Auburn Tigers extend men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl 'for life'
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has agreed to a new eight-year contract to remain on the Plains through 2030.
The deal is worth $5.4 million per year, with a $250,000 annual escalator, athletic director Allen Greene announced Saturday. The deal will max out at $7.15 million during the 2029-30 season and has a total value of $50.2 million.
"We locked him up," Greene said in a video with Pearl that was posted to social media on Friday night.
Pearl, 61, said the new deal "wasn't that hard" to agree on.
"The family and I are going to be able to stay and be your basketball coach for a long, long time," Pearl said in the video. "I'm grateful. I'm humbled and I'm blessed to be your coach."
Auburn secured the No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history this week and enter Saturday's game vs. Oklahoma (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) riding a 16-game win streak and 19-1 record. Pearl led the Tigers to their first Final Four in 2019.
The Tigers made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and were 25-6 when the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19 in 2020.
"My intent when I came to Auburn was to have enough success for this to be my last coaching job," Pearl said in a statement Saturday. "... I am grateful to all of my players, coaches and support staff for making history. Auburn will be our family's forever home. I am humbled and blessed to be your head coach for a very long time. War Eagle!"
Auburn is 113-39 over the past four-plus seasons, even with a 13-14 record last season.
The Tigers served a self-imposed postseason ban last season and received four years probation for NCAA infractions involving former assistant coach Chuck Person. Pearl received a two-game suspension for failure to monitor.
Pearl was fired from Tennessee in 2011 after the NCAA charged him with unethical conduct and then additional violations surfaced. Auburn hired him in 2014 to take over a program that hadn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2003.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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