Auburn AD Announces Contract Extension for Men’s Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl

Tigers AD Allen Greene announced the news in a video he tweeted on Friday night.

Auburn Director of Athletics Allen Greene announced a contract extension for men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl on Friday night.

🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨🚨🚨@coachbrucepearl is🔒for life! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/vtfZ8yWFAF

— Allen Greene (@AGreeneIV) January 29, 2022

“War Eagle Auburn Family! Hey tonight’s a great night, I got a big surprise for you. We locked him up,” Greene said in a video on Twitter, as he panned over to Pearl.

“Hey War Eagle everybody. Listen, it wasn’t that hard. I’m grateful to Allen and to the administration ... my family and I are going to be able to stay and be your basketball coach for a long, long time,” Pearl said.

According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Pearl signed a new 8-year contract just as the program reached the No. 1 spot in the AP poll for the first time in school history. The financial terms of the deal are not yet known.

The Tigers have sprinted out to a 19–1 start and a perfect 8–0 record in SEC play this season behind freshman forward Jabari Smith, who is averaging a team-high 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds. 

After Louisville parted ways with coach Chris Mack earlier this week, some speculated that Pearl could emerge as a potential replacement. 

The new contract for Pearl comes just three years removed from the extension he signed after the program’s 2019 Final Four run. 

No. 1 Auburn hosts Oklahoma at 2 pm on Saturday.