Bruce Pearl Retires as Auburn HC in Video, Son Steven Signs 5-Year HC Contract

After helping establish Auburn as one of the best men's college basketball programs in the nation, head coach Bruce Pearl has decided to call it quits.

Steven Pearl, Bruce's son, signed a five-year contract to become the 22nd head coach in program history.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel first reported the news.

While Pearl's sudden retirement comes as a surprise, Thamel and Borzello noted that he has "long been linked to a post-coaching career in politics." Earlier this month, he addressed rumors that he could be a potential candidate for Tommy Tuberville's open U.S. Senate seat.

"It's certainly something that I had considered," Pearl said at the time. "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."

However, he noted in his announcement video that he does not plan on making a Senate run:

Pearl has been the head coach at Auburn for the last 11 seasons, and he helped the program reach heights it had never seen before. He guided the Tigers to six NCAA tournament appearances and their first two trips to the Final Four in program history, including this past season's run to the national semifinal after earning the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The team also won at least a share of three SEC regular-season titles and two SEC tournament championships during his tenure.

Pearl ends his time at Auburn with a 246-125 record. He had previously served as head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee and Southern Indiana, and his career record stands at 706-268.

Steven Pearl has been an assistant under his dad since 2017, and he was promoted to Auburn's associate head coach in 2023. He's taking over a Tigers team that was ranked No. 14 in ESPN's early prediction for the preseason top 25.