AU Perspective: Tuberville "Residency" and Coach's Florida Paper Trail

Some readers may recall previous columns chronicling the slow erosion of accountability specifically at AU and more generally across Alabama's politburo. The ‘rinse and repeat’ playbook cycle is a familiar pattern in many arenas across our State even more so in Lee County. Comrades Britt, Hubbard, Ivey, Richardson, Shelby, Tuberville, et al make claims where the record/documents affirm a different narrative. Institutions tasked with oversight, fail to look and/or act, further enabling political thieves.

This Perspective is driven by AU contacts trickling in following Gubernatorial candidate McFeeters letter circulating on the Plains of Dixie w.r.t. former football coach Tommy Tuberville, the installed US Senator now running for governor. The ‘rub’ as Shakespeare penned is simple enough… to be or not to be an Alabamian; that is the question. In short, where does this retired, mediocre coach and very accomplished extractor of millions from our Education Industrial Complex actually reside?

Tuberville claims Auburn with plenty of local political parasites willing to buttress ‘Teletubby’s’ assertion. Some AU faculty carefully examining public records, say evidence points to Santa Rosa Beach, FL. The Alabama Republican Party, who’s shown little resolve adhering to the Alabama election code - esp. as a non-private organization, heavily subsidized with tax dollars (specifically for duopoly party primaries used as fundraisers) has a history of giving a pass to ‘swamp-monsters’ who really churn the political money mill for fellow parasites. When party apparatchiks were presented with a formal challenge to Coach’s residency, it was dismissed after reviewing one unvetted document - Tuberville’s driver's license.

Here’s some of what AU faculty (weary of corrupt Presidents and Governors failing in their BoT oversight role) submitted:

The Property Dispute

Tuberville claims Alabama residence via a house on Cherry Street in Auburn; a modest place, approx. 1,500 sq ft, Lee County appraised at $291,780. Nothing wrong with a modest house, similar to homes the government wrongfully kicked out residents, took and lived in at the end of College on US 280. Nonetheless there’s something amiss calling this house a domicile when one did not own/rent it, etc. Tuberville displayed little concern for lying on forms about residency by fellow politburo members, no stranger to double-standards.

The Cherry Street house was purchased in 2018 (some reports say 2017) by Suzanne Tuberville (wife) and Tucker Thomas Tuberville (son). Tommy Tuberville's name was not on the deed. It remained absent from the deed for six years. Coach’s name was added in May 2024, after the Washington Post published an investigation documenting Tuberville owned no Alabama property, and before he launched this gubernatorial campaign.

Meanwhile, in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, Tuberville has owned a 4,000 sq ft beachfront mansion for approx. 20 years. Current estimates value it between $5.5 and $6 million. Coach also owns a second Florida condo ($825,000, purchased July 2023) and a Washington, DC condo ($750,000, purchased 2021).

So the candidate claiming to live in Auburn owned more than $6.3 million of Florida real estate in his own name while the Auburn house he asserts as "home" belonged to his wife and son.

Homestead Exemption Problems

Tuberville defenders point to the Auburn homestead exemption, filed in October 2018, as proof of Alabama residency. ‘Pravda on the Plains’ press largely treated this as Coach’s strongest piece of evidence… it is not.

Under Alabama law (Section 40-9-19), the homestead exemption applies to the owner who occupies the property as a principal residence. From 2018 through May 2024, the owners were Suzanne and Tucker Tuberville. The exemption establishes their occupancy claim. As a matter of Alabama property law, a homestead exemption filed by family members on a house (Coach Tuberville did not own) is not evidence of Tommy Tuberville's domicile.

Furthermore in October 2018, Tuberville's family filed for the Auburn homestead exemption. The following month [Nov. 2018] Tommy Tuberville voted in the Walton County, FL midterm election. Coach maintained a 2018 Florida homestead exemption on the Santa Rosa Beach mansion. Under Florida law (Article VII, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution) homestead exemption is a legal declaration, under penalty of misdemeanor, affirming the property is the applicant's primary residence.

So in the fall of 2018, Tuberville was simultaneously connected to an Alabama homestead exemption (filed by other people on a house he did not own) and a Florida homestead exemption (Coach filed personally on a house he did own) to vote in Florida. I’ve heard AU faculty asking folks to draw their own conclusions on which State Tuberville actually considered home.

