Summary: By TODD STACY, Alabama Daily News<br> This week we’re talking with Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn head football coach who has thrown his name in the hat for the U.S. Senate.<br> I find his entrance into the race interesting for a few reasons. For one, he seems to be taking it seriously and he is being taken seriously as a candidate. He’s done a slew of media over the last ten days and done a pretty good job. Second, he’s fitting into the “outsider” lane more naturally that I thought he could. For the crowd that just doesn’t want anyone who is part of the current political establishment, a former coach who communicates well could be an attractive choice.<br> <br> I really enjoyed interviewing Coach Tuberville. We talked about why he decided to get in the race, what issues he really wants to press, how he plans on catching up to more experienced candidates on policy, and a little football.<br> He spent this past week making the rounds in Montgomery meeting many of the state’s most influential official. On Thursday, he was in the State House and met with Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, and several other lawmakers. It just so happened to be the day the Auburn Basketball team was being honored at the Governor’s Mansion, so that’s why you see so many orange and blue ties.<br> <br> Tuberville strikes me as sincere and interested. Who knows where his candidacy will go, but for now he has brought some intrigue to the race. Here’s our interview.<br> Todd C. Stacy: Hey, coach.<br> Tommy Tuberville: Good morning.<br> TCS: It is early. Thanks for allowing me a couple minutes to interview you. I saw you on TV this morning, looks like you’v been doing some media appearances.<br> TT: Yes, been a bit of an early morning. Got up at three o’clock, put a coat and tie on. I’ve been on Fox and Friends before, but not this early in the morning, but it went good. Now we’re making rounds in Montgomery.<br> TCS: Is that kind of like recruiting season hours or something?<br> TT: Yeah. Really, it’s a little early for anything getting up at three in the morning. But it’s, you know, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve always kind of, you know, looked forward to working with the media, I was media friendly, you know, and all my coaching years, even when I was an assistant. I learned most of that from Jimmie Johnson, you know, the coach I work for at Miami for a few years, and then he went on to have success and NFL to Dallas Cowboys. So, you know, always learning, treat everybody the same, but always get the most out of what you do. And explain your situation, how you want to be portrayed. And with most people, just carrying on a conversation you can find out a lot about you.<br> TCS: Well, how has the reception been? It has been, what, 10 days? <br> TT: Yeah, it’s been about a week and a half. Now, there’s a timeline to this whole thing. I’ve always liked politics. I get up in the morning, you know, even when I was coaching and watching the news and was one of the few coaches who would watch C-SPAN over the years. You know, just involved. I’m a patriot, I love this country. I’ve always thought that politics was a lot like coaching. There’s always usually two teams, or maybe sometimes politics has more than two teams. And I like competing. I like to try to win. I like to build things. <br> And so when I looked at the governor’s race, and Kay Ivey moved in, I said, you know, I think she’ll do a good job. Then I put my eye on the senate race. Of course, I had thought about running for Senate in the [special] election that came in the emergency situation. And I didn’t have time to prepare my plan for that in the short period of time. And we lost that. Being a conservative Republican, we lost that race to a Democrat. And ever since he won,
