'I am so proud of him': Bruce Pearl, Todd Golden on their close relationship, reunited in SEC
There’s a special connection between Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Florida’s Todd Golden.
Pearl hired Golden as an assistant coach on his first Tigers’ staff in 2014. Golden remained at Auburn for three years before moving on to become an assistant coach at San Francisco, the place he would become head coach in 2019.
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But even before, that Pearl coached Golden at the 2009 Maccabiah Games. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, as well as to all Israeli athletes regardless of ethnicity or religion. Arab Israelis have also competed in it.
Their relationship is like that of a father and a son. And when Golden and the Gators travel to Auburn on December 28 for the opening conference game of the season, it will be a special moment.
“There are certain topics that I get talking about that I get emotional about, like all of a sudden turning a light switch on. I get a little Dick Vermeil in me. When you mention Todd Golden, it almost immediately begins to trigger like if you ask me about my son, Steven. It’s emotional. I love Todd — I love him like a son,” Pearl said at SEC Media Days on Wednesday.
“I am so proud of him for the coach that he has become, the father that he is, the man that he is. So glad that he’s in the league.”
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Golden played against Randy Bennett while at San Francisco, who Golden played for in college. So the feeling of going against a mentor of sorts isn’t unfamiliar to Golden.
“I’m kind of looking forward to competing against (Bruce Pearl), to be honest,” Golden said. “I think it’s going to be really fun. We’re both really, really big-time competitors. We love each other off the floor, but once we get in between the lines, it’s going to be a great competition.”
Golden joins Georgia’s Mike White, LSU’s Matt McMahon, South Carolina’s Lamont Paris, Missouri’s Dennis Gates and Mississippi State’s Chris Jans as new head coaches in the league.
