In a time when there is no longer a happy political medium in America, Pearl stands on the right, which led some media members to celebrate his departure. Pearl told the Globe he has no plans to run for US Senate and instead will remain an ambassador at Auburn.
His newly found free time allowed him to visit the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Dorchester, a moving remembrance of the attack by Hamas on the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It marked the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“I’ve been to Israel a dozen times,” Pearl said. “There are two sides to every story. Unfortunately, this is a side of good vs. evil. And that’s hard to explain when there are good people on both sides. The Jews in Israel have tried since Israel was born in 1948 to be willing to live next door to their neighbors. You get off the plane and there’s people of every color, every shape, such incredible diversity. There’s so much freedom. It’s an incredible democracy. You’ve got 6 million Jews living with 2 million Arabs, and peace and prosperity in Israel. It works.
“But you’ve got neighbors all around Israel, including 2 million Palestinians who have been told and taught that somehow the Jews stole their land.”
To protect their image, to continue to flourish in the recruiting game, to thrive in a sport that pays high-seven-figure salaries, some coaches have chosen to keep their political beliefs to themselves, at least until they finish coaching. Not Pearl.
He is open about his thoughts, and combine that with his political beliefs and two particular NCAA violations ― as an assistant at Iowa in the late 1980s (where he secretly recorded a conversation with a recruit) and 15 years ago at Tennessee (where he invited a recruit to a family barbecue) ― and the coach has been labeled as conniving and untrustworthy. Others believe he is misunderstood, passionate, and perhaps a man of too many words.
That’s where Pearl’s legacy and reputation become confounding. He led Auburn to two Final Fours in a seven-year span. His players adored his openness and honesty. They didn’t have to agree on politics or the state of the world.
”In recruiting some families, because of my opinions, I was told I’m a racist,“ Pearl said. ”I’m not afraid to talk about race, not afraid to talk about faith, I’m not afraid to talk about politics. We don’t have to agree.
“What happens is families will come visit and go, ‘Wow, you’re not at all who they said you were,’ and we break down barriers.”
Pearl has been shaped by his experiences, especially growing up Jewish in Boston in the 1970s and seeing racism and discrimination firsthand in a city that has taken decades to shake its intolerant reputation.
“I know the METCO program,” he said. “I knew what forced busing was. I was here in 1972. I saw real race riots. As an athlete and as a kid, I didn’t get it. I knew that when I would go from Southie to the North End, while there was great ethnicity and great pride in those neighborhoods, you weren’t always welcomed.“
Pearl will be remembered as a passionate, controversial, opinionated, charismatic, and brash coach who was successful in his stops but also sometimes messy. But he says his desire to teach and to relate will never dissipate.
“Having been a head coach for 30 years, my players had come first, over my family, because it’s what was required in order to be successful,” he said. “I just got to the point where I didn’t want that to be my priority. And once I recognized that, that I couldn’t give it 100 percent, I didn’t want to do it.
“I’m not retired. I’m going to continue to lead in areas of education, faith, family, traditional values in our country. I’m going to continue to be an advocate for the State of Israel and fight antisemitism.
“I got to a point where the pressure, the anxiety, winning became a relief, and then just living up to the expectation. We have graduated over 150 kids as a head coach, and just 51 alone in the last 11 years. And I’m really very proud of that. But it’s just time.”
It’s OK to like Bruce Pearl, to be captivated by his words, lulled by his amiable personality and engrossed in his storytelling, but disagree with his politics. Those conflicting sentiments will be part of his legacy. He is at peace with that dichotomy and perhaps we all have to accept that.