Tommy Tuberville opened the front door to his Auburn home Wednesday night, grabbed the back of his neck and grimaced as he slowly strolled inside, where friends and loved ones waited.
His face torn with the emotional scars of the day, eyes nearly closed and mouth pressed shut, he didn’t immediately stop to say hello.
Not to his wife. Not to his mother.
Instead, Auburn’s head football coach for the last 10 years massaged his neck and continued into a back room, where he methodically closed the door and disappeared.
His wife, Suzanne, who returned home a few minutes before the coach with eyes red and swollen, was surrounded by comforting friends. She was gracious but did not talk about the events of the day.
Olive Tuberville, the coach’s mother, was disappointed, but strong as a rock.
Three hours earlier, her son resigned from the job he held so dear in the wake of a surprising 5-7 season.
“He didn’t resign,” Olive Tuberville said. “He was fired.”
She said she didn’t learn the news from media reports. Instead, she heard it straight from the man who lost his job.
“He called and told me,” she said. “He made it through (the phone call to her) pretty good. He was dreading telling the players.”
Tuberville did that at a scheduled 6 p.m. player meeting.
“Tommy said he’s going to go fishing and hunting for a while and just rest,” said Olive Tuberville.
Asked if she felt her son was betrayed by the school he led to 85 wins and an SEC championship over 10 seasons, she replied, “I would say yes to a certain extent.
“This went on too long. They had their minds made up days ago, I imagine. It was tough. He didn’t know what to expect. All of his friends have stayed with him.”
Even with a 54-year-old son, Olive Tuberville’s maternal instincts were strong as ever.
“I have been worried about him. He’s at an age where something could happen to him,” she said.
“Heart problems are all through my family. I didn’t want him getting stressed out. I’d say there has been some stress. This has got to hurt — as much as he’s put into the program and done for the program.”
Vehicles of several well-wishers could be spotted outside the well-lit Tuberville home.
A bit of irony, however — located near the front yard stood a familiar white, orange and blue sign that read, “We believe in Auburn.”
And Olive said she still loves it.
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