ESPN SEC Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

AUBURN, Ala. -- Here's the second part of my Q&A with Tommy Tuberville. Check out some of his quips about Alabama coach Nick Saban near the bottom. Who says the Iron Bowl isn't played 365 days a year in this state?

Have you had many defensive linemen as athletic and explosive as Sen'Derrick Marks?

Tommy Tuberville: He's just a great athlete, but one of those one-star athletes that nobody knew much about. We weren't even recruiting him in Mobile. I was down there with the coach that recruited there, and I said, 'We're done for the day. Why don't we run over to the high school and talk to the (Vigor High) coach and do a little P.R.?' We got to talking about players, and he said, 'You need to look at this guy. He's got good explosion. He's a good athlete. He might be a pretty decent player.' I go in the gym, and Sen'Derrick was out there dunking backwards, running up and down the court and handling the ball. That's what you look for, guys that athletic. This was January, too. The only trip he had, I think, was to South Carolina, but they hadn't offered him yet. That just goes to show you about this recruiting stuff.

You've never been too big on winning recruiting national championships, have you?

TT: You know, we were never ranked in the Top 10 in recruiting when we were at Miami. We won three national championships. We recruited from high schools that had so many players that most of them ... nobody had ever heard of.

How many players from the state of Alabama do you and Alabama typically go head-to-head on each year?

TT: I'd say five or six, and we pretty much dominated them for the last eight years. And then last year, Nick came in and did a good job on Julio (Jones) and the kid from Gadsden (Jerrell Harris). You'll normally go 50-50. There will be a few more kids that grow up Alabama fans, but we get our share. A lot of these kids leave the state, too. But we go to Georgia and get kids to come here. I don't think the loyalties in the different states are there as much as they used to be.

What's your relationship like with Nick Saban? You share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton. Do you guys talk much?

TT: Yeah, we talk ... probably more than most people think. I've known Nick a while. He's just one of those guys who likes to move around, but a good football coach.

Saban says Alabama is his last stop and that there are no more horizons for him. You buying that?

TT: You watch, he'll be at Washington next year (laughing and clearly joking).

Is this where you'll end your career? Do you ever see yourself leaving Auburn?

TT: Oh no, I'm not going anywhere. They tried to get me a few years ago, so you never know in this business. But my family loves it here. It's hard to beat this place.