How Tennessee basketball is responsible for Bruce Pearl’s new contract

Firing Bruce Pearl in 2011 has proved costly to Tennessee basketball in many ways. Since hiring Rick Barnes in 2015, Pearl’s Auburn Tigers have cost UT the outright regular season SEC Championship in 2018, a share of the SEC Championship in 2019 and the SEC Tournament Championship in 2019.

Simply put, Pearl went from being the most beloved figure at UT in the mid to late 2000s to one who remains a thorn in their side, and it’s all because of steps the Vols took themselves. Well, another decision by the Vols means Pearl will remain a thorn in their side.

Unfortunately for Tennessee basketball, after being courted by other programs across the country, Auburn just signed Pearl to an eight-year extension worth over $50 million, according to the AP. Auburn athletic director Allen Greene announced the move Friday night.

Make no mistake, the Vols are responsible for this. They aren’t just responsible for this by giving Pearl his first high-profile job and making him a household name in 2005 when he appeared to be blackballed by everybody due to the Dean Thomas incident in the late 1980s.

A move made by Barnes and Phillip Fulmer also made them responsible for this. In 2019, the UCLA Bruins were suffering through a disastrous coaching search. They decided to open up the checkbook to try to bring Barnes to Southern California.

After leading UT to the Sweet Sixteen, 30 wins and a No. 1 ranked the year before, Barnes had more leverage than ever on Rocky Top. That leverage led the Vols to give him a five-year contract worth $26 million, and according to USA TODAY Network, at the time made him one of the six highest paid coaches in the nation.

That was a finesse move by a coach in Barnes who has no national championships and just one Final Four appearance on his resume. He later admitted that he would have left Tennessee basketball for the UCLA job were it not for the money. The Vols needed that plus his proximity to his hometown to keep him in Knoxville.

Well, Pearl has just one Final Four appearance and no national championships at this level either. However, his Final Four is more recent than Barnes’ Final Four, he’s six years younger and he’s coached in Division I for 17 fewer season than Barnes had. Oh, it’s also worth noting that Pearl did win a Division II national championship in 1995 with the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.

Simply put, Tennessee basketball reset the pay market with the contract it gave Barnes. That combined with the fact that the Vols propped up Pearl only to fire him for lying about a violation that isn’t even a violation anymore is how Pearl was recently able to get this big contract. It could make him a thorn in UT’s side for much longer too.