Auburn men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl abruptly stepped down on Monday. His son, associate head coach Steven Pearl, was swiftly promoted to the position and signed to a five-year contract.
Pearl led the Tigers for 11 years, during which he completely revitalized a struggling program. Under his leadership, Auburn made six NCAA Tournament appearances, reached the Final Four twice and snatched two SEC Tournament championships. Pearl finished his career on a strong note, leading Auburn to the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament after going 28-5 in the regular season and 15-3 in conference play.
Pearl’s success transformed Auburn’s Neville Arena into one of the country’s most electric venues, largely thanks to its student section, nicknamed “The Jungle,” which has earned a reputation for its relentless chanting and unyielding spirit.
In the words of Pearl himself, “Not only have we won championships, but we have built the best home-court advantage in college basketball.”
Before his time at Auburn, Pearl coached at several universities, beginning his career as the head coach at the University of Southern Indiana, where he won the 1995 NCAA Division II national championship. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and guided the Panthers to their first-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005. Prior to taking over at Auburn, he took his talents to the University of Tennessee, where he led the Vols to the NCAA tournament every year.
In his 11-year stint at Auburn, he went 246-125 and claimed several coaching awards, including SEC Coach of the Year four times and Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2025.
“11 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 retirement video. “I hope we have made Auburn proud.”
Dear Auburn Family, I truly love you.@CoachBrucePearl x #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/xFJAEetMLv
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) September 22, 2025
Many speculated that Pearl was going to run for the open United States Senate position in Alabama, as Pearl had publicly considered running for political office in the past.
However, Pearl instead decided to remain closer to his Tiger family.
“Many of you know that I thought and prayed about maybe running for the United States Senate, [and] maybe to be the next great senator from the state of Alabama,” Pearl said. “That would’ve required leaving Auburn. Instead, the university has given me an opportunity to stay here and be Auburn’s senator.”
Soon after his retirement, the school officially announced that Pearl would be moving into an ambassador position in the athletic department and work as a special assistant to the athletics director.