Tommy Tuberville Again Reveals His True Colors; Refers To Lubbock As “Iraq”
Former Texas Tech football head coach Tommy Tuberville made some disparaging remarks about Lubbock in a radio interview on Thursday further proving that he was never invested in Texas Tech.
Though it may have once seemed impossible, the Texas Longhorns, Baylor Bears, TCU Horned Frogs, and even Texas A&M Aggies have been supplanted atop the list of biggest villains in the minds of Texas Tech fans. That dubious distinction now belongs to former Red Raider football head coach Tommy Tuberville, who cemented his standing as the most hated man in Lubbock when he likened the “Hub City” to Iraq in a radio interview on Thursday.
"“You run me off at Auburn and you ship me to Lubbock, Texas,” Tuberville said, according to 247Sports according to 247Sport . “I’m going to tell you what, that’s like going to Siberia. Somebody asked me, ‘What’s Lubbock look like?’ It looked like Iraq.”"
That Tuberville did not enjoy his time in Lubbock is no surprise. In fact, he began complaining about the job almost immediately.
The smug and pompous carpetbagger from Arkansas blamed the west Texas wind for the reason; his team posted only 17 points in a home loss to Oklahoma State.
"Following the game, “Bleacher Report” documented Tuberville’s complaints. “In the post-game press conference, Coach Tommy Tuberville offered ‘throwing into the wind’ as one of the issues with Tech’s air attack. More specifically, Tuberville stated that Tech “should have thrown down the field more early, but into the wind makes it tough.’”"
However, “Bleacher Report’s” Amy Daughters had an astute observation on those comments.
"She notes, “(in reality [the wind] was a mere 7 mph with gusts in the 14mph neighborhood)… how did Texas Tech continually rank in the top 10 nationally in passing in the last decade? Surely approximately half of the Red Raider games during this time period where played at home, in the wind?”"
In fact, Tuberville’s unhealthy obsession with the South Plains’ most common weather pattern came to light just a few months after he was hired to replace the fired Mike Leach. Tuberville griped about the wind to the Associate Press in April of 2010.
"“There’s nothing to block the wind, so when it’s blowing, it’s double that out in the middle of the cotton fields,” Tuberville said. ."
He would also complain about the lack of an indoor practice facility and the divided fan base (which was still split after the controversial end to Leach’s tenure) during his three years at Tech. What those grievances and Thursday’s comments reinforce is the fact that Tuberville was the worst mistake in Texas Tech football history.
The former Auburn head coach was hired by Athletic Director Gerald Myers, who was already openly planning his retirement when he had to replace Leach. But what many do not know is that Tuberville was the one who reached out to Myers about the job.
He was not “shipped off to Lubbock” as he said on Thursday. Rather, he saw an opening at a Big 12 school as an opportunity to earn a few million more dollars before he retired.
In fact, he admitted that he had to convince the Texas Tech administration to give him a shot after a year away from the game.
"In his introductory press conference he said, “I convinced the chancellor and Dr. Bailey and Coach Myers that I was the guy that could do it.”"
Tuberville is acting as if he was sent to Texas Tech like convicted felon being sent to prison. But, in fact, he was the one who wanted the job and who lobbied vigorously for the opportunity.
More from Wreck'Em Red
- Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these Mountaineers
- Texas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025
- Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?
- Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 title
- Texas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives
And what did he do with that opportunity? He set the program back at least half a decade.
In 2011, Tuberville guided Texas Tech football to its first losing season since 1992. Tuberville drove the program into disarray just three seasons after Leach led the Red Raiders to a No. 2 national ranking for three weeks in November.
Furthermore, his failings on the recruiting trail left his replacement, Kliff Kingsbury, with a depleted roster. Tuberville’s final recruiting class in 2012 included players that never saw the field or made any contribution to the program. Michael Starts, La’Darius Newbold, Dominique Wheeler, Chase Robinson and J.J. Loller were the headliners of the class and none ever became so much as rotational players, much less all-conference talents.
It is fair to say that Kingsbury’s first two seasons at the helm were spent trying to patch the holes left in the roster by Tuberville’s horrendous recruiting. Of course, what else should be expected of a coward like Tuberville who skipped out in the middle of a recruiting dinner to accept the job at Cincinnati in December of 2012.
But that moment was a blessing for Texas Tech. It was the defining moment of Tommy Tuberville’s ill-fated run in Lubbock and through his cowardice he fully revealed himself to be the snake oil salesman he truly is.
Tuberville never wanted to be a Red Raider and those who never wanted him to be one were right all along. He is a fraud of a coach who only had success at Auburn because his main rival Alabama was in the throes of NCAA sanctions.
When he realized that the job in Lubbock was difficult, he started blaming everyone and everything else to take himself out of the crosshairs. His lack of character was on display in this deplorable incident in which he struck a graduate assistant coach during a nationally televised game.
Ultimately, it’s fine that Tuberville doesn’t remember Lubbock fondly. Texas Tech fans don’t have glowing opinions of him either.
Next: Texas Tech Football Is More Competitive Than One Might Think
If Lubbock was like Iraq when Tommy Tuberville was in town, then it is fair to say that the man running the Texas Tech football program was as popular as Saddam Hussein. Ultimately, Hussein was found hiding in a hole as U.S. troops stormed Iraq. We could only wish that snake Tuberville would have stayed in his hole rather than slithering his way to Texas Tech.