Auburn, Bruce Pearl reportedly went through ‘struggle’ over naming Steven Pearl new HC
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
In light of legendary Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl retiring, the program will now be under the direction of his son Steven Pearl. However, the transition of power between the Pearls was hotly contested with Auburn administration, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.
The elder Pearl is departing as the winningest coach in the history of Auburn basketball. His successor has served in various roles with Auburn for the last 11 seasons but has no head coaching experience.
That’s why it was paramount for Bruce Pearl to build up Auburn strong enough prior to walking away and lobbying for him as his replacement. Under Pearl, Auburn has gone to its first two Final Fours (2019, 2025) in school history.
“I sat down with Bruce Pearl about 2 years ago in his office at Auburn and even at that point…” Norlander said. “Bruce really did want to have the program in a place where he thought Steven would be able to take it over.”
Norlander goes into the back-and-forth internal discussions Auburn had with the Pearls over the significant decision.
“There had been something of an understandable struggle between administration and the Pearls. Just because you’re the son of a really, really good coach doesn’t ensure that you will then become a really, really good coach,” Norlander said. “At this point in choosing to do this now and do it so close to the season, Steven will get the job and it won’t be interim.”
The first game of the Steven Pearl era will be when Auburn hosts Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 3.
