College Football: 10 coaches who would make good politicians
By John Scimeca
In light of former college football coach Tommy Tuberville’s run for U.S. Senate, let’s consider which current football bosses would excel on Capitol Hill.
Former college football head coach Tommy Tuberville announced in early April that he run for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama as a Republican in 2020, challenging Democratic incumbent Doug Jones.
Jones won this seat, which was formerly filled by ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a December 2017 special election against Republican nominee Roy Moore. The special election race against the twice-removed former Alabama Chief Justice was marred by allegations of sexual assault, bringing national attention to Alabama. Jones will seek re-election, and current U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (Rep. Mobile) will also run in the Republican primary for this Senate position.
Tuberville served as head coach for Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati over a 41-year football coaching career. Some of Tuberville’s notable achievements include becoming the only Auburn coach to beat Alabama six times in a row and leading a12-0 Auburn team in 2004 that was left out of the BCS title game (which was later vacated by USC). Tuberville has amassed a 159-99 overall record as head coach, including one SEC title and seven bowl game wins.
This brings us to the important question: Which current college football coaches could serve as effective politicians? Try as they might to stay away from political debates and divisive rhetoric, good coaches in football-crazy parts of the country might have an inherent advantage in running for office in terms of name recognition and brand exposure, lack of experience notwithstanding.
In the notable 2017 Senate special election for this same seat, Alabama head coach Nick Saban received 421 write-in votes even though he wasn’t even running for the position. After his time with the Cornhuskers, former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne notably served three terms as a U.S. Representative and Republican from the state’s third district.
And, who’s to say that some of these popular coaches wouldn’t be fine public servants? If they can counsel young adults, win on-field chess matches, curry donations from wealthy boosters, and present an appealing image to local and national media, why can’t they be capable of holding political office?
Here’s a list of coaches to consider.