5 Worst head coaching hires in Texas Tech football history

No. 2: Tommy Tuberville followed a legend at Texas Tech and widened the divide between the fan base

Speaking of people who took over Texas Tech football when it was soaring and proceeded to crash it into the ground, we now turn our attention to one of the biggest villains in West Texas history, Tommy Tuberville.

Former A.D. Gerald Myers' hand-picked successor to the great Mike Leach, Tuberville isn't on this list because of his team's performances on the field as much as because of the way he handled himself while in Lubbock. He took over a program that was coming off of its best decade ever and all he did was further divide a fractured fan base while ending the golden era of Texas Tech football.

The current U.S. Senator from Alabama did manage a winning record at Tech of 20-17 and he did get to two low-level bowl games. However, in 2011, he ended an 18-year run of bowl-eligible seasons by going 5-7, a season that saw him engineer a road upset of No. 1 Oklahoma only to then lose the final five games on the schedule.

But what makes Tuberville so hated in West Texas is the way he carried himself while in Lubbock. He was constantly complaining about the lack of an indoor practice facility, the fan support, and even the wind. The man was never happy on the South Plains and he didn't hide that fact.

What's more, his departure for Cincinnati left many with a sour taste. Allegedly sneaking out of a recruiting dinner in Lubbock to field the call about the Cincy job, he showed no class in departing. Of course, that was the perfect way for the Tuberville era to end, with him slinking out of town in the dark of night to take a job that was a step down from the one he had simply because he knew that his time was running short at Texas Tech.

When Tuberville was hired, he could have been a uniting figure. He had the skins on the wall from his time at Auburn and he was as big of a name as Tech could have hoped for at that time. However, because he refused to embrace the quirks and charms of West Texas and because he was a miserable human for his three years on the job, he will always be one of the most despised figures in the history of Texas Tech football.