Months after saying Lubbock 'looks like Iraq,' Tommy Tuberville gets Texas Tech broadcast assignment
On Saturday, Tommy Tuberville and Texas Tech will be together once again.
Tuberville, now a color analyst for ESPN, was the head coach at Texas Tech from 2010 to 2012 before abruptly leaving for the same position at Cincinnati. Tuberville, most known for his tenure at Auburn, stepped down from that role after the Bearcats went 4-8 in 2016. And after a brief flirtation with Alabama politics, Tuberville has settled into a role with ESPN and will call the Red Raiders game at Houston alongside Mike Patrick on Saturday.
Oh wow. ESPN really did it. Tommy Tuberville on the broadcast for #TexasTech-Houston this weekend. pic.twitter.com/CheFOF072R
— Will McKay (@Will_R_Mckay) September 19, 2017
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That assignment comes four months after Tuberville compared Lubbock, where Texas Tech is located, to Siberia and Iraq. Yes, really.
“You run me off at Auburn and you ship me to Lubbock, Texas,” Tuberville said during a May radio appearance. “I’m going to tell you what, that’s like going to Siberia. Someone asked me, so what’s Lubbock look like? It looks like Iraq.”
It didn’t take long for Tuberville to apologize (“My mom said there’s an idiot born every day. That day, I was an idiot.”), but his comments obviously didn’t sit well with Red Raider fans who already weren’t the biggest Tuberville fans to begin with after he was just 9-17 in three seasons of Big 12 play.
We’re assuming Tuberville wouldn’t have gotten this assignment had the game been in Lubbock. Though he already apologized, we’ll see if Tuberville addresses his “Iraq” comments in any way during the broadcast. He’ll probably keep the focus on the field while TTU fans turn the radio broadcast up and mute their televisions.
Sitting down with Texas Tech staff members should be nice and awkward, too.
Kliff Kingsbury comments on Tommy Tuberville calling Saturday's Tech-Houston game for ABC/ESPN. Great follow-up @AJ_DonWilliams pic.twitter.com/LT9zsJkbAI
— David Collier (@CollieronTV) September 19, 2017
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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