After many rumors and a mini-campaign for the job, former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville arrived in Lubbock today and will meet with Texas Tech officials Wednesday about the head coach position made available after the controversial firing of Mike Leach. Although interim coach Ruffin McNeil, who coached the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl, appears to have the most fan support early on, Tuberville seems to be the only other candidate seriously being considered for the job and is certainly the more marquee name. TTU AD Gerald Myers is on the record as saying that a decision could be made by this weekend.
Tuberville, 55, spent 10 years at Auburn where he compiled a 85-40 record. Before that, he was at Ole Miss for 4 years and went 25-20 there while under NCAA probabtion for two years. An Arkansas native, Tuberville has family in the area and experience recruiting Texas, as he was a former DC at Texas A&M. Although the offensive philosophies of TTU and Tuberville don’t seem to jive, he did have this to say: “It’d be crazy to change it. That’s a trademark of Texas Tech now. It’s helped put them on the map. It’s helped in recruiting, I’ve noticed. Mike’s had a good chance of getting quarterbacks and receivers to come there–in the past, (Tech) wasn’t able to get them. We’ve run a lot of the spread over the years and I’m very familiar with it”
The heart of the matter is if Texas Tech is ready to pony up the kind of money that it’s going to take to land Tubs. Leach was a home-grown project and brought the Raiders virtually all of their success. With so many rumors going on about the distaste that the university had for shelling out so much money for a mere football coach, it’s hard to imagine that they’re going to ante up for a big name off the open market. Perhaps they may prefer the farm system approach and bring McNeil along at a leisurely pace. I’m not sure that’s going to work. After last season’s success and a solid showing this year, TTU officials should consider how quickly their name might fade from the bright lights of the CFB world.
I’m sure Tuberville’s price has come down quite a bit since the days of Hog-hunting raises bumped up by uber-agent Jimmy Sexton, but there could be more to it than that. It’s been oft-rumored that Tubs wants to make it back down to College Station–remember the innuendo two years ago that he was going to run off there and replace Franchione. Some are saying that Tuberville’s real motive is to force the hand of A&M. Mike Sherman’s demise is being mentioned more and more often, and Tuberville’s plane touching down in Lubbock might cause ATM to move forward any plans for a coaching change–mainly for the sole purpose that TTU doesn’t get him.
Texas and Oklahoma are the perrenial powers in the Big 12, but the position of big dog for the second tier of teams in the conference is wide open. Landing a proven winner like Tuberville in Lubbock might designate the Aggies to the middle of the pack for quite a while, and it might be too much for them. Personally, I don’t see TTU hiring Tuberville, but it will certainly be interesting to see how the conference shakes out after his visit.
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