Bruce Pearl Retiring As Auburn Basketball Coach. He Will Not Run For Senate

Bruce Pearl, the winningest coach in Auburn basketball history, is stepping down and retiring this week, just days after the Tigers opened practice for the upcoming season.

His replacement for the upcoming season will be his son, Steven Pearl, who has signed a 5-year contract with Auburn. 

There had been a growing thought around the college basketball world that Pearl was closing in on his final years as a basketball coach. He has been weighing the option of running for Senate, replacing Tommy Tuberville in the State of Alabama. 

But, in a statement released on social media, he will not be running for senate. 

"Many of you know I thought and prayed about maybe running for United State senate, maybe to be the next great senator from the State of Alabama. That would have required leaving Auburn. The university has given me an opportunity to stay here and be Aubunr's senator," Pearl noted. 

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Now, Auburn will be looking for someone to take over the program following the upcoming season. Pearl will retire with a 477-224 record (.680) as an head coach. He was the three-time coach of the year at Milwaukee, in the Horizon League, while also taking home the award twice at both Tennessee and Auburn. 

"We did our best, to give God the glory, and call on him every chance we had," Bruce Pearl said in his retirement video.

Bruce Pearl will be an ambassador to the Auburn program, along with being a special assistant to athletic director, John Cohen. 

"To the families of the student-athletes I've coached over the course of my career, thank you for trusting me with your sons," Pearl said in the video release. "Thank you for allowing me to try and make a difference in their lives, more than just on the basketball court. 

"To my current players and to their families, I've got a special favor to ask you. Please understand, it's time. I may not be there to coach your son on a daily basis, but I promise, I will continue to be in their lives, just as I would've been if I was their head coach this year."

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Bruce Pearl's Legacy At Auburn

Since arriving at Auburn, Pearl transformed the Tigers into a national basketball powerhouse. He guided the program to multiple Final Four appearances and SEC championships, highlighted by the school’s first Final Four in 2019. That run included signature wins over blue-blood programs such as North Carolina and Kentucky, cementing Auburn’s place among college basketball’s elite.

"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. "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. I have been at this for almost 50 years and truthfully as hard as it is for me to say this, I have come to the realization that it’s time for me to step aside. Being the head coach at Auburn has been the privilege of my life."

This past season, the Tigers won a school-record 32 games and returned to the Final Four, adding to Pearl’s résumé of three SEC regular-season titles and two SEC Tournament championships. His impact on the program is so significant that a statue on campus seems inevitable.

After eleven years at the helm, you could tell the decision was weighing heavy on him, and his family. 

Three SEC regular-season titles, along with two SEC tournament championships later, Bruce Pearl will undoubtedly have a statue built for him in Auburn. He took the Tigers to the national level, and they haven't looked back since. 

Before Auburn, Bruce Pearl turned the Tennessee basketball program into a juggernaut itself, leading them back to national prominence in the process. 

In recent years, speculation had grown that Pearl was nearing the end of his coaching career. Known for his outspoken political views and involvement in the Jewish community — particularly during the ongoing war overseas — Pearl had reportedly been considering a transition to politics since former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville first raised the idea last year.

Now, with Steven Pearl stepping in to lead the Tigers this season, Auburn will begin the process of identifying a long-term successor to carry the program forward.

This is a monumental day for college basketball, as we lose one of the best coaches to do it. 

College Basketball Has Taken A Hit Over The Years

Over the past years, the college basketball world has seen a number of coaches decide to hang up the whistle. 

Tony Bennett, Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Larranaga, and Roy Williams have all retired out of the ACC, while Jay Wright left Villinova. 

As the college athletics world continues to change, it's obvious that plenty of coaches have found that it's the right time to walk away. And, you can expect more in the coming years. 

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While NIL, the transfer portal, and other aspects of college basketball continue to change, it's not hard to figure out why coaches are deciding to leave. 

The one thing we've seen from a few coaches, like Bruce Pearl, is that they've decided to retire right before the season was set to begin. 

Now, we wait to see what Auburn decides to do in the future. But, this is obviously a massive day for the sport, as Pearl decides to retire on his own terms.