Steven Pearl has taken five trips to his alma mater Tennessee as an Auburn assistant coach over the last eight years. But Pearl makes his first trip to Knoxville as head coach Saturday when the Vols host Auburn in a critical SEC matchup.
Meeting with the Auburn media Friday, Pearl talked about what it means for him to return to Tennessee as the Tigers’ head coach.
“I don’t want to make it about me,” Pearl said. “I’ve been there before as an assistant, so I don’t think the emotions will be much different. I played five years there and gave all my blood, sweat and tears to that university, and had a lot of great times and won a lot of games.
“There’s so many things that happened at Tennessee that have shaped my life to what it is today, so I’m eternally grateful. I would like a Letterman’s jacket at some point, because I still haven’t gotten that, but my years there were some of the best of my life personally, because it shaped the man I am today and a lot of things kind of fell in place for me to be where I’m at, in this chair.”
Pearl noted that he would not have met his wife if he hadn’t played for the Tennessee basketball program and that he met half of his groomsmen during his time in Knoxville. But for all the good things about his time at Tennessee, Pearl noted that he would not be in his current position if it wasn’t for his father’s termination.
“If they hadn’t fired our asses, we wouldn’t be here,” Pearl said. “So, like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me is being in Auburn, too. I mean, I can’t thank them enough for everything that happened in Knoxville. Best years of my life.”
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Steven was a senior on Bruce’s final team at Tennessee. The Vols fired Bruce Pearl following the 2011 season due to a NCAA investigation into recruiting violations. The NCAA eventually hit Pearl with a three-year show-cause penalty and he returned to coaching at Auburn in 2014-15 after serving the punishment.
After a successful 11 years on the Plaines, Bruce Pearl retired this offseason and Steven took over as head coach. Pearl’s first Auburn team enters Saturday’s matchup with a 14-7 (5-3 SEC) record. It was a rocky first few months of the season for the Tigers but they have heated up as of late.
Auburn is riding a four-game winning streak entering Saturday’s matchup including an impressive road win at Florida a week ago.
“I think, again, Steven has done a really good job,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said Friday. “I think that they continue to get better all year, which that’s what you’re looking for. And (they’re) playing with confidence. And he does, again, a terrific job of getting his guys where he wants them to be. And they’re doing a lot of really good things.”
Tennessee opened as 6.5-point favorite against the Tigers according to the DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is at at 148.5. KenPom predicts Tennessee to earn a 78-72 victory. Tipoff between the Vols and Tigers is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw are on the call for ESPN.
