Former college football coach Tommy Tuberville has recaptured a U.S. Senate seat for Republicans by defeating Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama.

Tuberville spent 21 seasons as a college football coach with four programs. He coached at Ole Miss from 1995 to 1998 before spending nearly a decade at Auburn (1999-2008). The Tigers went undefeated en route to an SEC title in 2004 and finished No. 2 in the country.

Tuberville went 85-40 overall at Auburn and had great success against rival Alabama, finishing with a 7-3 record against the Crimson Tide. During the lead-up run for Senate, he joked to Alabama fans that they should thank him, saying, "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have Nick Saban."

Tuberville spent his latter years coaching Texas Tech (2010-12) and Cincinnati (2013-16).

Jones had widely been considered the Senate's most endangered Democrat. Republicans made recapturing the once reliably conservative seat a priority in 2020.

Tuberville, who has never held public office and last coached four years ago, aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump and declared in the primary campaign: "God sent us Donald Trump.''

Jones won the seat during a 2017 special election in which GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore was publicly accused of sexual misconduct involving young women decades ago.

Tuberville previously worked as a college football game analyst for ESPN.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.