Travel Records

Want to know where someone lives? Watch where they go after work...

In 2021, Tuberville submitted nine flights to the Senate for reimbursement as trips "home." All nine went to Florida. Zero went to Alabama. Over his Senate tenure, Coach expensed more than 25 flights departing from airports near Santa Rosa Beach, primarily through Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport… less than 25 minutes from Coach’s mansion.

His leadership PAC [Coach PAC] paid $11,000+ over two years to 30A Taxi and Shuttle Service. Anyone familiar with the Florida Panhandle (and plenty of AU faculty are) will recognize 30A; a scenic coastal highway which runs through Santa Rosa Beach, Seaside, and Rosemary Beach. The shuttle service operates exclusively in that area. There’s no Alabama equivalent anywhere in Coach PAC's expenditure records.

Here is what some AU folks find most revealing. When Tuberville flew into Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, the obvious large airport for someone living in Auburn (approximately 100 miles east on I-85), the paper trail goes cold. No car rental receipts from Atlanta to Auburn. No per diem requests. No mileage reimbursements for the drive. Nothing, I asked if any data to Columbus [GA] Airport was found…

One regularly traveling between Atlanta and Auburn would generate some record of ground transportation. Tuberville generated none. The absence is its own kind of evidence which speaks to those concerned about who replaces Gov. Ivey’s poor oversight role on AU Board of Trustees.

2023 Florida Documents

In July 2023, Tuberville purchased a Florida condominium for $825,000. Transaction closing documents listed Coach’s Santa Rosa Beach beachfront mansion as his "primary residence." Closing documents notarized in Santa Rosa Beach, indicate Tuberville was physically in Florida at the time of signing.

More on the Plains of Dixie are starting to appreciate the weight of the matter for the 2026 gubernatorial race. If Tuberville established Alabama domicile in March 2019 (when he registered to vote here), a sworn 2023 document designating Florida as his primary residence constitutes evidence of domicile abandonment within the seven-year window. Under the Alabama Constitution’s continuity requirement for governor, a single break restarts the clock.

Also in July 2023, Tuberville sold his Tiger Farms LLC properties (near Dadeville) for approximately $1.1 million. Those were Coach’s last Alabama land holdings in his own name they found. That sale’s closing documents were also notarized by a person located in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. Concerned AU researchers I spoke with questioned this single month where Tuberville sold his last personally-owned Alabama property, purchased additional Florida property and designated Florida as his primary residence on legal documents. All while claiming to live in Auburn.

The Tax Question

Unlike Florida, Alabama has a State income tax. Alabama residents owe State income tax on all worldwide income. As some AU folks noted, Tuberville (with other corrupt public servants) refuses to release his State income tax returns. Multiple public figures have asked. State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) accused Tuberville in 2019 of maintaining Florida residency specifically to avoid Alabama income taxes. Ken McFeeters' legal challenge seeks to compel disclosure of tax filings through discovery.

If Tuberville filed Alabama income tax returns since 2018 or 2019, producing them immediately ends this controversy. Refusal to do so is consistent with someone who has not been filing as an Alabama resident. Readers can judge for themselves what the refusal implies and still appreciate the ‘rub’ of some AU faculty.

His Own Words

In a July 2017 promotional video for ESPN, Tommy Tuberville said on camera, plainly and without equivocation that he, "hung up my whistle and moved to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida." He described it, "a great place to live."

During the 2020 Senate campaign, Coach admitted he was "not an everyday resident of Alabama." The Jeff Sessions campaign highlighted this in their "Florida Phony" attack ads. Sessions' campaign manager called Tuberville someone who "lives and votes in Florida" and "grew up in Arkansas, retired in Florida." Bradley Byrne called him a carpetbagger on Huntsville radio. Other AU folks recall Tuberville ‘carpetbagger’ rhetoric as an excuse for this mediocre coach’s poor recruiting skills.

Pre-campaign statements, made voluntarily before any political incentive to claim Alabama residency, carry weight under Alabama's domicile framework. A person's unprompted description of where they live, offered before any reason to question it, is more credible than what they assert once millions of dollars in campaign contributions are in the mix.

