Op-Ed: Gregg Popovich is Right, Tommy Tuberville Gives Coaches a Bad Name

By: Zachary Draves

Who would have thought that a former college football coach turned US Senator would pose a threat to national and global security? But in this era of abnormal political tumult, anything seems to go. 

Alabama’s GOP Senator and former Auburn football head coach Tommy Tuberville has been engaged in a nine month long blockade of crucial military promotions in protest of a Pentagon policy that would allow for service members to access abortion services. This comes at a precarious time in foreign affairs with the ongoing war in Ukraine and the recent attack by Hamas against Israel. 

(Courtesy: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Tuberville’s tactics originally stalled the Senate from confirming former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as the US Ambassador to Israel, until the Democratic majority found a way to confirm him. He has maintained that he will not waiver until a vote on the abortion policy is put up. 

He has received fierce bipartisan criticism for his actions including from GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his most recent critic and fellow coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, who is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and served active duty in the Air Force and the Air Force Reserve.

(Courtesy: AP Photo/Steven Senne)

On Sunday, after the conclusion of the Spurs game against the Miami Heat on their Veteran’s Day night, Popovich, who is known for his outspoken political and social commentary, referred to Tuberville as a “silly small man” before adding “I think he gives coaches a bad name. They’re going to think we’re all ignorant because what he’s doing is ignorant.”

ESPN NBA reporter Andrew Lopez posted his full statement on X formerly Twitter.

https://x.com/_Andrew_Lopez/status/1723834301609865451?s=20

Since being elected to the Senate in 2020, Tuberville has developed a reputation as someone who is ignorant about politics and holds bigoted views, qualities that someone should not possess as a coach, let alone a US senator. 

He famously couldn’t name the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) and this came after he was elected. In addition, he has used the military as a crutch to attack programs that he claims promote so-called “wokeness” and to halt efforts to try to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the military. 

Tuberville, who has never served himself, once told Bloomberg TV that the military is “not an equal opportunity employer.”

During a Donald Trump rally in October 2022, he claimed that Democrats are for reparations for slavery because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that”. In May 2023, when asked about white nationalists in the armed forces, he refused to denounce white nationalism and said “I call them Americans”. In the midst of an intense pushback, he later said through his office that his comments were misinterpreted and that he was questioning the idea of white nationalists being in the military. 

(Courtesy: Doug Benc/Getty Images)

One can only imagine what his players, majority of whom were black, probably went through while he was coaching, especially during the pre-NIL era. 

So yes, Popovich is right. Tuberville does give coaches a bad name.  

At their best, coaches are supposed to be exemplars of leadership, integrity, and decency that athletes, the institutions they serve, and the surrounding community can point to as a standard bearer for all that we ask for in someone who holds authority. Thankfully, the majority of coaches are exactly that, it is just that they get overshadowed by the likes of Tuberville.

Vince Lombardi, Joe Torre, John Thompson, Vivian Stranger, John Wooden, Pat Summit, Dean Smith, Eddie Robinson, Dawn Staley, and Popovich himself are just some of the models of what coaches aspire to be. They model good behavior, instill strong character in their players, and possess a conscience. 

Tuberville doesn’t belong in this class and never will. 

For a man who claims he supports the military and is more patriotic than thou, how about doing us all a favor and do the job that he was appointed to do at a critical time in history. The country and the world depends on it more than ever. 

Or in words he might understand, take one for the team.