Tommy Tuberville is a retired college football coach and politician. Born and raised in Arkansas, he would first begin coaching high school while also serving as a graduate assisstant Arkansas State University. From there he would move up the ranks, eventually heading to Auburn.

Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He was also the head football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1995 to 1998, Texas Tech University from 2010 to 2012, and the University of Cincinnati from 2013 to 2016. Tuberville received the 2004 Walter Camp and Bear Bryant Coach of the Year awards after Auburn's 13–0 season, in which Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title and the Sugar Bowl, but was left out of the BCS National Championship Game. He earned his 100th career win in 2007. Tuberville is the only coach in Auburn football history to beat in-state rival Alabama six consecutive times. In 2015, he was the president of the American Football Coaches Association. During 2017, he worked for ESPN as a color analyst for its college football coverage.

In his first political campaign, Tuberville ran in the 2020 United States Senate election in Alabama. He won the Republican nomination over former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and defeated Democratic incumbent Doug Jones in the general election by over 20 points. He has served as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021.