Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has created controversy by implying he coached Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, despite numerous refutations. President Trump echoed this false claim during a recent announcement, stating Tuberville had coached the quarterback, even though Mahomes arrived at Texas Tech in 2014, two years after Tuberville left for the University of Cincinnati.
This topic resurfaces as the Kansas City Chiefs compete in the Super Bowl, alongside Tuberville’s prominent role in Trump’s recent signing of an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. During the event, Trump praised Tuberville’s nonexistent coaching record with Mahomes.
Trump praises Tommy Tuberville for doing a great job as Patrick Mahomes’s college coach, despite the fact he never coached Mahomes pic.twitter.com/44Y7YMeSXU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2025
Rather than correct the claim, Tuberville perpetuated the falsehood. In a moment reminiscent of George Costanza’s famous quote, “Remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it,” Tuberville’s lack of a factual basis didn’t seemingly matter.
In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Tuberville admitted he never coached Mahomes but asserted that he recruited him before moving to Cincinnati. He stated, “Well, I never even coached ’em. What happened is, I recruited him, and then I left and went to another school. But I got to be very good friends with him. He’s not just a good athlete; he’s a very good example for a lot of our young youth across this country…”
As a coach, you start recruiting and working with players years before they get to college. Patrick Mahomes was one of the best players I ever had the opportunity to recruit and get to know. Looking forward to cheering him on this weekend when I join President Trump at the… pic.twitter.com/vbX9bLs1nj
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) February 6, 2025
Although Kelly, a New York Giants fan, stated she would be rooting for the Eagles, the fact still remains that Tuberville did not recruit Mahomes, which is another inaccuracy. According to Bruce Feldman from The Athletic, it was actually B.J. Anderson, the offensive line coach at Texas A&M, who brought Mahomes’ film to Kliff Kingsbury, who later became the head coach at Texas Tech, effectively replacing Tuberville. Mahomes wasn’t even on anyone’s radar until Kingsbury was at the helm, and Texas Tech only offered him a spot once he took over.
Mahomes himself confirmed this, stating, “He did not recruit me at the time,” adding, “I don’t remember if I ever got to meet him or not.” The accurate narrative has yet to be clarified by Tuberville, but social media community notes have provided some clarity.
Ultimately, why let the truth interfere with a captivating story, especially when there’s an audience eager to believe it?
