2025 Coaching Carousel

[wadesworld]

I don't think history means much of anything in college basketball today. It's about the $$$.

This. Auburn pays. They won't be as good, but they'll still be better than what they were before Bruce.

[Uncle Rico]

This. Auburn pays. They won't be as good, but they'll still be better than what they were before Bruce.

Couple of things...

Less NIL $ for hoops right now

Football will always be king at Auburn and demand the majority of NIL $

Steven Pearl won't command the respect his old man had.  Auburn is weird place with weird people

[avid1010]

Couple of things...

Less NIL $ for hoops right now

Football will always be king at Auburn and demand the majority of NIL $

Steven Pearl won't command the respect his old man had.  Auburn is weird place with weird people

Agreed. I'm sure they spend, but many teams do with average to poor results, including Auburn football.

Pearl is all sorts of wrong, but the guy could coach.  I don't think his son has nearly the success he does, but that's a guess as his resume is so pathetic it's impossible to know if he has any coaching abilities at all. 

[Shaka Shart]

Couple of things...

Less NIL $ for hoops right now

Football will always be king at Auburn and demand the majority of NIL $

Steven Pearl won't command the respect his old man had.  Auburn is weird place with weird people

I have a coworker who is getting his masters at auburn and his direct quote is "the vibe is kinda off". This is a dude born and raised rural Georgia and is
A Vet.

[Hards Alumni]

I have a coworker who is getting his masters at auburn and his direct quote is "the vibe is kinda off". This is a dude born and raised rural Georgia and is
A Vet.

It's eastern rural Alabama, you'll find very few stranger places.  Maybe Southwest Mississippi.

[Litehouse]

Couple of things...

Less NIL $ for hoops right now

Football will always be king at Auburn and demand the majority of NIL $

Pearl was able to take advantage of a perfect situation for him last year.  Unlimited transfers, unlimited NIL, and the additional Covid year allowed him to load up on old players and make a deep run.  Their starting 5 had an average age of 23.2, which was older than 5 NBA teams.  Now the extra Covid year is gone and NIL money is limited.

[brewcity77]

I think Auburn will be okay this year. Maybe a slight step back because of coaching, but I think this will be like a Chris Beard to Rodney Terry in 2023. Texas was #5 when Beard was fired in January, took a bit of a step back, but the roster was still good enough to win the Big 12 tourney, earn a 2-seed, and make the Elite 8. They were #7 in the pre-tourney AP Poll, but finished #5 in the final AP Poll thanks to the E8 run.

Instead of being a 15-20 type team, Auburn is probably 20-30. Slight step back, not huge. But going forward, like Terry, I'm not sure they'll sustain momentum. Recruiting will be harder, the SEC has gotten a lot tougher and instead of having one of the top names on the coaching rankings they're now near the bottom. It'll probably be 2-3 years before you really start to see it decline, but like Kellen Sampson at Houston, I don't think the job was ever going to anyone else.

[Biggie Clausen]

Beard to Auburn in a year or two?  That would be a good fit for him and Auburn obviously isn't afraid to hire a coach with baggage.

[Uncle Rico]

Beard to Auburn in a year or two?  That would be a good fit for him and Auburn obviously isn't afraid to hire a coach with baggage.

Without knowing facilities and support, can't he just do what he's doing at Ole Miss match what Pearl did at Auburn?

If he does that, he can probably rehabilitate himself into a better job than Auburn?

[jfp61]

Beard to Auburn in a year or two?  That would be a good fit for him and Auburn obviously isn't afraid to hire a coach with baggage.

Pearls son isn't an adequate enough car salesman?

[Biggie Clausen]

Without knowing facilities and support, can't he just do what he's doing at Ole Miss match what Pearl did at Auburn?

If he does that, he can probably rehabilitate himself into a better job than Auburn?

Probably, yeah.

Auburn tweeted out that "one of the top defensive minds in CBB" would be taking over the program.  That kind of reminds me of Al and Hank at MU.  The way their relationship was spun, it was Al who handled the recruiting but would show up to practice late and just kind of do whatever, and Hank was his X's and O's guy.  I've always thought that maybe Al did this because he was fond of Hank and respected him.  But Al also gave interviews stating that he "dictated" basketball, so it doesn't really add up that he would let someone else handle the basketball part of his program.

