Bruce Pearl Definitely Did Not Shut Down The Idea Of Leaving Auburn To Coach At Louisville

• The University of Louisville is looking for a new head basketball coach and Bruce Pearl is reportedly in the mix.
• Pearl, who is currently at Auburn, was asked about the interest and definitely did not say that he was not leaving the Tigers.
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The University of Louisville is looking for a new head basketball coach. The Cardinals parted ways with Chris Mack, who was with the program since 2018, earlier this week and one notable name is reportedly in the mix to be his replacement.

Per insider Justin Hokanson, Louisville has reached out to Bruce Pearl’s representatives. Not only that, but he says that the interest is real.

Pearl currently serves as the head coach at Auburn. In fact, the Tigers recently received their first-ever No. 1 ranking in basketball in the most recent AP Poll under his direction which makes him leaving to coach the Cardinals hard to imagine.

However, he recently spoke about Louisville’s interest and definitely did not say no.

In an interview with ‘KeShawn, JWill and Max” on Thursday, Pearl did not give a strong answer. He did not assure Auburn that he was staying in Alabama and he did not seem particularly committed to staying with the program.

“When you win, folks are worried you’re going to leave,” Pearl said. “When you’re losing, they’re packing your bags. … Auburn is a fabulous place, Jay, and it’s been the best place that I’ve ever been where I can develop players. It’s a small college town and kids come here to grind. They’re around other student-athletes who are trying to grind. And we’re about an hour and a half from Atlanta.”

Here are his full comments:

Again, to leave the nation’s top team for another rebuild (of which he has many in his career) does not seem like it makes a lot of sense. But Pearl would not come out and say so.

For starters, Louisville would likely offer him a contract that would be hard to refuse. Secondly, UofL is a basketball-first school.

As mentioned on the podcast, Pearl has never coached at a school where basketball was the priority over football. At least, not anywhere on the Power 5 conference level.

That may be intriguing to Pearl.

On the other hand, it could be a ploy. Auburn, which puts football above basketball in almost every instance, has not made a significant commitment to Pearl and his program in terms of facilities and upgrades.

Pearl could be using the Louisville job as leverage to get the Tigers’ administration to boost the school’s basketball facilities. Perhaps the idea of losing Pearl is what Auburn and its boosters need to give him the money he deserves.

Or, maybe, Pearl is thinking about taking over the Cardinals. He certainly did not shut down the idea on Thursday.