Bruce Pearl gets news of being SEC Coach of the Year from granddaughters

Auburn’s Bruce Pearl was honored as SEC Coach of the Year per the release of the league’s awards on Monday. He is also a grandfather, though, who got to learn that news from his two granddaughters.

In a video shared on social media by the Tigers, Steven and Jacqui Pearl brought their baby daughters, Lainey and Noa, to the facility today to share the news with ‘Popa’ or ‘Poppie’ that he’d been named SEC Coach of the Year. Coach Pearl could tell something was up, though, with two of his children and grandchildren waiting on him.

BP received the news from some very important people in his life 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/TRm9Jea05a

— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 10, 2025

“Alright, so what’s going on?” Pearl smiled and asked as he came into the room. “I saw you guys come in and I went, ‘Why are my grandbabies here? Just because they love me or do they have some (news)? Like, what have we done to deserve this?'”

“She was going to say it but she got stage fright,” joked Steven, the Tigers’ associate head coach on staff. “Got the whole sentence done this morning but…”

With that, Pearl took a moment to recognize and appreciate the award. It meant a lot to him within the Southeastern Conference as he said he’s too old to not value something as notable as being Coach of the Year.

“It is great to be, you know, recognized by your, your peers. I got so much respect for the league and I got so much respect for the coaches in this league. To earn their respect for the job that this team did this year, both in the non-conference as well as in conference play, is something that I’m grateful for,” Pearl said. “Some people act like it’s not a big deal and, ‘Ah, I don’t really care about the individual award. I’d rather have the team awards’? For sure. But I’m too old. I’m too old to not worry about that anymore. Poppie’s too old!”

This is the fourth time that Pearl has won SEC Coach of the Year with two while at Tennessee and now two while at Auburn. Other Tigers recognized today were Johni Broome (SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC First Team), Chad Baker-Mazara (All-SEC Third Team), Denver Jones (SEC All-Defensive Team), and Tahaad Pettiford (SEC All-Freshman Team).

Pearl is having one of his best seasons, including even one of his best on The Plains, with Auburn. The Tigers are 27-4 overall against one of the toughest schedules in the sport this year as they’re at 16-4 versus Quad 1 opponents per the NET. That won them the regular-season in the SEC at 15-3 and has them currently projected as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would be the second-ever one seed and first-ever top overall seed for the Tigers in March Madness.

This latest recognition was obviously meaningful for Pearl. It was then even more so with who let him know that he won it again for 2025.