Pearl exchange

The coaching carousel never stops.

Today’s Daily is written by Mike Miller. Follow him on Twitter/X.com at MikeMillerF68.

1. Auburn bids farewell to Bruce Pearl, brings in Steven Pearl

This was appropriate for Auburn’s first day pf practice. Because Monday most certainly marked the end of an era.

That was 14 minutes of Bruce Pearl announcing his retirement as Auburn’s men’s hoops coach. Over the past 11 seasons, he led the Tigers to never-before reached program heights: Two Final Fours, 246 victories (most in program history), a pair of SEC tourney titles and at least a share of three regular-season league titles.

Pearl, 65, had spoken recently about the possibility of retirement, and some floated the idea of him running for United State Senate. But he said politics wasn’t the plan. Instead, he was just ready to go.

“I’ve been part of college basketball for almost 50 years,” Pearl said in the video. “And the truth is, it’s time. I told myself that when I got the point where I could not give it my all, where I wasn’t necessarily 100 percent, when I couldn’t be the relentless competitor that you expect of me, that it was going to be time. As hard as it is to say this, I’ve reached the realization that it’s time for me to step aside.”

He leaves college hoops with nearly 700 career wins and stints at Tennessee (2005-11), Milwaukee (2001-05) and D-II Southern Indiana (1992-2001) where he won a national title. He reached six NCAA tourneys with the Vols and a Sweet 16 with the Panthers in 2005. He also had a three-year show cause for violating NCAA rules while at Tennessee, but returned from that to build Auburn into a college hoops powerhouse.

Now, he’ll turn the program over to his son, Steven. The younger Pearl’s never been a head coach at any level, but has been on Bruce’s coaching staff since 2017 and was promoted to associate head coach in August. He also played for Bruce at Tennessee.

“We’re not starting over — we’re building forward, with the same principles that have made Auburn Basketball elite,” Steven said in a release. “I’m honored to lead this program, and I’m ready to rise to the moment.”

Steven, 38, will have some time. He received a five-year contract, though he’ll need to work quickly to ensure Auburn players stay put. They have 30 days to enter the transfer portal after a coaching change.

2. Sights, sounds from first day of practices

It’s hard not to love the first day of the season, the first day of NCAA Tournament, or the first day of Championship Week.

Right there with those? The first day of practice.

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