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10 College football coaches who probably didn’t deserve to be fired

By Michael Collins

Oct 3, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt reacts during the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt reacts during the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 12, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville looks on from the sidelines in the first half against the Temple Owls at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville looks on from the sidelines in the first half against the Temple Owls at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1: Tommy Tuberville – Auburn, 2008

Head Coaching Years: 2000-2009
Overall record with school: 85-40
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision

And finally we return to the plains of Auburn, where last we left the War-Tigers, they had pushed out undefeated season-winning coach Terry Bowden.

But as luck would have it, in 2000, Tommy Tubervile came to Auburn fresh off his mediocre stint as head coach at Ole Miss. But it didn’t take long for Tuberville’s defensive-minded philosophy to take root with the Tigers, and by his second full year on the job he had Auburn in the SEC championship game.

First place finishes in the SEC West became a regular thing for Tuberville and the Tigers, including an undefeated 2004 season which saw Auburn unfairly squeezed out of the insidious BCS system. But for whatever bizarre reason, there always seemed to be unrest surrounding Tuberville’s job, and whispers of other candidates being looked at by the school.

Just a year before that undefeated season, former trustee Bobby Lowden (remember him from the Bowden fiasco?) was sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong, and was trying to woo Bobby Petrino to come to Auburn. I see a pattern developing here.

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Despite only one losing season, an SEC title, an undefeated season and a 5-3 bowl game record, Tommy Tuberville was gone in 2009. Athletic director Jay Jacobs claimed Tuberville voluntarily resigned, but the turn of events leading up to his departure would indicate there was more going on.

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