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6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
Tubberville is livid that they fired him to hire this guy.

Tubberville (sic) was not fired. He resigned. There were some pressures put on him to change things if he did come back, but the AD and the President's Office expected him back. There are also personal reasons he's not taking another coaching job this year, and probably for a few years for that matter.
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
Tubberville (sic) was not fired. He resigned. There were some pressures put on him to change things if he did come back, but the AD and the President's Office expected him back. There are also personal reasons he's not taking another coaching job this year, and probably for a few years for that matter.

That is university spin. He offered to clean all the offensive staff out. He asked for another year to turn things around. He was denied everything he asked for during the past year. He will receive money owed from his contract for being fired.
 

6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
That is university spin. He offered to clean all the offensive staff out. He asked for another year to turn things around. He was denied everything he asked for during the past year. He will receive money owed from his contract for being fired.

You were there? I know in the sports world, particularly in the internet message board sports world, most people derive self-esteem by insider knowledge (I'm not pointing fingers here). However, given Tuberville's own statements, given the official statements, and given a little of my own insider knowledge, I find it presumptuous to believe otherwise, even from a reporter slipping a quote out of a volatile Miss Olive.
 

JB

Beach Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
1,446
40
Tuscaloosa
You were there? I know in the sports world, particularly in the internet message board sports world, most people derive self-esteem by insider knowledge (I'm not pointing fingers here). However, given Tuberville's own statements, given the official statements, and given a little of my own insider knowledge, I find it presumptuous to believe otherwise, even from a reporter slipping a quote out of a volatile Miss Olive.

Check this out. Emailed to me today:

Intrigue, Conspiracy and a Great Story May Have Gotten Gene Chizik a Job
by Larry Burton (Analyst)

Get the popcorn, get comfortable, and let me tell you a tale. I can neither verify nor deny the authenticity of this story. However, I can verify that there are many truths in it than can be proved. That being said enjoy.

I got these facts from a buddy of mine who is not in the habit of telling tall tales. I'll just call him "Benny". Here's the tale:

Some Auburn relatives were over this past weekend, some of whom are fairly well connected to the program at Auburn and their boosters.

The night Alabama drilled Auburn 36-0, a prominent Auburn booster (not the usual bank-owning one but one who sells pressure-treated wood and wears a yellow hat) made a phone call. This may have been a $5.1 million phone call.

Since he knows most of the SEC coaches on a first-name basis and shoots ads with many of them, he has their personal private phone numbers. So he calls Houston Nutt over in Mississippi and asks what it might take to have Houston change his address again to Auburn.

Apparently, Auburn has a nasty habit of stealing coaches from Ole Miss, but Nutt tells old Yella Fella that he can't take the hit on the credibility scale right now for that kind of move, but thanks.

What many people may not know or may have forgotten is the infamous "Jet Gate" scandal. That was where Bobby Lowder boarded a jet and flew to Louisville to offer then Head Coach Bobby Petrino the head coaching job at Auburn.

Trouble was, Auburn had a head coach who was doing a fairly good job and when word leaked out, the fans and much of administration rallied so strongly that Tuberville was bulletproof. He was now able to snub his nose to Lowder, Pat Dye, and the administration—and boosters that wanted him gone.

These were not men who took a snubbing well. They bade their time until they felt the fans would no longer be a factor. Surely Auburn missing a bowl game, being drilled by Alabama, and the whole Tony Franklin fiasco took all the aces out of Tuberville's hand.

Now here's where it gets interesting. Following "Jet Gate", Tommy had a unique non-interference clause put in his last contract. Auburn pledged that neither the school president nor athletics director or anyone acting under their authority "shall discuss or negotiate directly or indirectly Auburn's prospective employment of any other person as Head Football Coach of Auburn" without giving Tuberville prior notice.

In non-lawyerese, it basically means that if Auburn got caught monkeying around with a new coach behind Tommy's back again he gets paid—a lot.

Unfortunately for Auburn, Nutt's agent is Jimmy Sexton and that just happens to be
Tuberville's agent too. Nutt drops this little nugget to Sexton and Tommy walks in the following Monday discussing his intentions to resign and wants his money now that he knows his contract has been breached.

Now Tuberville can get the money AND leave and coach elsewhere, in effect getting double pay for the next three years! A nice retirement package indeed. Plus, he gets to have the last laugh and snub the backstabbers one more time.

