Bruce Pearl leaving Auburn basketball feels so sudden
By David Wasson
Published:
Monday’s news radiated from Neville Arena like a shockwave.
Bruce Pearl leaving the Auburn basketball program. Hanging it up as a coach – on the first day of practice for the 2025-26 season – and handing the reins over to his son Steven.
Bruce Pearl is walking away from coaching after 706 career victories, 14 league championships, 2 trips to the Final Four and a Division II national title.
Bruce Pearl is out of college basketball.
Why does someone so successful, at or near the summit of his career with seemingly plenty of gas left in the tank at age 65, suddenly call it quits?
The most obvious answer, clearly, is higher aspirations. Pearl has addressed rumors in recent weeks about a possible run for the United States Senate seat about to be vacated by another former Auburn coach – Tommy Tuberville. Ol’ Coach Tubs is eyeing a run for the governor’s mansion in Alabama, and Pearl could be next in line for a flag pin.
“It’s certainly something that I had considered,” Pearl said earlier this offseason. “It’s something I thought a great deal about, but obviously I’m here today and I’m in practice and I’ve got practice tomorrow.”
That was a couple weeks ago. But now? Trading in a whistle for a stump speech appears to be Pearl’s new destiny.
There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to serve the public trust, and we aren’t about to wade into the politics of a Pearl candidacy here. But Bruce Pearl abandoning Auburn – just over a month before the Tigers open their season on Nov. 5 – is certainly going to set the program he built back.
And what a program Auburn had become. As part of a conference-wide basketball renaissance, Pearl pieced together solid season after solid season in 11 trips around the sun on the Plains – winning 3 regular season titles, 2 SEC Tournament crowns and taking Auburn to the Final Four in both 2019 and 2025.
Heck, you could argue that Pearl’s final season at Auburn was his best. The Tigers went 32-6 in 2024-25 – with Pearl passing Joel Eaves along the way for the most wins by a basketball coach at Auburn. The Tigers won the SEC regular season title and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament last season. And Auburn made it back to the Final Four before falling 79-73 to the eventual champion Florida Gators in the national semifinals.
Pearl was named NABC Division I Coach of the Year and was AP Co-Coach of the Year for his efforts in 2024-25, massive accomplishments that coaches dream their entire lives about. And you better believe there is a spot waiting for Pearl in Springfield, Mass., at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
But at what price comes greatness? Pearl also addressed that issue earlier this month on the CBS Sports Inside College Basketball Now podcast with Jon Rothstein, saying didn’t see himself coaching “much longer” as he tries to balance life and basketball.
“Part of the thing is, I also want to do it when I’m on top of my game,” Pearl told Rothstein. “Coaches, we want to be on top of our game because we owe that to our players and our fans. As you get a little bit older, you kind of take it one day at a time.”
Pearl has been such a fixture of success at Auburn that you almost forget he had a storied career before even arriving in Lee County. Prior to taking over the Tigers, Pearl was the head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee and Southern Indiana. He guided the Volunteers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his 6 seasons in Knoxville – including 3 appearances in the Sweet 16.
Pearl’s basketball coaching journey began in 1992, when he was hired to coach Division II Southern Indiana. It was Evansville where Pearl guided the Screaming Eagles to the 1995 Division II national championship.
Pearl’s story also got cloudy at Tennessee, as he got fired in 2011 after being charged by the NCAA for unethical conduct after lying to the NCAA during an investigation into recruiting violations. Pearl was given a 3-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA, with Auburn hiring him 5 months before it ended.
Pearl also faced NCAA allegations at Auburn stemming from the FBI’s 2017 investigation into recruiting bribery, where former assistant coach Chuck Person accepted bribes to steer players to agents. The NCAA placed Auburn on probation for 4 years and suspended Pearl for 2 games, ruling he violated head coach responsibility rules and failed to promote a compliant atmosphere.
But through it all, good and bad, Pearl was emotionally and defiantly himself — always looking like he was working simultaneous and animated conversations with officials, assistant coaches and his players on the sidelines.
And just like that, in what almost feels like an obituary, Bruce Pearl is gone from Auburn. Son Steven Pearl, an associate coach who has been by his father’s side on the bench at Auburn for 8 years just like he played for his dad for 4 years at Tennessee, is reportedly set to serve as the interim head coach.
Mr. Pearl Goes To Washington? Who knows… that’s for the politicos to hash out. For now, Auburn basketball embarks on a new future with a new Pearl in charge. Can the son ascend to the heights of the father?
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
