Ralph Jordan has lived in East Tennessee for 25 years, but his football loyalties remain deeply rooted in Auburn, Ala., where everyone knows his name, if not his face.

Jordan, who works for TVA and lives in Norris, is the son of Ralph "Shug" Jordan, the legendary Auburn coach who won a national championship in 1957 and 67.5 percent of his games from 1951 through 1975.

The younger Jordan never played football or coached at Auburn. But he grew up in the home of the school's most successful coach and got his bachelor's and master's degrees there. Although he calls East Tennessee "home," he remains devoted to a school his father served so well.

And when his school suffered last year, he suffered from a distance.

"I always care about anything that embarrasses the school, things that are mishandled or reflect poorly on Auburn people," said Jordan, who is on the board of directors of the Auburn Alumni Association. "The situation with (football coach) Tommy Tuberville is not the way we do business. It was a terrible embarrassment to the school."

Two days before the Auburn-Alabama game, then-Auburn president William Walker and athletic director David Housel boarded the private jet of Auburn trustee Bobby Lowder and flew to Louisville for a secret meeting with Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, a former Auburn offensive coordinator.

Walker, who was ready to fire Tuberville, wanted to see if Petrino was interested in succeeding his old boss. When the meeting was exposed by the media, Auburn was humiliated.

Walker was later dismissed, and Housel will retire at the end of this year. Tuberville returns for his sixth season with a new university president, Dr. Ed Richardson, who is on record as saying he will closely evaluate the football program.

"I honestly found it surprising that Tommy came back to Auburn," Jordan said. "But I think what he sensed was that outside of some trustees, the rank and file Auburn supporters valued some of the things he had accomplished.

"I like the man. I think he's a good person and very organized. I think Auburn people ought to be willing to work with him and that staff to build the kind of program they want, rather than tossing him aside."

Jordan also likes the new president but admits that Richardson didn't do Tuberville any favors when he said Tuberville would be evaluated.

"That played into the hands of opposing recruiters," Jordan said. "They're probably saying, 'Tuberville just barely survived last year and with axe-man Ed there, what do you think his chances are after this year?' "

Tuberville should be accustomed to presidents looking over his shoulder. The scrutiny began after Auburn lost its 2003 opener decisively to USC, then faltered the following week against lightly regarded Georgia Tech.

"Two weeks earlier, we were contenders for a national championship," Jordan said. "And there we were getting drubbed by Georgia Tech."

Jordan said he was told by a "credible source" that Walker, who was embarrassed by the team's play while sitting in Georgia Tech's presidential suite, instructed Housel to fire Tuberville at halftime. Housel went to the locker room but didn't deliver the message, according to Jordan's source.

But two days before the Alabama game, Housel accompanied Walker on the ill-advised flight to Louisville.

"David told me Walker was determined to make a change, that he just didn't like Tuberville. He said to me, 'I had to make a decision whether to stay involved and help this man see the error of his ways or go back to my office and become irrelevant.'

"David could have gone back to his office, and (told the president) his resignation would be there when (the president) got back. If he had done that, he would have been athletic director for life at Auburn. It's the martyr role."

Instead, Housel boarded the plane, went to Louisville and met with Petrino.

"He made a mistake," Jordan said. "And at that level, sometimes you make a mistake and it's a career-ender. I feel terribly sorry for him. But I didn't see how David could be effective any longer in his role as athletic director.

"I told him the only thing he can do now is tell his story at some point. I think Auburn people would be interested in how that all came about."

"Petrino Gate," as it was called, isn't Auburn's only coaching fiasco in recent years. Terry Bowden quit in the middle of the 1998 season, convinced the administration was going to fire him anyway at the end of the year.

Such controversies were nonexistent when Jordan's father was coaching.

"There was no effigy-type hanging or anything," Jordan said. "We might get an occasional phone call from an ardent fan. Our name was in the phone book like everybody else's."

Something else was different about coaching in those days.

"When my dad retired, I remember how proud he was to be making $55,000 a year," Jordan said.

John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.