So maybe Auburn was right, maybe Tuberville really did resign. Why wouldn't he? Multi-day discussions ensued, and I'm sure there were lawyers involved. I'm sure it was painfully explained that old Yella Fella could and would be legally held to be an "official booster" much to the dismay of Auburn and the bad boy boosters.

In the end, we see Tuberville's official resignation on December 3 and Auburn paying him the buyout anyway because according to Auburn, it "is the right thing to do." Yes, it's the right thing under the contract. Otherwise, who pays buyouts for resignations, right?

Now, guess who Gene Chizik's agent is? Ding Ding Ding! You are right if you guessed Jimmy Sexton. Now, how does Auburn keep "Jet Gate II" from hitting the front of ESPN in an embarrassing manner? The fans would simply go mad.

Hmmm, perhaps by hiring a Sexton client who needs to get out of his personal football coaching hell known as Iowa State? How else is he going to go anywhere with that 5-19 record?

So, Tuberville walks away with $5.1 million and change and the right to sign another big contract with another team, Nutt gets a nice salary bump and an extension when Ole Miss gets wind of their coach being dangled some bait, and Chiznik gets a big salary increase and a chance from jump a sinking ship into a head coaching job at a big time SEC school.

And Sexton makes almost a million dollars in new commissions off the three new deals. This seems to explain the inexplicable way in which this all went down.

Will we ever know? Not until Jimmy Sexton writes his tell all book, "Tales of the Super Sports Agent." But it's the best version I've heard so far.
 

6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
JB, very plausible, and Sexton makes used car salesmen's skin crawl. You do have to take the reporter's word with a sea of salt when he said Lowder flew to Louisville to hire Petrino. The Colonial jet may have been used, but it is very well documented that he wasn't on it.
 

6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
This is all I could find.

"The last 10 years have been a great time in my life, both professionally and personally," Tuberville said. "It's been a great place to coach and live, and we've had a lot of success along the way. I'm going to remain in Auburn and help the Auburn family however I can. I'm very appreciative of the coaches, players, staff and Auburn fans over the last decade."

"(The administration's) done a lot more for me than I've done for them, so I'm going to try to give back as much as I can as long as I'm not really doing anything."

"I'm going to turn back into a husband and father, which I haven't been much of the last 15 years," he said. "This is going to give me a chance to go to a lot of high school basketball games. Suzanne and I can travel a little bit, go out to dinner. Again, I'm not in a hurry to do anything."
 

Kurt

Admin
Staff member
Oct 15, 2004
2,233
4,925
SoWal
mooncreek.com
This is all I could find.

"The last 10 years have been a great time in my life, both professionally and personally," Tuberville said. "It's been a great place to coach and live, and we've had a lot of success along the way. I'm going to remain in Auburn and help the Auburn family however I can. I'm very appreciative of the coaches, players, staff and Auburn fans over the last decade."

"(The administration's) done a lot more for me than I've done for them, so I'm going to try to give back as much as I can as long as I'm not really doing anything."

"I'm going to turn back into a husband and father, which I haven't been much of the last 15 years," he said. "This is going to give me a chance to go to a lot of high school basketball games. Suzanne and I can travel a little bit, go out to dinner. Again, I'm not in a hurry to do anything."

What I posted, the man said.

Nothing in the above statement is untrue, and saying anything negative would not do anyone any good and would hurt his chances at future employment. He will not be talking to anyone in the Auburn administration except through lawyers.

He will take a year off, collect his money and enjoy the break, probably make some additional money on TV, and when he is ready he will get an excellent job with a university that will treat him right.
 

kathydwells

Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
Dec 20, 2004
13,310
418
62
Lacey's Spring, Alabama
I heard that the "personal" issues involves the builder of the Tubberville's new home, and Mrs. Tubberville. Seriously, I heard this.

As an Alabama fan, I seriously feel sorry for Tommy. I mean he went 13-0 a couple years ago. Then, Auburn hires a coach that was with him on that 13-0 season, and gives HIM the head job....a coach that is 5-19. It makes no sense at all to me.
 

6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
Again, just looking for a source. He also said he was leaving Oxford in a pine box. Even if Tubberville(sic) told you that personally, based on a few other things, I don't believe it. Beyond unnamed sources and inuendo, all we have to go on is what is public, and you've offered nothing to counter that.
 

6thGen

Beach Fanatic
Aug 22, 2005
1,491
152
Given the fact that he and his wife spend time down here, or even if they didn't, I'd say leave it as "other personal issues".
 
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