Steven Pearl Praises Auburn's Coaching Staff in Midst of Change: 'This has Nothing to do with Me'

With Steven Pearl's ascension to the head coach position, the Auburn Tigers have shuffled its coaching staff.

Steven Pearl poses with his coaching staff as he is introduced as the new Auburn men’s basketball head coach. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.- With former Auburn men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl officially stepping down on Monday, new Tigers men's basketball head coach Steven Pearl had his introductory press conference early Wednesday morning.

For starters, he let the college basketball world know that the standard of Auburn basketball has not changed under the new leadership. 

“The expectations are the expectations, and there’s only one way to tackle those, and that’s to dive headfirst,” Steven Pearl said. “ We tell our players all the time, you’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Fresh off a final-four appearance, the Auburn coaching staff was one of the key figures in retention when the transition began. When he was hired three years ago, Auburn athletic director John Cohen was told by Bruce Pearl that his time on the Plains was nearing an end.

Cohen admitted Wednesday that there has been a nationwide search for three years for IraBruce Pearl’s replacement. Luckily for Cohen, he did not have to look very far. 

While Steven Pearl enters his first gig as a college basketball head coach, he is confident in the program's direction not because of his own abilities, but because of the staff around him.

“That’s why," he said, pointing to the coaching staff after being asked why he thinks he is ready for the job. "This has nothing to do with me. This is technically a news conference to welcome a new head coach. I don’t want the Auburn family to look at it like that. Today is about the retention of this staff right here.”

Pearl's promotion to his father's old job does not come without other changes to the staff, though.

Steven Pearl announced that Ira Bowman, an assistant coach for the last eight seasons, will be the new associate head coach for the Tigers, a decision that Bowman was not aware of until Pearl's announcement.

“He just found that out, by the way,” Pearl said.

Matt Gatens officially rejoined the men's basketball team as a general manager during the offseason. Gatens was on Bruce Pearl’s staff from 2016-18. However, he has now been elevated to the assistant coach role in Bowman's place. 

In this new era of Auburn men’s basketball, Steven Pearl has made it known that none of this would be possible without the coaching staff surrounding him and his father over the last few years. With the amount of experience they have, he is confident that the team will continue to be in the national spotlight under his leadership.