Mar 17, 2024; Nashville, TN, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl cuts the net after defeating the Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament championship game at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

One of the top men's college basketball coaches is hanging it up.

As he himself confirmed on Auburn men's basketball's X account (formerly Twitter), Bruce Pearl is retiring after 11 seasons with the Tigers and over two decades as a Division I men's college basketball coach.

"Eleven years ago, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to become the head basketball coach at Auburn, and it has been nothing short of amazing," Pearl said in a statement. "With the Auburn Family’s unwavering support, we have built a program from the ground up and taken it to heights it had never reached before. ..."

His retirement comes at an interesting time of the college basketball calendar, as Auburn's season opener vs. Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Nov. 3 is just 42 days away from tip-off. It also follows a trend of some of the top head coaches in college basketball — namely, Jay Wright at Villanova and Tony Bennett at Virginia — stepping away despite having great success from the game as it continues to evolve in the "new age" of college athletics.

With Pearl abruptly retiring, curiosity has risen on how old the former Tigers coach is. Here's what to know about Pearl's age and more:

How old is Bruce Pearl?

Pearl was born on March 18, 1960, making him 65 years ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Bruce Pearl coaching career history

Pearl has been the head coach at a Division I men's college basketball program for all but three seasons (2011-14) since 2001. That includes stints at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2001-05), Tennessee (2005-11) and Auburn (2014-25). In his 11 seasons at Auburn, the Tigers went 234-125 overall, which does not include the 12 wins that were vacated by the NCAA in the 2016-17 season.

As noted in his Auburn profile page, he is the only head coach (football or men’s basketball) in SEC history to lead two different programs to a No. 1 national ranking. He did this twice at Auburn in 2022 and 2025, and then in 2008 while at Tennessee.

He led Auburn to its first No. 1 overall seed in the men's NCAA tournament last season, which led to his second trip to the Final Four in his career. Both of Pearl's trips to the Final Four came in his tenure at Auburn, first in 2019 and then last year.

Here's a full breakdown of how Pearl's teams fared under him:

  • UW-Milwaukee (2001-05): 83-38 overall
  • Tennessee (2006-11): 145-61 overall
  • Auburn (2014-2025): 234-125

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How old is Bruce Pearl? Age, more on former Auburn basketball coach

Reporting by John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect