BREAKING: Bruce Pearl is retiring at Auburn, son Steven Pearl to take over

On the first official day of practice ahead of the 2025-26 season, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has decided to call it quits, retiring after 11 years on the Plains.

His son, Steven Pearl, is expected to take over for the upcoming season, which is set to begin in just 23 days with the team’s first exhibition game vs. Oklahoma State scheduled for October 15. Regular season action will tip off for the Tigers on November 3 vs. Bethune-Cookman.

Justin Hokanson of On3’s AuburnSports reported the news Monday afternoon.

Pearl has been the head coach at Auburn since 2014, leading the Tigers to a 244-123 overall record with six NCAA Tournament appearances and two Final Fours — including a run to the national semifinals this past year following a 32-6 finish while claiming the SEC regular season championship with a 15-3 mark in league play.

He finishes his coaching career with an all-time record of 706-268 with stops at Southern Indiana, Milwaukee, Tennessee and Auburn. The 65-year-old was a four-time SEC Coach of the Year (2006, 2008, 2022, 2025) and NABC Division I and Division II Coach of the Year in 2025 and 1995, respectively.

A 30-day transfer portal window will open for Auburn on Tuesday, meaning roster changes could be on the horizon for a preseason top-20 program expected to be led by 2024 SEC All-Freshman Team member Tahaad Pettiford, a potential Preseason First Team All-SEC pick in 2025-26. The Tigers lost Johni Broome, Chad Baker-Mazara, Dylan Cardwell, Miles Kelly, Chris Moore, Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson from their Final Four roster, but added the likes of Keyshawn Hall (UCF), KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State), Kevin Overton (Texas Tech) and Abdul Bashir (JUCO) from the portal.

It’s the second straight offseason a Final Four coach has retired right before the start of the season, Virginia’s Tony Bennett doing the same last October after 15 seasons leading the Cavaliers. He won the program’s first-ever national championship in 2019.

Pearl has long been linked to politics once his coaching career came to a close, potentially filling Tommy Tuberville’s open U.S. Senate seat, “certainly something that I had considered” and “something I thought a great deal about.” He was reportedly leaning against running, but planned to give himself until the end of September to make a final decision.

Here we are, at the end of September, and Pearl is no longer the head coach at Auburn. Is this the move before the move?