After a long, but memorable run at the helm of Auburn, Bruce Pearl has announced that he’ll be stepping down, the school announced on Monday. He will now move into an ambassador’s role in the athletic department, serving as Special Assistant to the athletic director.
At 65 years old and as the winningest coach in program history, Pearl is coming off the team’s second ever Final Four appearance. They earned the top overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Tournament after claiming the SEC regular-season title, racking up 32 wins before eventually falling to Florida in the National Semifinal. In total throughout his tenure, he’s led Auburn to six NCAA tournament appearances and both of the program’s Final Four runs. Throughout his journey with the SEC, he’s helped lead his squad earn at least a share of three regular season conference titles and earned two SEC tournament championships.
His overall record was 246-125, with only 232 of those wins being recognized because of various infractions from the NCAA that ultimately forced the Tigers to vacate games during the 2016-17 season.
“Eleven years ago, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to become the head basketball coach at Auburn, and it has been nothing short of amazing,” Pearl said in his announcement. “With the Auburn Family’s unwavering support, we have built a program from the ground up and taken it to heights it had never reached before. Not only have we won championships, but we have built the best home-court advantage in college basketball, we’ve invested in this community and changed lives, and we’ve developed and graduated Auburn men. We built a program with the core tenants of faith, family and passion, and together, we made history. I hope we have made Auburn proud.”
In addition to his coaching side, he’s been linked to a post-coaching career in politics for a long while. He’s addressed this before in early September following monthslong rumors regarding him as a potential candidate for Tommy Tuberville’s open U.S. Senate seat, though he stated Monday that he will not be running for Senate.
“Many of you know that I thought and prayed about maybe running for United States Senate, maybe to be the next great senator from the state of Alabama,” he said. “That would’ve required leaving Auburn. And instead, the university has given me an opportunity to stay here and be Auburn’s senator.”
Before being the leader of the Tigers, Pearl was previously the head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee and Southern Indiana. In all six of his seasons with the Volunteers, he went to the NCAA tournament, including three Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight run.
Looking ahead, Pearl’s son, Steven, along with the Tigers’ associate head coach, received a five year contract as the program’s new leader. Now taking over the reins, Pearl’s son, Steven, played 101 games for his father at Tennessee from 2007-11. Back then, he was a three year medical sales representative, then later joined the Auburn staff in 2014, and was promoted to associate head coach before the 2023-24 season.
“I’m incredibly grateful to President Dr. Roberts, Athletics Director John Cohen, and the entire Auburn leadership team for entrusting me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Steven Pearl said in a statement. “In a sense, I’ve spent my lifetime preparing for this moment, learning from one of the best in BP, and building a foundation rooted in character, hard work, and team-first values. We’re not starting over — we’re building forward, with the same principles that have made Auburn Basketball elite. I’m honored to lead this program, and I’m ready to rise to the moment.”
After a coach leaves a program, players have a 30-day window to transfer. Looking ahead into the upcoming season, Jeff Borzelo with ESPN explained how the timing of Pearl’s decision now makes the option of transferring a potential challenge for various reasons, including team’s not having the money to add a notable player to the roster and athletes not wanting to redshirt the entire season.
Despite this shocking, but expected decision to some, Steven Pearl will be expected to stay focused in order to continue building his father’s legacy and keep Auburn in conversation as one of the top programs not only in the SEC, but the entire country as well.