Where Coach’s Spouse Works

Suzanne Tuberville holds a Florida real estate broker's license. She does not hold an Alabama real estate license. She’s worked at a Santa Rosa Beach real estate firm since early 2023, also registered to vote in Walton County, Florida in February 2017 according to AU faculty researching legal/political records.

Under Alabama domicile case law, where a spouse is professionally licensed and employed is a standard evidentiary factor. All of Suzanne Tuberville's professional and civic ties are in Florida. Faculty concern one of poor character, yet accomplished at extracting from the Education Industrial Complex may preside over AU’s BoT is well founded.

The ALGOP Dismissal

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken McFeeters filed [1-27-26] a formal residency challenge with the Alabama Republican Party, citing Article V, Section 117 of the Alabama Constitution. He presented Senate travel expense records, PAC expenditure reports, and property ownership records. McFeeter letters in local media outlets appear to have triggered AU folks wanting more reporting on the matter.

ALGOP’s steering committee quickly [2-2-26] dismissed the challenge. McFeeters claimed the party was "unwilling to examine the issue at all." The only evidence Tuberville provided was his Alabama driver's license. No tax returns. No travel records. No utility bills. No credit card statements. A driver's license… that was sufficient for ALGOP to declare the matter resolved. And yes, I’ve heard AU folks joking about voter fraud if this Alabama Driver License was used to vote in Florida.

Those who’ve followed my columns on institutional accountability at Auburn and in Alabama politics will recognize the pattern. When oversight bodies are staffed by cronies and fellow political thieves of the politburo member under scrutiny, review processes become Kabuki theatre. The subsidized, anticompetitive ALGOP has no interest disciplining a frontrunner's candidacy cranking up the money mill.

McFeeters appealed [2-17-26] and plans to pursue a quo warranto action in circuit court. That proceeding, unlike the party's internal review, would involve full discovery if past quo warranto cases in Montgomery are any guide. Depositions, subpoenas for tax returns, credit card statements, travel records, utility bills, etc. Everything Tuberville has so far declined to produce - it’ll induce some entertaining affidavits.

What This Means for Alabama

The Alabama Constitution's residency requirements for governor exist for a reason; designed to ensure candidates seeking to lead our State have a genuine, sustained connection to it. Not a driver's license obtained in a single afternoon. Not a homestead exemption filed by a family member(s). Not a voter registration switched two weeks before a campaign announcement. Seven years of actually living here as the Constitution requires.

There’s a broader principle at work. If a candidate can satisfy a seven-year residency requirement by having his wife buy a house, switching his voter registration, and obtaining a driver's license, all while actually living in a $6 million beachfront mansion in another state, flying home to Florida every weekend, spending his money in Florida, and designating Florida as his primary residence on legal documents, then the requirement means nothing. It becomes a box-checking exercise. The people of Alabama once again witness words in their Constitutions do not apply to those with enough political power to ignore them.

Anyone thinking government accountability requires more than duopoly partisan self-policing would be wise to follow McFeeters’ case. If it reaches discovery, we will finally see the documents Tuberville refuses to release; tax returns, travel records, credit card statements, etc. The truth about where Alabama's would-be governor actually lays his head at night to be home with constituents. Until then, many AU folks contacting me find current evidence overwhelmingly points to one location… and it is not toward Auburn.

In closing, a past column on corrupt administrators, retaliation, indefensible pay-raises, etc. [https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2015/11/01/news/all-the-speakers-men-and-the-collapse-of-au-athletics/597.html] may be the best example of why AU faculty contact me and are increasingly afraid of the hostile workplace they suffer. Tuberville is exactly the sort of Education Industrial Complex grubber in corrupt Lee County the Felon Hubbard, et al crowd want; where even the ‘I believe in Mike Hubbard’ chief law enforcement officer is comfortable firing a highly regarded Deputy wanting to compete in the next election. AU has shown more acumen for fleecing students and taxpayers than serving them. Jay Jacobs, is among the best illustrations of a ‘live in Florida while extracting from Alabama’ public servant. How I long for the days of football coaches who refused to be paid any more than the highest earning Professor on faculty - one may safely type we’ll never see such honor, sagacity and self-restraint out of Tuberville caliber coaches or current university administrators…

John Sophocleus is a retired Auburn University instructor, the 2002 Libertarian nominee for Governor of Alabama, and the 2022 Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senator from Alabama.

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Alabama Gazette staff or publishers.