Vice President hopeful Tim Walz takes a shot at former college football coach Tommy Tuberville

VP candidate Tim Walz, a former high school football coach, threw some shade at former Auburn coach and Republican senator Tommy Tuberville.
VP candidate Tim Walz took a shot at Tommy Tuberville
VP candidate Tim Walz took a shot at Tommy Tuberville / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Vice Presidential hopeful and current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made some headlines this week after his comments about former college football coach and current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Boston this week, Walz took a direct shot at Tuberville's intelligence.

"I feel like one of my roles in this now is to be the anti-Tommy Tuberville, to show that football coaches are not the dumbest people," the Democratic VP hopeful was quoted as saying of the Republican lawmaker.

Those comments have gone viral online in the last few days, and it's easy to understand why in a highly-charged election season that has seen its fair share of personal attacks.

Walz made the football coach connection, in particular, given his own experience in the coaching ranks, when he was a teacher at Mankato (Minn.) West High School, where he also helped lead the varsity football team, first as linebacker coach and then as defensive coordinator.

Tuberville coached at four schools during his career, including at Auburn from 1999 to 2008, where he won 85 games, and boasts a 159-99 career win-loss record.

The GOP Senator from Alabama fired back by saying Walz has "nothing else to talk about."

"I think he’s trying to make himself look good. Kind of comparing himself to a coach, which he was only an assistant coach in high school. And if he had been any good, he would’ve been a head coach, to be honest with you," Tuberville said.

Nothing like a little back-and-forth between football coaches to help spice up an already-contentious presidential race.

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James Parks

JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.