ESPN Analyst Michael Wilbon Celebrates Retirement of ‘Divisive’ Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl

ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon expressed joy over Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl announcing his retirement, calling him “divisive” while suggesting he was forced out.

Bruce Pearl announced his retirement on Monday despite an accomplished and winning career.

“I think it’s kind of a balance of life, of time, of work. I love Auburn, I truly do. I want to do it when I am on top of my game. We owe that to our players and our fans. As you get a little bit older, you take it one day at a time,” Pearl said to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein in early September.

Speaking on Pardon the Interruption, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said Pearl had become a “divisive” person during his career.

“He had become a divisive person, it seems to me, intentionally. And I hope there was pressure to just get him out,” Wilbon said

While Wilbon did not go into detail, it’s possible he may have been discussing Pearl’s support of Israel and support for President Trump; however, as noted by Awful Announcing, Pearl had been at the center of several recruiting scandals.

“As SB Nation once laid out, Pearl has never had a shortage of detractors. The coach once secretly taped a conversation with a recruit in an attempt to peg him for receiving illicit gifts. At nearly every stop of his career, the NCAA found recruiting violations, until it finally punished him for hosting a barbecue with star guard Aaron Craft while coaching at Tennessee and then lying about it,” noted the outlet.

“Early on at Auburn, Pearl’s program was one of the key subjects of an FBI probe into college recruiting. Assistant coach Chuck Person went to prison,” it added.

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