Bruce Pearl for U.S. Senate? The Auburn coach is a rumored candidate to replace Tommy Tuberville

bruce pearl (1) — Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Tommy Tuberville won 159 games coaching at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati with his most successful run coming on The Plains, finishing with an 85-40 record across a decade with eight bowl appearances — highlighted by a 13-0 Sugar Bowl campaign in 2004. Those campaigns would lead to a vastly different campaign after leaving football, winning the Republican nomination for the 2020 Senate election in Alabama, defeating Democratic incumbent Doug Jones by over 20 points.

Assuming office in January of 2021, the 70-year-old announced Tuesday he would not seek a second Senate term, but is instead running for governor of Alabama in 2026. His replacement? Well, it could be a very familiar face for Big Blue Nation with massive repercussions.

Insert Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, whose name has been floated with some speculation he actually plans to run, according to Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett. Unlikely? Maybe. Impossible? Apparently not.

“One person familiar with the situation said they heard Pearl plans to run — he’s chairman of the US Israel Education Association, and he was on Capitol Hill just last week,” Semafor reports. “… Despite his clear interest in some political issues, others are skeptical Pearl would ever get into the race and see him as a longshot given his success on the court.”

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Tuberville himself discussed the possibility of Pearl replacing him for the Senate seat.

“The compensation is a little bit different,” Tuberville said of the NABC Division I Coach of the Year taking his spot. “I wouldn’t let him do it because he did such a good job at Auburn. We need him there. … If I do this thing with the governor, we’ll have somebody good to have an opportunity to run.”

Pearl did not respond to Semafor for comment on his potential interest.

The 65-year-old is coming off a Final Four run in 2025, his second at Auburn since taking the job in 2014 with the other coming in 2019. He’s a four-time SEC Coach of the Year (2006, 2008, 2022, 2025) and was named AP co-Coach of the Year this past season, leading the Tigers to a 32-6 record and the SEC regular season championship.

Pearl signed a contract extension worth $6.3 million per year through 2030 back in 2022.

Could one of the biggest names in the SEC be giving up coaching for politics?