2 college football coaches who became politicians ft. Tommy Tuberville

Politics and college football have been irretrievably intertwined since President Woodrow Wilson coached Wesleyan and Princeton. More recently, former Auburn Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville clinched the Republican ticket and became the Senator of Alabama.

Alongside Tuberville, former Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne was one of the most high-profile coaches who became a politician.

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Tommy Tuberville the most recent coach to turn politician

In a 21-year coaching career, Tommy Tuberville coached several teams, including the Auburn Tigers, the Ole Miss Rebels, the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals.

He accumulated a 159-99 record including an impressive 13-0 record with Auburn in 2004 before entering the Alabama senatorial race in 2020.

When his race against Senator Jeff Sessions for the GOP ticket went to a runoff, Tuberville showed his football roots with a statement to the press to encourage his supporters.

"We’re going to overtime, and I know someone who knows how to win in overtime," Tuberville said. "We’re going to finish what President Trump started when he looked at Jeff Sessions from across the table and said you’re fired."

Tommy Tuberville won six consecutive Iron Bowls against the Alabama Crimson Tide. During his campaign, former President Donald Trump endorsed Tuberville by taking a football angle in his speech of support confusing Nick Saban with Lou Saban.

“Really successful coach (Tuberville),” Trump said. “Beat Alabama, like six in a row, but we won’t even mention that. As he said … because of that, maybe we got ‘em Lou Saban. And he’s great, Lou Saban, what a great job he’s done.”

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Tom Osborne had a legendary college football coaching career

Tom Osborne had a 25-year career as the coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers (1973-1997). He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999 due to his three national championship wins in four years, including a remarkable 60-3 record between 1994 and 1997.

In college football, Osborne was renowned for his I-formation offense and finished his career with a 255-49-3 record. He was elected to Congress in 2000 and served three terms and contested the governor's seat in 2005 against Dave Heineman but lost.

He returned to Nebraska as the athletic director for six seasons before finally retiring in 2013. The playing field at the Memorial Stadium was named Tom Osborne in his honor.

Osborne's step up into politics was seen as a natural progression at the time after completing what was then perhaps one of the most impressive coaching tenures in college football, just behind coach Bear Bryant.