Tommy Tuberville facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tommy Tuberville
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Official portrait, 2023
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| United States Senator from Alabama |
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| Assumed office January 3, 2021 Serving with Katie Britt
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| Preceded by | Doug Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Thomas Hawley Tuberville
September 18, 1954 Camden, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
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| Children | 2 |
| Education | Southern State College (BS) |
| Coaching career | |
| Playing career | |
| 1972–1975 | Southern State |
| Position(s) | Safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1976–1977 | Hermitage HS (AR) (assistant) |
| 1978–1979 | Hermitage HS (AR) |
| 1980–1984 | Arkansas State (DB/NG/LB) |
| 1986–1992 | Miami (FL) (assistant) |
| 1993 | Miami (FL) (DC) |
| 1994 | Texas A&M (DC/LB) |
| 1995–1998 | Ole Miss |
| 1999–2008 | Auburn |
| 2010–2012 | Texas Tech |
| 2013–2016 | Cincinnati |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 159–99 (college) 9–10 (high school) |
| Bowls | 7–6 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1× SEC (2004) 1× The American (2014) 5× SEC Western Division (2000–2002, 2004–2005) |
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| Awards | |
| 1× AP Coach of the Year (2004) 1× AFCA Coach of the Year (2004) 1× Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2004) 1× Sporting News College Football COY (2004) 1× Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2004) 2× SEC Coach of the Year (1997, 2004) |
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Thomas Hawley Tuberville (born September 18, 1954) is an American politician. He is currently a United States senator for Alabama. He has held this position since 2021. Before becoming a senator, Tuberville was a well-known college football coach. He coached at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He also coached at the University of Mississippi, Texas Tech University, and the University of Cincinnati.
In 2004, Tuberville won five national Coach of the Year Awards. This was after his Auburn team had a perfect 13–0 season. They won the Southeastern Conference title and the Sugar Bowl. He earned his 100th career win in 2007. Tuberville is the only coach in Auburn football history to beat their rival Alabama six times in a row.
In 2020, Tuberville ran for the U.S. Senate. He won the Republican nomination. He then defeated the Democratic senator, Doug Jones. Tuberville became Alabama's senior senator in 2023. This happened when Senator Richard Shelby retired.
For several months in 2023, Tuberville paused the promotions of many senior officers in the U.S. military.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Tuberville was born and grew up in Camden, Arkansas. He was one of three children. He finished Harmony Grove High School in 1972. He then went to Southern Arkansas University. There, he played football as a safety. He also played golf for two years.
In 1976, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. In 2008, he was honored by being added to the Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Coaching Career
Starting as a Coach
Tuberville began his coaching career at Hermitage High School in Arkansas. He later became an assistant coach at Arkansas State University. He then worked his way up at the University of Miami. He started as a graduate assistant. He became the defensive coordinator in 1993. His teams won the national championship three times while he was there.
In 1994, Tuberville became the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M University. The Aggies had a great season, going 10 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie.
Coaching at Ole Miss
Tuberville got his first main coaching job at the University of Mississippi (known as "Ole Miss") in 1994. Even though the Rebels team had fewer scholarships, he was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 1997.
At Ole Miss, Tuberville was known for his bold play-calling. He was called the "Riverboat Gambler." His teams won 1 game and lost 3 against Arkansas. They had a 2-2 record against their rival Mississippi State. After the 1998 season, he left Ole Miss to coach at Auburn.
Coaching at Auburn
Tuberville became the head coach at Auburn University in Alabama in 1999. He led the Tigers to the top of the SEC. They won an SEC championship and a Western Division title in 2004. Under his leadership, the Tigers played in eight bowl games in a row. Five of these were major New Year's Day bowl games.
In 2004, Auburn had a perfect 13–0 season. They won the SEC title and beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Tuberville received many Coach of the Year awards that season.
Tuberville's Auburn teams had a winning record against their biggest rival, Alabama (7 wins, 3 losses). He led Auburn to six straight wins over Alabama. This was the longest winning streak in that rivalry since 1982.
