On Friday, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame officially inducted its 2026 class into state immortality.
The class was headlined by former Auburn football coach-turned U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and his former star quarterback, Jason Campbell. The two were joined by former Berry High School and Mississippi State pitcher Jeff Brantley, former Valley High School and Crimson Tide linebacker John Copeland, Decatur native and former Auburn golfer and later golf coach Kim Evans, former Homewood High School and Crimson Tide offensive lineman Evan Mathis, Carver-Birmingham alum and former Crimson Tide basketball player Ray Odums, and Tuscaloosa native and former Huntingdon College softball player and softball coach at the University of Alabama-Huntsville Les Stuedeman.
In accepting his induction, Tuberville detailed why he got into coaching and thanked the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, calling it a "thrill" to be inducted. The 2026 Alabama Republican gubernatorial frontrunner also touched on why sports play such an important role in shaping the United States.
"What a great country we live in," Tuberville outlined. "There's four things that I think makes this country: God, family, our military and sports. And why do I say that? because those four things teach us life. It teaches us values, it teaches us things that we can go by that makes ourselves better so that we can make other people better. And it's pretty much that simple."
"[My former players] will tell you that I worked the hell out of them," he continued. "I didn't take no for an answer. We got up early, and we stayed late. ... We won games by how hard we knew how to play. You can't do that today. You do that, and you'll have a different team every year because they will pack their bags and leave for somewhere easier. But I'm saying this: sports is what make this country great. It really is. It makes us sound. It gives us the opportunity to root for something other than things that are not going on positive, and it gives us the opportunity to grow together."
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