Doubting Steven Pearl has become a popular thing to do lately. I don't think it's time for that.
When the news of Bruce Pearl's retirement from his position of Auburn basketball's head coach broke, everyone immediately knew who would take his place. In fact, it had been known for quite some time that Steven Pearl would be granted the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps when the time came for him to retire.
That fact was not an overly popular one, as many people wanted Auburn to go in the direction of hiring a head coach who had experience leading a program and a proven track record of success.
The powers that be had different ideas, however, and made the decision to give the nod to Steven and let him take over the program.
The 2025-26 season has not exactly been a bed of roses for Auburn basketball so far, particularly when compared to what the standard has become for the program in recent years.
Things have not been all doom and gloom, however, as there are bright spots to look at. The comeback win over St. Johns in Las Vegas, finding a way to beat Florida on the road — something Auburn had not managed to do in 30 years — and erasing a 10-point deficit to come out on top over Texas are some of the highpoints of the season that immediately come to mind.
There are also some games the Tigers dropped that could have been flipped to wins if things had gone slightly differently. These include the overtime loss to Georgia on the road that opened SEC play and the should have been buzzer-beater win over Texas A&M.
There were going to be growing pains. That would have been true no matter what direction Auburn went for a head coach. Steven Pearl deserves more than one season to show what he is capable of at the helm of the program.