Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football coach at Auburn University from to He was also the head football coach at the University of Mississippi from to , Texas Tech University from to , and the University of Cincinnati from to He earned his th career win in Tuberville is the only coach in Auburn football history to beat in-state rival Alabama six consecutive times.
In , he was the president of the American Football Coaches Association. He worked for ESPN as a color analyst for its college football coverage during In his first political campaign, Tuberville won the Republican nomination for the Senate election in Alabama and defeated Democratic incumbent Doug Jones by over 20 points. Tuberville became Alabama's senior senator in when Senator Richard Shelby retired.
For 10 months in , Tuberville blocked all promotions of senior officers in the U. His protest of Defense Department policies on abortion temporarily deprived the Army , [ 9 ] Navy , [ 10 ] Air Force, and Marine Corps of confirmed top officers and delayed the filling of more than other senior positions. Tuberville Jr. He received a B. The Aggies went 10โ0โ1 that season. Tuberville got his first collegiate head coaching job in at the University of Mississippi "Ole Miss".
At Ole Miss, Tuberville became involved in the movement to ban Confederate flags from the football stadium by requesting that the students quit waving them during the home football games. During his tenure, Tuberville was known as the "Riverboat Gambler" for his aggressive play-calling, especially on fourth down. His teams went 1โ3 against Arkansas and 2โ2 against in-state arch-rival Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl game. After the regular season ended, Tuberville said, "They'll have to carry me out of here in a pine box", in reference to not leaving to coach at another school.
Less than a week later, it was announced that he was departing for Auburn. Tuberville left Ole Miss after the season to take the head coaching job at Auburn University in Alabama.
