PHOTO: Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has drawn the ire of the military

By TOM SHANAHAN

My new book, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s,” explains Black Historiography filling in the gaps on how Civil Rights progress on the gridiron was reported – or wasn’t.

Along with Critical Race Theory, Black Historiography has been politicized by right-wing elements banning books. And now Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has been targeted against Vice-President Kamala Harris.

So, with start of football season and GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump recently rambling about having a football coach “at the table” to advise the military, allow me to explain how Senator Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach for 21 years at Mississippi, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati, was hired in 2010 as Texas Tech’s head coach through “reverse DEI.”

Tuberville, who had been out of football for a year from jobs at Mississippi and Auburn, was hired as a recycled candidate chosen over an African American who had proven his worth to Texas Tech and paid his dues.

Ruffin McNeill was coming off a 2009 Alamo Bowl victory as Texas Tech’s interim coach. He had served the Red Raiders under Mike Leach the previous 10 seasons as an assistant position coach, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach until Leach was suddenly fired.

After Texas Tech defeated Michigan State 41-34 in the Alamo Bowl, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said McNeill should be named head coach. Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers gave McNeill reason to feel confident.

PHOTO: Texas Tech players celebrate with interim coach Ruffin McNeill after winning the 2009 Alamo Bowl.

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“If we won the game, I would have not just an opportunity to get the job, but it was almost a done deal,” said McNeill in my podcast, The End Game, with co-host Herman Bulls, a West Point graduate, retired Colonel, JLL vice-chairman and recently enshrined member of the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.

But apparently, Texas Tech boosters didn’t want a Black head coach. Myers called McNeill into his office to say he couldn’t name him.

“I went to sit down, and he immediately started crying,” McNeill recalled. “They were legitimate tears. His words were, ‘Ruff, they wouldn’t let me do it.’”

McNeill doesn’t like to talk about the subject, although I managed to convince him to write the Foreword to “THE RIGHT THING TO DO.” On the podcast he also said, “Death threats and all that kind of stuff were going on.”

East Carolina, McNeill’s alma mater, recognized what Texas Tech missed and hired him. McNeill brought Lincoln Riley from the Texas Tech staff with him as his offensive coordinator. Riley parlayed his success directing ECU’s prolific offense into Oklahoma hiring him as its OC. Oklahoma named Riley head coach in 2017 and USC hired him in 2022.

McNeill was coaching under Riley at Oklahoma in a case of the “the old boys’ network” mixing Black and White coaches. He’s now a senior advisor to NC State head coach Dave Doeren.

In Trump’s world, Tuberville could be a military leader, but McNeill would be passed over. With Tuberville at the table, the late U.S. General Colin Powell may not have been named Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1989-93. Powell, an African American, led the successful Desert Storm campaign in 1991.

So, imagine the same Tuberville, a MAGA supporter whom Trump favors, holding court with the Joints Chief of Staff after he parlayed his coaching career into being elected a Republican Senator in football-crazed Alabama.

On the surface, mixing football, generals, admirals, defense strategy and politics sounds inspiring.

PHOTO: Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio and interim Texas Tech coach Ruffin McNeill at a press conference prior to the 2009 Alamo Bowl.

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At West Point, the Army football team takes the field tapping a plaque with this quote from General George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II:

“I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player.”

General Dwight Eisenhower’s West Point playing days included tackling the world’s greatest athlete – 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe — in the 1912 Army-Carlisle Indians football game. Then he graduated to World War II Supreme Allied Commander and U.S. President for two terms, 1953-61.

But Marshall and Eisenhower weren’t football coaches. They were military men.

Football coaches don’t like to give up power. College Football Hall of Fame coaches Bobby Bowden and Eddie Robinson both fought retirement until they agreed to a final season at age 78. Bowden’s last season was in 2009 after 33 years at Florida State and 43 overall as a head coach at three schools and Robinson in 1997 after 57 at Grambling.

Nick Saban, a dictatorial coach straight out of central casting, retired at age 72 after last season — his 17th at Alabama among 28 overall at four schools plus three in the NFL. But he’d arguably still be coaching if not for his view of athlete loyalty shredded by the NCAA transfer portal and Name Image Likeness.

President George Washington, of course, set the American standard for mixing politics and power when he resigned as a General to take office and after two terms went quietly home to his Mount Vernon estate.

If Trump were elected President, his favored pool of football coaches should make Americans tremble.

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), a MAGA supporter, was a head coach for 21 years at Mississippi, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

Tuberville held up the military promotions over social issues for nearly a year. He might be disturbed to learn the U.S. Military is one of America’s most diverse institutions. You’ll recall Tuberville’s infamous reply when he was asked if White nationalists should be allowed in the military.

“Well, they call them that (White nationalists),” he said. “I call them Americans.”

Retired coach Lou Holtz forgot his hillbilly elegy West Virginia roots after 33 years of success at six schools. Holtz supports Trump despite the campaign’s racist rhetoric against minorities and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Football, a meritocracy on the field, is dominated by Black athletes and they’ve contributed greatly to Holtz’s career.

Historically, football coaches off the field are followers – not leaders. Most colleges in the Jim Crow South desegregated in the 1950s and 1960s before the football programs. Iconic Alabama coach Alabama Bear Bryant dragged his feet until 1970, even though the campus desegregated in 1963.

Football coaches stretch NCAA rules until they break. In 1963, Bryant built a posh athletic dorm known as the Bryant Hilton that separated his team from campus life. Other schools copied him. The NCAA passed a rule against athletic dorms.

Do you want a football coach stretching supply lines on the battlefield?

Bryant was known to recruit 140-man rosters so some of the athletes wouldn’t play for Auburn or Mississippi. The NCAA passed rules limiting scholarships.

Do you want a football coach favoring one branch of the service over another?

Leave the military to the generals and admirals.

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I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

Click here for the Kirkus Book Reviews of THE RIGHT THING TO DO

Click here for the Kirkus Book Review of BUBBA’S DAD

The Right Thing To Do was also endorsed by the Vanderbilt Sports and Society Initiative.

Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.

My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.

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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s

Foreword by Ruffin McNeill

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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.

RAYE OF LIGHT

Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans

Foreword by Tony Dungy

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Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad

The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.

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My next children’s book coming soon: How Duffy Put Hawaii on the Football Map

TAGS: COLORADO, JAMIE MILLER, YELLOW SCENE