Steven Richard Pearl (born September 14, 1987) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at Auburn.
Pearl is the son of former Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl. He initially attended Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin while his father was the head coach of the Milwaukee Panthers and transferred to West High School in Knoxville, Tennessee before his senior year. He was named first team All-State after averaging 21.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game during his senior year.
Pearl played for his father at Tennessee. He played in 101 games for the Volunteers over four seasons after redshirting his true freshman season. After graduation, Pearl worked as a medical sales representative at Stryker Corporation for three years.
Pearl left Stryker in 2014 to join his father's staff at Auburn as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and served as the Tigers' director of basketball operations from 2015 to 2017. Pearl was promoted to an on-court assistant position in 2017.
On December 14, 2021, Pearl served as acting head coach for a game against North Alabama while his father was concluding a two-game NCAA suspension. The Tigers won by a score of 70âÂÂ44, giving the younger Pearl his first victory as a collegiate head coach.
In August 2023, Pearl was promoted to associate head coach and given the responsibility of coordinating the Tigers' defense. With Pearl as defensive coordinator, Auburn finished both the 2023âÂÂ24 and 2024âÂÂ25 seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally for adjusted defensive efficiency, according to college basketball analytics website KenPom. These defensive metrics contributed to Auburn winning the 2024 SEC tournament, the 2025 SEC regular season championship, and the 2025 NCAA Tournament South Regional Final.
In September 2025, Pearl took over as Auburn's head coach following his father's retirement. He is on a five-year contract, receiving a base salary of $3 million annually.
On November 3, 2025, Auburn defeated BethuneâÂÂCookman by a score of 95âÂÂ90 in overtime in the first regular season game of the 2025âÂÂ26 season, giving Pearl his first win as full-time head coach. Pearl's first SEC victory came on January 10, 2026, when the Tigers defeated No. 15 Arkansas, 95âÂÂ73. On January 24, Pearl's Tigers upset the defending national champion No. 16 Florida Gators on the road by a score of 76âÂÂ67, snapping a 30-year drought of Auburn victories in Gainesville.
After starting the season 14âÂÂ7 and 5âÂÂ3 in the SEC, Auburn struggled down the stretch. The Tigers lost 9 of their final 12 games and had an overall record of 17âÂÂ16 following the conclusion of the SEC tournament. Auburn was not selected for the 2026 NCAA tournament. This marked the first time the Tigers did not appear in the NCAA tournament since the 2020âÂÂ21 season (and the first full season in which they missed the tournament since 2016âÂÂ17). Auburn accepted a bid to appear in the 2026 National Invitation Tournament, their first appearance in the NIT since 2009.