Many Auburn Tigers fans may have received an unexpected gut punch early Thursday afternoon, as one of the most beloved head coaches in Auburn basketball history vaguely revealed his future intentions regarding retirement.
Bruce Pearl made a guest appearance on CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein’s podcast, and Pearl was asked about how much longer he plans to coach.
Well, Pearl didn’t beat around the bush.
“Not that much longer. I think it’s kind of a balance of life, of time, of work. I love Auburn. I truly do. Auburn’s been unbelievable for us and our family,” Pearl responded. “Part of it is, I also want to do it when I’m on top of my game. And coaches, you know, we want to be on top of our game because we owe that to our players and our fans, and as you get a little bit older, you take it one day at a time.”
Jon Rothstein asked Auburn HC Bruce Pearl how much longer he sees himself coaching at Auburn:
“Not that much longer” pic.twitter.com/zBkIX4B3PY
— Auburn Anytime (@Auburnanytime) September 4, 2025
This shouldn’t come as a shockwave of news to fans, as Pearl is 65 years old and nearing his 31st season as a head coach. Some on social media even stirred the idea that he may have retired if last year’s historic squad won the national championship.
Obviously, that didn’t happen, as Pearl returns for his 12th season at the helm.
ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum asked him about the five years remaining on his contract on The Paul Finebaum Show Thursday afternoon, but Pearl said that he “would be surprised” if he “were to last five years.”
Bruce Pearl on @finebaum when asked about his future:
“I’ve got five years left on my contract and I would be surprised if I were to last five years”
— Peter Rauterkus (@peter_rauterkus) September 4, 2025
Pearl boasts one of the most influential and impactful tenures in Auburn University’s athletic history, taking over a program in 2014 that was struggling to finish over .500 and transforming it into a nationally respected basketball brand.
When Pearl was granted a chance for redemption after his missteps at Tennessee, he made a promise and stuck with it. In his 11 seasons on the Plains, Pearl has led Auburn to two Final Fours, including the program’s first in 2019, five total SEC championships (tournament and regular season titles), earned 2025 AP Co-Coach of the Year honors last year, and is the Tigers’ all-time winningest head coach.
After making it to San Antonio this past season with one of the best squads in Auburn history, and possibly the greatest player to ever wear the orange and blue, Pearl wasted no time rebuilding a roster that only returns one player from 2024-25.
Aside from sophomore point guard Tahaad Pettiford, the Tigers lost every other contributor to graduation or the transfer portal. Thus, Pearl and company were tasked with bringing in a brand new slew of players for this year.
In addition to highly-touted high school recruits like four-star combo guard Kaden Magwood, four-star forward Sebastian Williams-Adams, and four-star shooting guard Simon Walker, Auburn went out and secured pledges from former UCF forward Keyshawn Hall, Mississippi State big man KeShawn Murphy, Texas Tech guard Kevin Overton, and Lincoln Memorial guard Elyjah Freeman through the transfer portal.
Auburn also brought in sharp-shooter Abdul Bashir and center Emeka Opurum through the JUCO ranks, along with Serbian forward Filip Jovic.
The Tigers have arranged another brutal non-conference schedule to test this new roster, which already includes dates with Houston in Birmingham, Ala., Purdue in Indianapolis, NC State in the SEC/ACC challenge, at Arizona, and Oregon and Michigan in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival.
Auburn will also host Wofford, Merrimack and Queens at scattered points throughout the rest of November and December.