Auburn's Bruce Pearl drops quote about competing against Rick Barnes and Tennessee that Vols fans will appreciate
The Tennessee Vols will head south this weekend for a huge showdown with the Auburn Tigers. On Thursday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, who served as the Vols' head coach from 2005 to 2011, met with reporters to discuss Saturday's matchup against Tennessee. Pearl expressed pride in having coached at both programs and he detailed […]
The Tennessee Vols will head south this weekend for a huge showdown with the Auburn Tigers.
On Thursday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, who served as the Vols' head coach from 2005 to 2011, met with reporters to discuss Saturday's matchup against Tennessee.
Pearl expressed pride in having coached at both programs and he detailed what it's like to compete against Vols head coach Rick Barnes, whom he considers a friend.
"These two teams, Tennessee and Auburn, have been the best two teams in the SEC, at least by winning percentage over the last eight years," said Pearl. "I'm proud to be a part of that. And even in some smaller, lesser way, also proud that I was at both Tennessee and helped get that thing going a little bit, and now here at Auburn."
"It doesn't actually make it much fun at all because they know us so well and it's hard to run what you do," continued Pearl when asked about coaching against Barnes. "Like Coach Barnes, we are who we are. And what we've been doing, we've been doing it this way for a long, long time. Nobody does it better than Rick Barnes and Tennessee. I want to beat Tennessee because they're one of the best teams in our league and a team that we need to beat to be able to have a chance to be a champion. But not for any other reason. It's no fun going up against a friend."
There's never been any doubt that Pearl still has a lot of love for Tennessee, despite the way his time with the program ended.
But none of that, of course, will be going through his mind on Saturday night when the Volunteers visit Neville Arena. Pearl's only focus will be on finding a way to beat Tennessee.
Likewise, Barnes will have the same approach. The two men will shake hands after the game and likely share some friendly banter. But for those two hours on Saturday night, they'll be in full compete mode.
