College football is a special sport that brings fanbases together during what is the best time of the sporting calendar every fall, especially in this region of the country.

Unlikely bonds and friendships are formed as iconic brands take the field and battle it out, but perhaps just as iconic and unlikely are bonds that are formed behind closed doors in locker rooms and on coaching staffs. Apparently, this is the case between former Ole Miss and Auburn head coach and current United States Senator, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and former LSU national title-winning coach Ed Orgeron.

During an appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, Orgeron hopped on and shared some classic stories about recruiting, his time leading the Tigers, the 2019 national title team and much more. But the most hilarious one was from way before he was LSU’s head coach, in his time as a graduate assistant where he was roommates with Tuberville:

“On Wednesday nights we got travel money for the GA’s, we got 20 bucks,” Orgeron began in his thick Cajun accent. “So we go get some beer and at the end we go to Kentucky Fried Chicken and get a four piece…we allotted $2 for chicken and $18 for beer…If we got a case of beer, I would drink 22 and Tommy would drink two, that’s just the way we were. There was the four pieces of chicken and we both like the white meat and we must have did that the whole season 12 games, and I guaran-damn-tee you I ate the white meat 12 times. There was fighting over the white meat!”

Each man has found tremendous success since their days of battling over the white mean in a KFC four-piece, but it’s a fascinating insight into the lives of coaches trying to climb the ladder in the profession and how many great coaches there may be currently going through similar situations at the graduate assistant level.

For Orgeron and Tuberville, they can look back fondly at their days of arguing over chicken and beer and know it was the foundation of helping each find their own success later in life.