Does the Bruce Pearl quote "Indiana has always been my dream job" give you any pause? I'd hate to lose what we have here at Alabama and Auburn but it makes me wonder just how much these guys might want an easier path.
Context for that quote was that it came after we beat Indiana a couple of years back he was giving their program some love. He coached at Southern Indiana for 9 years while he was recovering from getting blackballed out of the B1G, winning a D2 national title there.
"Indiana was my dream job, it really was,'' Pearl told me. "I love everything about Indiana basketball, really loved and admired Coach Knight as a young coach myself, and it's one of the great programs in America.
"The timing was never right, I suppose. I guess, what, I was at Tennessee and really enjoying that and I love Auburn now. So nothing ever really aligned, but it would have been a dream come true to coach Indiana. That's how much I love and respect that program.''
At this point I think Bruce is a lifer at Auburn. He’s a month away from ticking 65 and has said he doesn’t plan on coaching into his 70s. He’s getting up there for another long term rebuild.
He’s already making as much money as any coach not named Bill Self to boot. His whole family is here and his son is basically the head coach in waiting.