I wonder how true all this "defensive mind" business is about Steven Pearl, if he was actually running practices and doing all the recruiting, etc.  My guess is that it's embellished.  But I suppose we'll find out.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Who's the guy at McNeese State?  For Auburn?

[wadesworld]

Who's the guy at McNeese State?  For Auburn?

He's at NC State.

[JWags85]

Do I think Steven Pearl is gonna be a great coach?  Probably not, no.  And of course there is nepotism involved.  But lets be real, people are making it out like he was in medical sales, spent 2-3 years with Pops and is getting the job.  He's been an assistant at Auburn for 8 years and was DOB for 3 before that under one of the better college coaches of the last 20 years.  That's a lot more CBB experience than some of the flashy alum former pro players have.  Not that they are anywhere in the same realm, but Jon Scheyer was an assistant at Duke for less time before getting the HC job than Steven Pearl has been on the staff at Auburn.

[MU82]

Based on his coaching and playing career, would Jon Scheyer have been able to get a job at a P5 basketball school other than Duke? I'll say probably, but maybe not.

Would Steven Pearl?

"Merit" hire.

[The Sultan]

Do I think Steven Pearl is gonna be a great coach?  Probably not, no.  And of course there is nepotism involved.  But lets be real, people are making it out like he was in medical sales, spent 2-3 years with Pops and is getting the job.  He's been an assistant at Auburn for 8 years and was DOB for 3 before that under one of the better college coaches of the last 20 years.  That's a lot more CBB experience than some of the flashy alum former pro players have.  Not that they are anywhere in the same realm, but Jon Scheyer was an assistant at Duke for less time before getting the HC job than Steven Pearl has been on the staff at Auburn.

Good lord Wags, you are always one to spin something, but this is kind of ridiculous. He worked for his dad.

[Uncle Rico]

Good lord Wags, you are always one to spin something, but this is kind of ridiculous. He worked for his dad.

Scheyer was interviewing for jobs and was mentioned for job openings.  Has Steven Pearl interviewed elsewhere?  Mentioned for jobs anywhere?

[swoopem]

Scheyer was interviewing for jobs and was mentioned for job openings.  Has Steven Pearl interviewed elsewhere?  Mentioned for jobs anywhere?

I'm pretty sure he wanted the DePaul job and they went with Coach Stubbs instead

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

I'm pretty sure he wanted the DePaul job and they went with Coach Stubbs instead

Marquette...

[MU82]

Blue! Blue blue! Blue blue blue!

[JWags85]

Good lord Wags, you are always one to spin something, but this is kind of ridiculous. He worked for his dad.

Of course he did.  And his name and bloodline is 150% of the reason he's getting the job.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to paint this as anything but nepotism.  But the extent that people have made it out is a bit absurdist.  I'm just saying the people who say Auburn is hiring a medical sales rep is silly.  Butler didn't hire a pharma marketer when the hired Brad Stevens.

I literally only mentioned Scheyer to contrast the number of years Pearl's kid actually spent as an assistant, not that they are remotely in the same realm.

As for other jobs, I'm sure Bruce and his son had this plan in their pocket for quite awhile so he likely wasn't looking, but I'm fairly confident that the lead assistant at a perennial top 15 program (and son of a big time coach) would have had no issue getting final round interviews for mid major jobs and honestly has the profile of someone who gets looks for lower P5 gigs too.

I just wonder how much of the pushback is cause of Pearl's checkered reputation.  Like I wonder what people would say if Mark Few passed the Gonzaga job off to his son that had been on the bench with him for a decade or if Painter did at Purdue.  Of course it would still be blatant nepotism, but then again, that's very much the nature of coaching in either of the 2 major college sports.  Pearl could be another Scott/Bryce Drew...or he could be Keno Davis.

[brewcity77]

It's totally a nepotism hire but this is always 100% the way Auburn was gonna go. Just like when Kelvin Sampson retires it will be his son that takes over Houston. I guess my surprise at the pushback is that people didn't realize this was coming. I get not liking it but IMO there was never going to be any other candidate. For years this has been a foregone conclusion.

[jfp61]

It's totally a nepotism hire but this is always 100% the way Auburn was gonna go. Just like when Kelvin Sampson retires it will be his son that takes over Houston. I guess my surprise at the pushback is that people didn't realize this was coming. I get not liking it but IMO there was never going to be any other candidate. For years this has been a foregone conclusion.

I mean... its the way then needed to go because Bruce Pearl still had 5 years left on his deal when he did this