Recruiting some of the country’s best high school prospects and future NBA first-round draft choices such as Jabari Smith and Isaac Okoro, Pearl has also adjusted to the transfer portal era, landing 2022 national defensive player of the year Walker Kessler and current Tigers Johni Broome, K.D. Johnson, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson.
“It’s here and we’re going to take advantage of it,” Pearl said.
In 2021, the NCAA revised its name, image and likeness policy, leading to the creation of On To Victory, the collective that benefits Auburn student-athletes.
“We do need the Auburn family to step up and embrace this opportunity,” Pearl said. “The success of On To Victory is going to go hand-in-hand with the success of our intercollegiate athletic teams. Based on the landscape right now, I don’t see how you can have one without the other.”
Nearly a decade has passed since Bruce and his wife, Brandy, joined the Auburn family.
With daughter Jacqui in Tennessee, daughter Leah, son-in-law Stephon and grandchildren Chaya and Jaden in Atlanta, sons Michael and Steven, Auburn’s associate head coach, and daughter-in-law Brittany in Auburn, the Pearl family’s roots have grown deep like one of the Japanese maples on the Crooked Oaks farm Coach Dye’s family recently donated to Auburn.
“I’ve liked every place I’ve been, but I’ve never been in love with a university, a community and a league like I am here,” Pearl said. “What more could a father and a grandfather ask for?”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer