Bruce Pearl, birthday cake
Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl stops for a quick "Happy Birthday" before a press conference Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)
AUBURN, Alabama -- The buzz around town and on campus is palpable.
Right now, Bruce Pearl's life is exciting for one reason: everything is new. He's in a new town with new players, a new church and new synagogue.
"New charities and new friends," Pearl said Monday. "A new staff and new players. Putting it all together."
The first-year Auburn coach also knows how fast things can turn on a coach if he doesn't win quickly. He has seen it happen before and he knows why his first season on the Plains is important, with or without high expectations from the fan base.
"I also believe it's important you have to have some success in the first few years," Pearl said. "I know everybody likes to talk about being patient, but there's momentum when you first get hired. I saw it at Tennessee in football: after a couple years, if you're not winning, the shine wears off the apple pretty quickly."
Pearl watched Tennessee filter through three football coaches during his six-year tenure in Knoxville: Phil Fulmer, Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley each had their chances. Only one left Knoxville voluntarily and Dooley, who Pearl knew for only one season, was fired in his third year.
While Pearl was taking the Vols to new heights and six straight NCAA tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance, the football program mustered only three winning seasons.
"I've been to the tournament 17 times in 19 years, but, at the same
time, there's a lot of work that still needs to be done," said Pearl, who inherits a team that finished with a 14-16 record in March. "One of my challenges is going to be the coaching aspect. I've been out for three years. The game has changed some. I've got to be able to make some adjustments. Just because what we did worked three or four years ago, doesn't mean that I don't have to make adjustments with our system to ensure it still works."
To get Auburn on the road to success quickly, Pearl has relied on his assistant coaches -- and his own name -- to sell the program to recruits in the spring and summer. The approach, despite Pearl not being allowed to speak to recruits due to a show-cause penalty set to expire Aug. 24, has worked. The nation's top junior college player, power forward Cinmeon Bowers, is on campus and so too is the nation's leading returning scorer, Niagara transfer Antoine Mason.
"I don't know how we've done so far. Time will tell," Pearl said. "I do love the reception that we've had. I love the response of our fan base. We have a chance to sell out a lot of our games this year. The Auburn family has been wonderful. It's been 11 years since we've been to the (NCAA) tournament, and they're very anxious to get back."