He coached 19 players who were chosen in the NFL draft. Four of these were first-round picks in 2004. Many others signed as free agents. He also coached eight All-Americans.
After the 2008 season, with a 5–7 record, Tuberville resigned from Auburn. He then worked as a football analyst for ESPN in 2009. He also appeared in the movie The Blind Side.
Coaching at Texas Tech
On January 9, 2010, Tuberville was named the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. In his first season, he led Texas Tech to a bowl game win. This was a 45–38 victory over Northwestern in the TicketCity Bowl.
In 2011, Texas Tech gave Tuberville a contract extension and a raise. This brought his salary to $2 million per year. He was also responsible for bringing in some of the best new players in Texas Tech history.
Tuberville left Texas Tech with an overall record of 20 wins and 17 losses. He had 9 wins and 17 losses in Big 12 conference games.
Coaching at Cincinnati
On December 8, 2012, Tuberville became the head coach at the University of Cincinnati. He signed a $2.2 million contract. Cincinnati's athletic director, Whit Babcock, had worked with Tuberville before.
In 2013, his first year with Cincinnati, Tuberville led the Bearcats to a 9–4 record. His 2014 team also went 9–4. They shared the American Athletic Conference championship. Both years ended with losses in bowl games.
On December 4, 2016, after a 4–8 season, Tuberville resigned from Cincinnati. He left Cincinnati with an overall record of 29 wins and 22 losses. He had 18 wins and 14 losses in AAC conference games.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2020 Election
In 2018, Tuberville moved to Alabama to run for the U.S. Senate. In April 2019, he announced he would run in the Republican primary. He wanted to win the seat held by Democrat Doug Jones. Tuberville worked closely with President Donald Trump.
Tuberville supports building a wall on the border with Mexico. He believes in reducing the national debt by cutting government programs. However, he does not support cutting Social Security or Medicare. He has also said that climate change will not affect people for a long time.
On March 3, 2020, Tuberville won the most votes in the Republican primary. But he did not get over 50% of the vote. This led to a second election called a runoff. President Trump supported Tuberville in the runoff. On July 14, Tuberville defeated Jeff Sessions in the runoff election.
As the Republican candidate, Tuberville was expected to win the main election. On November 3, he defeated Doug Jones with 60.1% of the votes.
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2026 Election
On November 12, 2024, Tuberville announced he would run for reelection for a second term in 2026.
Time in Office
Tuberville was one of six Republican senators who voted against expanding the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. This act would help the U.S. Justice Department review hate crimes related to COVID-19.
In May 2022, Tuberville introduced a bill called the Financial Freedom Act of 2022. This bill would allow people to include cryptocurrency in their retirement savings accounts.
In October 2022, Tuberville made comments about Democrats at a rally. These remarks were criticized by many as being inaccurate.
Tuberville was among 31 Republican senators who voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. He said the bill did not go far enough to fix the budget.
In June 2024, Tuberville commented on the conflict in Ukraine. He called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator." He also said that Russian president Vladimir Putin does not want Ukraine, but wants to make sure U.S. weapons are not pointing at Moscow.
Objections to the 2020 Election Results
After taking office in January 2021, Tuberville joined other Republican senators. They announced they would formally object to counting the electoral votes for Joe Biden. This was part of an effort by Donald Trump and his supporters to change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
On January 6, when the votes were being counted, people who supported Trump entered the Capitol building. This caused officials to stop counting and leave their rooms. The count started again later that evening.
Tuberville voted to object to electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Both states were won by Biden. Most of the Senate voted against these objections. The vote count finished on January 7, confirming Biden's victory.
Military Nominations
In 2023, Tuberville used a special power to pause the promotions of hundreds of senior military officers. He did this because he disagreed with a policy from the Department of Defense.
On December 5, 2023, Tuberville mostly ended his hold. This allowed 425 military officers to be promoted. He kept his hold on 11 officers for a short time. On December 19, he lifted the hold on the last 11 officers.
