Tommy Tuberville is a U.S. senator and wants to become the next Alabama governor . But his new campaign paraphernalia recognize his old job: coach.
"Y'all see the name on the hat," Tuberville told supporters this week at Byron's Smokehouse, his favorite barbecue joint when he was the head football coach at Auburn University. "They've called me 'coach' for four-and-a-half years in D.C.," the senator continued. "You're gonna call me 'coach' here as governor."
It was the same aw-shucks manner the 70-year-old Republican wielded over a long career of glad-handing boosters, fans and players. It's also a deliberate branding tactic that demonstrates how figures like Tuberville transition from athletics to politics.
Michael Giardina, a Florida State University professor and expert on sports in American culture, called sports "connective tissue that runs throughout the country, binding together disparate groups."
So, he said, it is not a surprise when politicians embrace sports figures as validators or when coaches and athletes themselves run for office. Giardina noted, however, that sports fame does not ensure electoral success.