He resurrected the school's struggling football program by winning outright or sharing a conference title in each of his four seasons there.
DuBose is best known for his four-year stint as the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Alabama, where he led the Crimson Tide to an SEC championship in 1999.
He earned four varsity letters as an athlete at Opp High School,[2] before going to the University of Alabama, where he played for the Crimson Tide on the defensive line under head coach Bear Bryant from 1972 to 1974.
[3] The highlight of DuBose's career was a performance against the Tennessee Volunteers in which he caused a fumble, had twenty tackles, and was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
He was on the opposite sideline of the game that ended Alabama's then college record 57-game home unbeaten streak in November 1982.
He returned to Alabama as the defensive line coach under Gene Stallings from 1990 to 1996, including the Crimson Tide's national championship season in 1992.
On December 9, 1996, sixteen days after Stallings announced his retirement, DuBose was named as head coach of Alabama.
DuBose reacted by firing four assistants, including the ones who called the play, Bruce Arians and Woody McCorvey.
The following year, 1998, DuBose led the team to a 7–5 record and a berth in the inaugural Music City Bowl against Virginia Tech.
Nonetheless, DuBose restored much of the goodwill he had lost in his first season with a comeback over LSU in Tiger Stadium, and a win over Auburn in Legion Field, which coincidentally was the last time the Iron Bowl was played at the location.
DuBose flatly denied the charges, but three months later acknowledged the affair and reached an out-of-court settlement that paid over $300,000 out of his own pocket, removed the final two years of his contract (leaving him without a job after the upcoming 1999 season unless either an extension was granted or a new contract was reached), and gave the administration the chance to fire him at any time they desired.
However, Alabama suddenly took off behind All-American tailback Shaun Alexander and Outland Trophy winner Chris Samuels, who played left tackle.
They went the rest of the regular season losing only to Tennessee, 21–7, and earned the right to meet Florida again for the SEC Championship after a dominating fourth quarter in Jordan–Hare Stadium to beat Auburn.
The game was close, 15-7 Alabama, until the early fourth quarter when a broken play ran by Freddie Milons, a wide receiver lined up at quarterback, bolted for a 77-yard touchdown after reversing his field.
Two plays later, defensive lineman Reggie Grimes tipped, intercepted, and scored a touchdown on a pass from Jesse Palmer.
The Crimson Tide opened the 2000 season in Pasadena against UCLA, but their national title hopes were quickly shattered in a 35–24 loss.
[8] After a controversial loss to Arkansas -- in which two disputed calls allowed the Razorbacks to continue what would be the game-winning drive -- the Tide rebounded to beat South Carolina and Ole Miss to raise its record to 3-3.
Alabama lost a close contest to LSU in Tiger Stadium, the team's first loss in Baton Rouge in 31 years.
They were then dominated in Starkville by Mississippi State and shut out 9-0 by Auburn on a miserable day in which Tuscaloosa had sleet and snow in the first installment of the Iron Bowl played on the Alabama campus since 1901.
Years later, DuBose said that when he was hired at Alabama, he should have talked with Stallings about what he went through as coach and "gleaned from that knowledge"—an oversight that he still regretted.
After a long coaching search in which Butch Davis, Frank Beamer, Tommy Bowden, and others were considered for the job, Alabama Athletics Director Mal Moore hired Dennis Franchione to replace DuBose.
In 2009, Millsaps again earned a share of the SCAC championship, giving DuBose and the Majors four conferences titles in as many years.
DuBose resigned on February 12, 2015, to accept a job coaching linebackers at his alma mater, Opp High School.