‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’: It’s a new day in Auburn, but don’t expect much change with Steven Pearl at the helm

AUBURN, Ala. (WHNT) — The old saying rings true for many things in life.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s Steven Pearl’s message to the Auburn faithful as he steps into a role that his father held until his retirement Monday.

In Pearl’s introductory news conference on Wednesday morning, he made it clear that he won’t be changing much on or off the court in the Tigers program.

“Many of the principles and the practices that we’ve built this program on over the last 11 years are things that all of us have had our hands on every single day on this staff to have the success we’ve had over the last 11 years,” Pearl said. “When it comes to academic expectations, character assessments, team-building, servant leadership, recruiting philosophy, player development, offensive and defensive game-planning, you’re going to see a lot of the same things you’ve seen over the last 11 years that has guided us because they’ve delivered results.”

Pearl says he expects his team to be elite in several areas, including transition offense and defense. He says that this year’s team will be smaller, but that it will allow them to do different things than last year’s team could.

The Tigers will face a difficult schedule, but Pearl believes they can compete with anyone they face.

“As long as this team continues to learn from those experiences, continues to grow, this is a team that can beat anyone on our schedule,” Pearl said. “I’m just really excited to continue the work that we have put in so far and continue to get better.”

Pearl also addressed players potentially entering the transfer portal following Bruce’s retirement. Under current NCAA rules, players can enter the transfer portal for 30 days after a coach leaves.

Steven Pearl says that his staff will encourage players to do what’s best for them and that the staff will support them through the process.

“If that’s going somewhere else, we’re going to support you in that endeavor. Do we want you to leave? Absolutely not,” he said. “We want to keep this thing together. We want to keep this team together because this team should have pieces and the things that we need for them to be successful. It’s going to take a little time, but we’re getting close. I feel like we’re in a good spot right now.” 

Pearl and the Tigers have started practice and will square off against Oklahoma State in an exhibition on October 15 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. The Tigers’ regular season begins on November 3 against Bethune-Cookman.