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NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Vols with head coaching hires from the year 2005

By Joey Loose

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 01: Head coach Matt Painter of the Purdue Boilermakers reacts during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on February 01, 2020 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 01: Head coach Matt Painter of the Purdue Boilermakers reacts during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on February 01, 2020 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Bruce Pearl the head coach of the Auburn Tigers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Bruce Pearl the head coach of the Auburn Tigers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

2. Bruce Pearl (Tennessee)

Tennessee has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years. At this time, they were in the midst of one of those downturns, having had four fruitless seasons and looking for new blood to lead this program. The Volunteers managed to grab a hot name from the coaching market and certainly don’t regret this hiring.

Bruce Pearl had already made great strides at multiple schools during his coaching career. A former assistant at Stanford and Iowa, he had won a D2 national championship at Southern Indiana before leading Milwaukee to the Sweet Sixteen. Pearl had led both programs to fantastic runs of success and had certainly proved himself ready for the bigger stage.

After those years of struggle, Pearl manufactured a great turnaround with the Volunteers, leading them to the NCAA Tournament in each of his six seasons. He led Tennessee to an Elite Eight in 2010 and a pair of Sweet Sixteens, making the Volunteers one of the very best programs in the SEC. NCAA violations forced him out after just six seasons, but considering what he did for the program, the Volunteers made a smart call.

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