Retired Auburn Tigers basketball coach Bruce Pearl has apparently scared off some suitors off this year who would've probably jumped at the chance to hire him away at earlier points of his coaching career.
Despite Hubert Davis' recent dismissal as the North Carolina Tar Heels' head coach, there is minimal interest in Chapel Hill to bring in the 66-year-old current CBS Sports analyst and Auburn University ambassador.
Keeping It Heel's Nick Delahanty fears hiring Pearl would "set the program back 10 years," while also turning into a Bill Belichick-like disaster, further eroding the historical precedent set before Roy Williams' retirement in April 2021.
"Bruce Pearl would be far from the ideal choice, given that he would be a very similar hire to Belichick, just on the basketball court instead of the football field," Delahanty prefaced before saying, "North Carolina is heavily focused on finding a head coach that doesn't come along with any 'baggage.' Why do you think Nate Oats and Todd Golden, two of the best coaches the sport has to offer, aren't even in the mix for the gig? Pearl would be a horrible hire that would not only generate a media circus, but has the makings of pushing the program even further back than it already is."
Belichick is a unique disaster that Pearl wouldn't be similar to. Belichick has his personal life too involved with his program. And not because of his son, Stephen Belichick, at defensive coordinator. In fact, even that aspect wouldn't be similar. Steven Pearl is already tied up with the Tigers.
The trepidation of adding Bruce at this moment in time is understandable, though.
Bruce Pearl will have someone willing to overlook his broadcast blunders
Bruce may overspeak at times on CBS airwaves, if there's even such a thing in the United States of America, but his greatness on the recruiting trail and on the occasional Final Four run will always keep him in the running for jobs.
If UNC is scared off by Pearl, that doesn't mean everyone will share that view of him. Pearl would be the immediate best hire in school history for most of the country, and still has plenty to give the College Basketball world.
Perhaps he can consider one day returning to the Plains, where he restored his reputation and got in the good graces of many hoops fans after a controversial recruiting past with the Iowa Hawkeyes as an assistant and as the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.
There'd be no better way to crush any Steven Pearl nepotism claims than to make his son an assistant again. There'd also be no better way to get the feeling back in East Central Alabama after a shaky first year post-Bruce.