Steven Pearl was introduced as Auburn men’s basketball coach Wednesday, taking over for his father, Bruce, after the elder Pearl announced his decision to step down Monday following 11 seasons as Tigers coach.
This is Steven Pearl’s first head coaching job, an opportunity Auburn athletic director John Cohen said “has been earned.”
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“Steven Pearl has paid his dues,” Cohen said. “He’s earned this opportunity. He’s the right fit for Auburn at the right time.”
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Steven Pearl joined the program in 2014 as a strength and conditioning assistant, became director of operations the next season and was promoted to an on-court assistant two years later. In 2023, he was named associate head coach in 2023. He acknowledged it was at that time “hypothetical conversations” between him and his father about the latter’s eventual retirement began.
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“I wasn’t going to let myself get too high or too low,” he said. “I was just going to stay focused in my process of helping this team continue to grow, and continue to get better and continue to build while he was weighing his options.”
It was also announced Monday that Bruce Pearl would remain in the athletic department, as special assistant to the athletic director.
“There needs to be some separation there,” Steven Pearl said Wednesday when asked how involved his father will be this upcoming season, but it doesn’t mean he won’t call on his father for help.
“I’m going to ask him to come to practice every once in a while, just to bring some additional love and energy into the building,” Steven Pearl said. “Or if we lose a tough game and our guys need a little pick me up, I’d be crazy not to call him and ask him to come and talk to the guys.”
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Auburn players have a 30-day window to explore transfer options following the coaching change.
“They have nothing but love for BP and understand and respect his decision,” Steven Pearl said, adding that he’s told all of the players on his freshly built roster they’re allowed to “explore their options.”
Most of them were in attendance Wednesday, with a handful of notable exceptions, such as transfer additions Elyjah Freeman, Filip Jović and Keyshawn Hall, as well as the program’s lone returnee, Tahaad Pettiford.
Shortly after the news broke, Steven Pearl said Adbul Bashir found him, offering a hug and a message: “I’m with you, coach. I love you.” Eventually, Kevin Overton and Kaden Magwood offered the same.
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“I needed that in that moment, so, thank you,” Steven Pearl said. “It’s immediate validation for why we knew you were such special young men and student-athletes. I can’t thank you enough for your resilience, your trust, and your loyalty to Auburn. At a time in college athletics where those three things are far and few between, the world can learn a lot from the men in our locker room. And I’m proud of that. I can promise each and every one of you that I will go to work every day, every second, to reward you for your decision to stay loyal to this staff and to this program.”
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X @colereporter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Auburn AD, Steven Pearl said about promotion, replacing Bruce
