Bruce Alan Pearl was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Pearl would attend Boston College where he served as a men’s basketball manager under head coach Tom Davis.

Following his time at Boston College, Pearl would follow Davis to Stanford and Iowa as an assistant coach. Pearl would get his first coaching job at Southern Indiana where they would claim a Division II NCAA Tournament title. Pearl would move on to Milwaukee and then Tennessee in 2005.

At Tennessee, Pearl hosted a recruit at a cookout at Pearl’s Knoxville home. This was against NCAA rules and when the governing body began their investigation, Pearl lied about the incident. The NCAA and SEC levied penalties against Pearl and, after the 2010-11 season, Tennessee fired Pearl. A three-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA would follow Pearl after his tenure at Tennessee.

On March 18, 2014, Pearl’s 54th birthday, Auburn announced Pearl as the next head coach, replacing Tony Barbee. Pearl’s tenure at Auburn has already been incredibly successful, seeing multiple SEC titles, NCAA Tournaments, and the school’s first Final Four appearance.