Bruce Pearl, Auburn Agree to 5-Year Contract Extension After Final Four Run

A run to the 2019 Final Four has earned Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl a new contract.

Auburn announced Friday it has come to terms with Pearl on a five-year extension.

"I'm grateful to my coaching and support staff for building a competitive men's basketball program," Pearl said in a statement. "I'm grateful to our players for buying in, working extremely hard and representing what being an Auburn man and student-athlete is all about. We have the best fan base in America. The Auburn Family is for real and, along with The Jungle, create a unique gameday atmosphere. It's great to be an Auburn Tiger. War Eagle!"

Tigers athletic director Allen Greene expressed his excitement for keeping the coach:

"Under Bruce's leadership, our basketball program has reached new heights. Our young men continue to thrive in the classroom and on the court. We've experienced many firsts, including a well-documented run to the Final Four and a pair of SEC title. Bruce and his wife Brandy have been very active within the university and the Auburn community and we are appreciative of all of their efforts. Our return on investment is undeniable, and supporting this program from A-to-Z will continue to be a priority. Simply stated, we look forward to having Bruce as the head coach of our basketball program for many years to come."

After taking over in 2014, Pearl has made Auburn nationally relevant.

Pearl lost 20 games in each of his first two years on the job, but he helped the Tigers snap a 14-year NCAA tournament drought in 2018. That set the stage for the best season in program history.

Auburn went 30-10 this past season, winning the SEC tournament en route to its second consecutive invitation to the Big Dance. The fifth-seeded Tigers survived a first-round scare against 12th-seeded New Mexico State before knocking off college basketball blue bloods Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky to earn their first trip to the Final Four.

The Tigers were seconds away from earning a spot in the 2019 national championship game—and then chaos broke loose. The refs appeared to miss a double dribble, and Auburn was called for a foul on a potential go-ahead three-pointer moments later. 

Virginia's Kyle Guy would sink all three free throws to give his team a 63-62 lead, and the Cavaliers would go on to win the national championship two days later.

To his credit, Pearl handled the events with class. With the officials being heavily criticized, the 59-year-old coach went on ESPN's Get Up! earlier this week and told people to "get over it":

There's no shame in losing to the champs, but the Tigers will always be left wondering what could have been.

Pearl is 100-72 in five years at Auburn and owns a 331-171 career record, previously coaching at Milwaukee and Tennessee.