Donald Trump makes ridiculous Tommy Tuberville-Patrick Mahomes gaffe while praising senator

Before getting into politics, Senator Tommy Tuberville‘s (R-Ala.) collegiate head coaching career had many twists and turns with stops at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

But one thing he never did was coach Patrick Mahomes. Just don’t tell that to President Donald Trump.

During a Wednesday afternoon ceremony in which he signed his latest executive order — titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” which bans individuals born male from participating in women’s sports — Trump erroneously credited Tuberville with having once coached Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, despite the two-year difference in their respective time at Texas Tech.

“… And Tommy Tuberville, a great coach. You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes, he was a great college coach,” Trump said in a clip of his speech shared on X/Twitter by @Acyn. “And I said, ‘How good was he?’ (Tuberville) said, ‘You don’t want to know how good … he made me into a great coach.’ He’s a pretty good quarterback, right? Yeah, he was very good, and he’s a good guy too.”

Trump: Tommy Tuberville, a great coach. You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes, he was a great college coach. And I said, how good was he? He said, you don't want to know how good. pic.twitter.com/Ee4aScrPgx

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 5, 2025

Tuberville famously followed the late Mike Leach as Texas Tech’s head footbal coach ahead of the 2010 season, officially named the Red Raiders’ leading man on Dec. 31, 2009. But after going just 20-17 over three seasons, Tuberville left Lubbock to become Cincinnati’s head coach on Dec. 8, 2012.

Meanwhile, Mahomes — who is attempting a never-before-seen Super Bowl three-peat in Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX — played at Texas Tech beween 2014-16 before being drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Tuberville officially retired from coaching following the 2016 season at Cincinnati. Two years after that, Tuberville jumped into politics, aligning himself with Trump and becoming Alabama’s Republican senator during the 2020 election cylce.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Dartmouth basketball union: ‘This will absolutely kill college sports’

A day after the Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted to form a union — a historic moment in college sports — former college football coach and current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville shared his thoughts.

Sitting for an interview on Fox News’ “American Reports,” the former Auburn and Ole Miss head coach did not hold back on how he thinks unionization would reshape college sports.

The senior U.S. Senator from Alabama has reemerged as a figure in college sports in the last 18 months, working closely with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) on the “Protecting Athletes, Schools and Sports Act of 2023,” nicknamed the “Pass Act,” which was released this past July.

“They’re going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg—all these athletes are—because it pays for everything,” the Senator said. “Scholarships are paid — men and women — but there’s a lot of people that don’t bring in money to universities. But what’s going to happen here is you’re going to see groups of people that’s going to try to unionize and then it’s going to spread across the country. We’ve been fighting it here. Joe Manchin and I did a NIL bill that was bipartisan, but it kept unionization out, but the Democrats wanted it in.

“That’s the reason we haven’t gotten it to the floor. But this will absolutely kill college sports. You know, the last time I looked, they’re not employees. These students are student-athletes. And if you want the federal government involved and ruin something, you try to make the student-athletes employees. Soon the federal government will get involved, unions will get involved, and it will be a total disaster.”

Pete Nakos contributed to this report.