History was made on The Plains early Wednesday morning, as Steven Pearl was officially introduced as the new head coach of Auburn men’s basketball.
He takes over for his father, Bruce Pearl, the program’s all-time winningest coach, who spent 11 seasons at the helm. Bruce compiled a 246-125 record, won three SEC regular-season titles, two conference tournament championships and made two Final Four appearances, while producing numerous NBA players.
The legacy that he created at Auburn will live forever, but as he said in his retirement announcement video on social media earlier this week, it’s time.
It’s time to pass the torch to Steven, who has served as an assistant under his father for the entire 11 years since 2014. Steven has served in a variety of roles with the Tigers, including an assistant strength and conditioning coach, director of basketball operations, assistant coach, and associate head coach, all of which have prepared him for this moment to step in and take the reins.
The Steven Pearl Era has arrived, but although it’s a new head coach leading the program, fans likely won’t see a drastic change on the court.
Steven addressed his expectations for this year’s Tigers at his press conference on Wednesday, and started by outlining the top focal points for his team on the offensive end of the floor in 2025-26.
“Offensively, we're going to be a team that is going to try to be elite in multiple areas,” Steven said. “We want to be elite in transition offense. We want to limit our turnovers. We want to make the simple pass so that we don't give easy opportunities down at the other end. We want to be a great offensive rebound team. We want to be unselfish. We want to make free throws. Those are five things that have really been important for this program offensively.”
“As you know, and as some of you probably don't love, we let our players have a tremendous amount of freedom on the offensive end,” Steven continued. “They take what some of you might call ‘bad shots,’ but we need our players to have that confidence that we trust them to shoot those shots. That gives them the ability to play their game. As long as they hold up their end of the bargain on the defensive end.”
Anyone who has watched a Bruce Pearl-led basketball team knows the one aspect of a game he always ensured his team was dialed in on: defense.
And for his son, who was often recognized as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator in recent years, that expectation of relentless effort on the defensive end will not change.
“Defensively, we have got to be elite in transition defense. We have to be elite rebounding, and we have to be elite finishing possessions. Those are non-negotiables,” Steven said. “That is something that our guys all understand, and it's what's led us to have the success that we have had on the defensive end over the last four years.”
He added that Auburn has finished as a top-10 defensive team in three of the last four years and believes that both Pearls’ emphasis on stout defense is the foundation of the success the Tigers have had.
Another characteristic of a Bruce Pearl-coached squad was speed up and down the court, and with a physically smaller roster than last season, Steven expects a faster pace of play to be even more prominent than in previous years.
“This year's team is going to look a little different because our offense right now is ahead of our defense,” Stevel said. “We're going to be a team that is going to play really fast. That's going to get the ball up and down the floor, going to take some crazy shots. But we're not as big or as thick as we were a year ago, so we're going to play faster.”
He then elaborated more on the defensive plan and the key to a successful performance on that end of the court.
“We're going to try to force more turnovers, and it's going to require a tremendous amount of communication from our guys because we do a lot of switching. We change up our defense from time to time, and it's going to require our guys to be in sync with each other and be on the same page. A lot of the things that you have seen over the last 11 years are a lot of the same things that we are going to continue to do on the floor.”
To put it simply, although Tiger fans won’t get to experience another time hearing an elongated verison of “Bruce” echo throughout Neville Arena pregame, or witness the emotional masterclass that he put on in The Jungle following epic victories, Auburn will still be a similar team on the court.
It’s a different head coach, a different era, but the program’s DNA remains steady. And considering Auburn’s crucial retention of its staff and the unwavering support from the Auburn Family that has shown up time after time, the Tigers aren’t going anywhere.
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Gunner is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @norene_gunner10
