Matthew Stevens

Montgomery Advertiser

AUBURN — Tommy Tuberville will not be running for governor of Alabama.

The former Auburn football head coach confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser Tuesday afternoon that he has elected to not pursue a campaign for the 2018 Republican nomination for governor.

After taking nearly three months to contemplate the decision, Tuberville said in a phone interview that several hurdles made him decide against running for the highest political office in the state. Tuberville said several factors led him to the conclusion to not pursue the nomination, including a possible legal battle over his established residency and family concerns over him being in the state-wide spotlight in a different fashion.

“Basically too many negatives for this this thing to add up to being a positive,” Tuberville said. “I think I could’ve gone through legal channels to get the residency issue solved but my family wasn’t wild about the idea either." Tuberville confirmed on March 31 he has received a $100,000 bank loan specifically for his gubernatorial campaign but stressed that was “just procedural because you’re not allowed to raise money for the governor race until June 5.”

Tuberville, who was most known for leading the Tigers to a 13-0 season that culminated with a Sugar Bowl victory and his only Southeastern Conference championship with the Auburn program, said last month he was involved in what he called a “listening tour” that included informal speaking engagements with potential voters in multiple stops throughout Alabama.

“I really feel like if you’re going to do something like this, it has to be in your heart to do it and the other thing is it’s not just you, it’s your family,” Tuberville said. “A lot of things have to fall into place and it just didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. I did learn a lot from this process, from the people of this state that I care so much about.”

Tuberville, an Arkansas native who still has a home near Lake Martin, resigned from his head coaching position at Cincinnati on Dec. 4 after four seasons. The 62-year-old has been a college football head coach since 1995 at the University of Mississippi (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008), Texas Tech (2010-12) and Cincinnati (2013-16).

In the phone interview with the Advertiser, Tuberville also said that he was excited about Kay Ivey’s tenure in the governor office since assuming the position on April 10 following the resignation of Robert Bentley. While being the first Republican woman elected in the state of Alabama, Ivery is also an Auburn University graduate and the first Auburn alum in the governor’s position since Fob James left the office in 1999.

“With everything and all the scandal that has come down with the governor’s office, Kay Ivey is a great lady and I have a lot of excitement about some of the things her staff are trying to put together,” Tuberville said. “Quite honestly, I think she deserves more than 18 months to accomplish what she wants to do for the people in the state of Alabama.”

More: Tuberville files paperwork & receives $100K loan for potential governor run

Tuberville said Tuesday he intends to pursue television and radio job opportunities in the short term, which were presented to him before he began contemplation about running for the governorship. He also mentioned that he was still open to a possible future role in college athletics either as a coach or administrator.

“I may get back into coaching. Who knows? I think I’d rather stay in athletics in some form either by coaching or being an athletics director or something like that,” Tuberville said. “Athletics, especially at the college level, is what I know best.”

More: Former Auburn coach Tuberville may run for governor

Tuberville’s 10-year tenure as head football coach at Auburn included eight consecutive bowl appearances including five New Year's Day bowl berths, six straight victories over in-state rival Alabama from 2002-07 and a 85-40 record.

However, Tuberville’s decade-long term as the Tigers head coach didn’t come without controversy. Two days before the 2003 Iron Bowl, Auburn officials covertly met with a candidate to replace Tuberville in what would eventually be known as "JetGate." Several reports stated Auburn officials, including Auburn president William F. Walker and athletics director David Housel and noted Auburn booster Bobby Lowder visited Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino on an airplane that landed at a small airport near Louisville. After repeatedly denying this reports, Auburn officials admitted the meeting with Petrino regarding their head coaching position did take place. Auburn would win the 2003 Iron Bowl matchup 28-23 at Jordan-Hare Stadium and Walker apologized to Tuberville for holding the secret meeting