College football is king in Alabama. Whether it’s the Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers, that state’s citizenry lives college football. We see it with the 100,000-plus fans that pour into Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Jordan-Hare in Auburn on a weekly basis during the football season.
So it stands to reason that historical figures within these two college football powerhouses would be popular in Alabama. Now take into account the fact that our current president had no political experience before taking to the nation’s highest office, and it’s not a reach that someone within the football world could be a political player in Alabama.
Enter into the equation former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville, who is considering a run at the Governership in Alabama (via CBS Sports).
A Republican, Tuberville might seek his party’s nomination for the state’s highest office. Robert Bentley is in his last term as Alabama’s Governor and there’s a wide open field for his potential replacement heading into the 2018 mid-term elections.
When chairperson of the Alabama Republican Party Terry Lathan heard about the possibility of Tuberville running, she had this to say.
“Two words, Donald Trump. See, Nov. 8.”
That’s the new ordinary in today’s political climate. Experience itself is not needed to seek high office. We saw it to an extent when Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008. That was magnified even further when Trump himself upset a political veteran in Hillary Clinton this past November.
For his part, Tuberville is well know around the Alabama community. He coached Auburn from 1999-2008, posting an 85-40 record and leading the program to five bowl wins during that span.
Tuberville, 62, last coached for Cincinnati from 2013-16 and is no longer associated with a program. He has the ability to run if it’s something he chooses to do.
With Bentley’s term as governor set to expire, Congresswoman Martha Roby and former state attorney general Luther Strange have been among the names bandied about as possibile replacements.
Name recognition is big time here for Tuberville. It’s also important to note that Alabama is a red state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the presidential election. Whoever wins the Republican nomination will likely end up as governor. Tuberville, should he decide to run, would stand a darn good chance.