Steven Pearl is no stranger to Knoxville. Over the past eight years, he’s made the trip five times as an Auburn assistant.
But Saturday night will hit a little different. When Auburn walks into Thompson-Boling Arena for a pivotal SEC showdown against Tennessee, Pearl won’t just be returning to his alma mater-he’ll be doing it as the Tigers’ head coach for the first time.
And while he’s doing his best to keep the focus on the game, there’s no denying this one carries a little extra weight.
“I don’t want to make it about me,” Pearl told reporters Friday. “I’ve been there before as an assistant, so I don’t think the emotions will be much different. I played five years there and gave all my blood, sweat and tears to that university, and had a lot of great times and won a lot of games.”
That’s not just coach-speak. Pearl’s time at Tennessee wasn’t just formative-it was foundational.
He met his future wife through the program. Half his groomsmen?
Also Vols. And while he joked about still waiting on his Letterman’s jacket, he made it clear how deeply those years shaped him.
“There’s so many things that happened at Tennessee that have shaped my life to what it is today, so I’m eternally grateful,” Pearl said. “My years there were some of the best of my life personally, because it shaped the man I am today.”
But there’s another layer to this homecoming. Steven was a senior on the 2010-11 Tennessee team-his father Bruce Pearl’s final squad before the elder Pearl was dismissed following an NCAA investigation. That firing, as Steven candidly put it, set everything else in motion.
“If they hadn’t fired our asses, we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “So, like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me is being in Auburn, too.
I mean, I can’t thank them enough for everything that happened in Knoxville. Best years of my life.”
Bruce Pearl served a three-year NCAA show-cause penalty before returning to coaching at Auburn in 2014. Over 11 seasons, he built the Tigers into a consistent SEC contender.
When he retired this past offseason, the program didn’t look far for his successor. Steven, who had been on staff throughout his father’s tenure, stepped into the lead role.
Now, in his first season at the helm, Steven has Auburn trending in the right direction. After a rocky start, the Tigers have found their stride.
They come into Saturday’s game with a 14-7 record, including 5-3 in SEC play, and are riding a four-game winning streak. That stretch includes a statement road win at Florida-a game that showed this group is starting to gel.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes sees it, too.
“I think, again, Steven has done a really good job,” Barnes said Friday. “I think that they continue to get better all year, which that’s what you’re looking for.
And [they’re] playing with confidence. And he does, again, a terrific job of getting his guys where he wants them to be.
And they’re doing a lot of really good things.”
The Vols opened as 6.5-point favorites, with the over/under set at 148.5. KenPom projects a 78-72 Tennessee win, but Auburn’s recent form suggests this could be tighter than the numbers predict.
Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night, with Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw on the call for ESPN. It’s a big one in the SEC standings-and a meaningful one for a coach returning to where it all began.