nice. Not exactly," he laughs, "the personna of that team." Tuberville hasn't kept in contact with The Rock since those days. Much to the chagrin of 12-year-old Tucker and 10-year-old Troy Tuberville, the coach's sons. They couldn't believe their father actually coached The Rock. Forget the All-Pros and All-Americans and future Pro Football Hall of Famers. "Man, you coached him!?!" "They wanted me to call him, to get his autograph," he says. The boys have watched Rock in "The Rundown" a half-dozen times, and Tommy even likes that one. He's considering "Gridiron Gang" as a Friday night pregame movie for his team. And just recently, Tuberville was on a treadmill, half-watching ESPN Classic. Up popped an old Florida State-Miami game. There, on the field, was Dwayne Johnson. "I thought, 'He couldn't fit in that uniform now.' " The Rock is big now, silver-screen big, bigger-than-life big. "That'll be one of the chapters in my book one day," says Tuberville, "that I coached The Rock." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Much to the chagrin of 12-year-old Tucker and 10-year-old Troy Tuberville, the coach's sons. They couldn't believe their father actually coached The Rock. Forget the All-Pros and All-Americans and future Pro Football Hall of Famers. "Man, you coached him!?!" "They wanted me to call him, to get his autograph," he says. This may be the best part of the article! You gotta love the priorities of kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,456 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 I wonder...Hmmmm..Do certain people "smell" a beatdown coming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyBallgame 0 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 "That'll be one of the chapters in my book one day," says Tuberville, "that I coached The Rock." Just a thought, they don't write books about coaches who bounce around to different schools. They write books about people who root in at a university and stay for decades, bringing years of football glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 "That'll be one of the chapters in my book one day," says Tuberville, "that I coached The Rock." Just a thought, they don't write books about coaches who bounce around to different schools. They write books about people who root in at a university and stay for decades, bringing years of football glory. You are right....SO there is no danger of Hold the Rope It's rollin baby or Flipper writing one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUChizad 0 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 "That'll be one of the chapters in my book one day," says Tuberville, "that I coached The Rock." Just a thought, they don't write books about coaches who bounce around to different schools. They write books about people who root in at a university and stay for decades, bringing years of football glory. Um...Tuberville has been at Auburn for over a decade already, and he's looking to stay for quite a while. The almighty Bear coached at Texas A&M before coaching at UAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuNuma1 1 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Um...Tuberville has been at Auburn for over a decade already.... No, he was hired at the end of '98 and started with the '99 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Um...Tuberville has been at Auburn for over a decade already.... No, he was hired at the end of '98 and started with the '99 season. Just seems like a decade because you wouldn't expect the school across the state to be on number 4 since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish 73 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 "That'll be one of the chapters in my book one day," says Tuberville, "that I coached The Rock." Just a thought, they don't write books about coaches who bounce around to different schools. They write books about people who root in at a university and stay for decades, bringing years of football glory. Um...Tuberville has been at Auburn for over a decade already, and he's looking to stay for quite a while. The almighty Bear coached at Texas A&M before coaching at UAT. Prior to Texas A&M he coached at Kentucky until it was determined that Kentucky wasn't big enough for him and Adolph Rupp ... by default Bear was sent packingand landed at A&M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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