There are certain coaches whose footsteps it would be extremely hard to follow in. Kalen DeBoer is learning that at Alabama after taking over for Nick Saban. Jon Scheyer faced pressure when he took over for legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke.
For Steven Pearl, following his father, Bruce, as the head coach at Auburn might have always been the plan, but it was one that came suddenly last fall when the elder Pearl decided to retire on the first day of practice.
Krzyzewski was at the Jimmy Rane Foundation Charity event on Thursday, and when asked about the similarities between Scheyer taking over for him and Steven taking over for his father, the five-time national champion coach made sure to note the difference.
Unlike Auburn, Duke had a succession plan in place for when Coach K retired
“No, no, it was different. Jon Scheyer is not my son. I don’t think,” Krzyzewski said jokingly according to AL.com's Jerry Humphrey III. “I went to West Point, and I believe in succession. We had a carved-out succession plan where I knew I was going to retire a year in advance. I wanted that coach named that year in advance and I wanted him working with me so we could have continuity. Obviously, Jon was already working for me, and he was the perfect guy for it. So, we had it well planned out.”
Scheyer has done an incredible job in his first four years in charge of the Blue Devils, taking them to the 2025 Final Four and coaching the past two Wooden Award winners in Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer. While a national title is still the one thing he needs to achieve to get somewhat out of Coach K’s shadow, Bruce Pearl’s shadow might have grown even bigger this past season as Steven struggled in his first year as a head coach, missing the NCAA Tournament but wrapping up the season with an NIT title.
It was quite a staggering change that not many people saw coming last fall, and while Auburn could have gone the Virginia route by giving the younger Pearl the interim job to see how he fared, instead, they rewarded him with a four-year contract. The signs point to a more successful 2026-27 season, but Auburn fans have become accustomed to winning big, with SEC titles and trips to the Final Four now an expectation. If Pearl can’t deliver on that, his tenure on the Plains will not be as fondly remembered as his dad’s.
And while Coach K says the transfer of power at Auburn was handled differently than at Duke, he thinks it could still work out.
“I’m not saying Auburn’s was bad,” Krzyzewski added. “But no, please, ours was different. There’s a big difference.”
Add us as a preferred source on Google