_lefraud_ said:

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Buzz would make it twice as long, with 3 parts or even a mini series.

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_lefraud_ said:

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Buzz would make it twice as long, with 3 parts or even a mini series.

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Y'all are brutal and hilarious

I've always liked how he goes all in. Whether it's painting his chest or whatever. For as similar as they are, they're complete opposites in that aspect.

Beyond health, I wonder if he wants to go out on top before the clear financial advantage for the SEC goes away. I'm sure 3-4mm is a budget cut for them.

Until we see the buyout structure the length of the deal doesn't mean anything

I'd be incensed if I was an Auburn fan

bobinator said:

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Until we see the buyout structure the length of the deal doesn't mean anything

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I'm sure it's one sided deal. AU isn't scare of buyouts though

Bruce was done and he had done a pretty good job. Giving his son a chance is probably the right move becuase he could have learned a lot about coaching and they don't have to hire someone just off the street.

Give him a 10 year contract if he wants. Auburn just has to have enough funds to pay him off if he can't do the job.

Yeah, not even just with their kids, but almost any time that a coach hand picks their successor it goes poorly if the new coach has never really earned the opportunity elsewhere.

You can probably name off the handful of times it has worked and for every one of those there's like five where it didn't work.

Honestly, if we count both Drew's and then Tony Bennett, thats suddenly like 50/50 or better considering that I can only think of a couple other high profile times this was tried out (Pat Knight, Sean Sutton)

Recent examples

• Bruce and Steven Pearl (Auburn): In September 2025, Bruce Pearl retired as head coach of the Auburn Tigers after 11 seasons. His son, Steven Pearl, who had served as associate head coach, was immediately named as his replacement.
• Bob and Matt McKillop (Davidson): Bob McKillop retired as Davidson's head coach in June 2022, after 33 years with the program. His son, Matt McKillop, who had been an assistant coach for 14 seasons, was named his successor.
• Homer and Bryce Drew (Valparaiso): The Drew family has a long history at Valparaiso. Homer Drew first coached the team from 19882002. He was briefly succeeded by his son, Scott, before returning to coach from 20032011. His other son, Bryce Drew, then took over as head coach from 20112016, leading the program to consistent success.

Notable historical examples

• Dick and Tony Bennett (Washington State): At the end of the 20052006 season, Dick Bennett retired as head coach at Washington State and was succeeded by his son, Tony Bennett. Tony went on to coach at the school for three seasons before being hired away by Virginia, where he won a national championship in 2019.
• John Thompson Jr. and John Thompson III (Georgetown): While not a direct succession, John Thompson III followed in his father's footsteps at Georgetown. John Thompson Jr. led the Hoyas to a national title in 1984, and his son, John Thompson III, coached the team to a Final Four appearance in 2007.
• Bob and Pat Knight (Texas Tech): Legendary coach Bob Knight designated his son, Pat Knight, as his successor at Texas Tech in 2005. Pat took over during the 20072008 season when his father retired mid-season. Pat was later fired in 2011 after only one winning season.
• Eddie and Sean Sutton (Oklahoma State): In 2006, Eddie Sutton took a medical leave from Oklahoma State, and his son, Sean Sutton, took over. Sean coached for two seasons before resigning from the position.
• Gene and Murry Bartow (UAB): Gene Bartow founded the UAB basketball program and coached for 17 seasons before retiring in 1996. His son, Murry Bartow, took over and led the team for six seasons.

The Drew situation was wild where the kid coached, the dad coached again, and then the other kid coached, but I guess it worked so that's a win, and the Bennetts definitely count though Tony Bennett did coach a couple of years at Wisconsin after his father left before he joined him again.

The Thompsons don't really count, there was a coach in between there and John Thompson III was hired from a relatively successful stint as head coach at Princeton.

If you take out the son factor and just include any handpicked successors you have a much wider pool and about the only recent one I can think of that's definitely working out is Scheyer.

HotardRat said:

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The overwhelming majority of coaching history tells us that this sort of arrangement usually goes quite poorly.

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Completely agree. But if Bruce retired when he did without prior telling the ad, then this might have been their best option. Also this has a small possibility of working. The son could have been mostly coaching the team for several years already, we don't know. Bruce could have been just a figure head for some time now.

Like football, do their current players get a transfer window as well?

He embraced the student/sports relationship and didn't do "us against the world". Bucky has some of that in him.

Double Diamond is shocked.

The timing was for 1 reason only.

Mikesyracuse1

Method Man said:

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I like Pearl better than Buzz. I can say that now.

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I am certain that I am in the minority here - but, for the record, Buzz was my all-time favorite coach of a Texas Aggie major sport men's team. Jackie Sherrill a close second.

It'll take me a while to decide on Bucky - but I am encouraged by his energetic start and his alchemist's touch in creating an intriguing basketball team - ALMOST from scratch (building it around my new favorite player - Chris McDermott - who i compare to Kiefer Sutherland's character in the 2016 series "Designated Survivor" :-)

So why did he retire?

That's exactly my question. Timing seems very weird. My first guess is it's health related .

halfastros81 said:

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That's exactly my question. Timing seems very weird. My first guess is it's health related .

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It,was to get his son the job

Serious question, Why couldn't that have happened at a later date ?

Not sure what you mean, it *could* have happened at a later date if he was absolutely sure they were going to hand the job over to his kid, but doing it this way they have no choice and his son gets the entire preseason and the season to prove the job should be his.

It's the exact same thing Tony Bennett did last year at Virginia to make sure the person he wanted to get the job got it. Bennett did it two weeks later but essentially the same timing.

Why couldn't he have done the same next yr or the yr after that ? I could see why if there was some other reason he wants or needs to retire now .

He just doesn't come across to me as a guy who was tired of the grind and ready to hang it up