Committee Assignments
On February 1, 2023, Tuberville announced which committees he would serve on for the 118th Congress.
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade
- Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy (Leader)
- Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research
- Committee on Armed Services
- Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
- Subcommittee on Seapower
- Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
- Subcommittee on Children and Families (Leader)
- Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Personal Life
Tuberville is married to Suzanne Fette. They have two sons. His older son, Tucker, played quarterback at Texas Tech and Cincinnati. He also played at Auburn.
Tuberville enjoys NASCAR, golf, football, hunting, and fishing. He also likes country and western music.
Head Coaching Record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ole Miss Rebels (Southeastern Conference) (1995–1998) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Ole Miss | 6–5 | 3–5 | 5th (Western) | |||||
| 1996 | Ole Miss | 5–6 | 2–6 | T–5th (Western) | |||||
| 1997 | Ole Miss | 8–4 | 4–4 | T–3rd (Western) | W Motor City | 22 | 22 | ||
| 1998 | Ole Miss | 6–5 | 3–5 | 4th (Western) | Independence* | ||||
| Ole Miss: | 25–20 | 12–20 | * Bowl game coached by David Cutcliffe | ||||||
| Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1999–2008) | |||||||||
| 1999 | Auburn | 5–6 | 2–6 | 5th (Western) | |||||
| 2000 | Auburn | 9–4 | 6–2 | 1st (Western) | L Florida Citrus | 20 | 18 | ||
| 2001 | Auburn | 7–5 | 4–3 | T–1st (Western) | L Peach | ||||
| 2002 | Auburn | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Western) | W Capital One | 16 | 14 | ||
| 2003 | Auburn | 8–5 | 5–3 | 3rd (Western) | W Music City | ||||
| 2004 | Auburn | 13–0 | 8–0 | 1st (Western) | W Sugar† | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2005 | Auburn | 9–3 | 7–1 | T–1st (Western) | L Capital One | 14 | 14 | ||
| 2006 | Auburn | 11–2 | 6–2 | T–2nd (Western) | W Cotton | 8 | 9 | ||
| 2007 | Auburn | 9–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (Western) | W Chick-fil-A | 14 | 15 | ||
| 2008 | Auburn | 5–7 | 2–6 | T–4th (Western) | |||||
| Auburn: | 85–40 | 50–30 | |||||||
| Texas Tech Red Raiders (Big 12 Conference) (2010–2012) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Texas Tech | 8–5 | 3–5 | 5th (South) | W TicketCity | ||||
| 2011 | Texas Tech | 5–7 | 2–7 | 9th | |||||
| 2012 | Texas Tech | 7–5 | 4–5 | T–5th | Meineke Car Care* | ||||
| Texas Tech: | 20–17 | 9–17 | * Bowl game coached by Chris Thomsen | ||||||
| Cincinnati Bearcats (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2016) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Cincinnati | 9–4 | 6–2 | 3rd | L Belk | ||||
| 2014 | Cincinnati | 9–4 | 7–1 | T–1st | L Military | ||||
| 2015 | Cincinnati | 7–6 | 4–4 | T–3rd (East) | L Hawaii | ||||
| 2016 | Cincinnati | 4–8 | 1–7 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| Cincinnati: | 29–22 | 18–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 159–99 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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High School
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermitage Hermits () (1978–1979) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Hermitage | 4–6 | 1–3 | ||||||
| 1979 | Hermitage | 5–4 | 2–2 | ||||||
| Hermitage: | 9–10 | 3–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 9–10 | ||||||||
Electoral History
| Year | Office | Party | Primary | General | Result | Swing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Runoff | % | P. | Total | % | ±% | P. | |||||||
| 2020 | U.S. Senator | Republican | 239,616 | 33.39% | 1st | 334,675 | 60.73% | 1st | 1,392,076 | 60.10% | +11.76% | 1st | Won | Gain | ||
See also
In Spanish: Tommy Tuberville para niños
