Auburn University men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is leaning against running to replace outgoing Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and will make a final decision on entering the race by the end of the month, Jewish Insider has learned. 

Pearl, 65, spent the summer meeting with GOP campaign operatives and Republican senators as he considered whether to enter the race following Tuberville’s announcement in late May that he was opting against seeking a second term in the Senate to run for governor of Alabama. At the beginning of the summer, Pearl had just finished the academic year coaching Auburn’s basketball team, which he joined in 2014 and where he has led the SEC team to six NCAA tournament appearances, including this year’s Final Four.

Two sources familiar with Pearl’s thinking told JI that he has not officially decided against running yet and has given himself until the end of September to make a final call, though he is unlikely to enter the contest. 

Pearl declined JI’s request for comment on his plans. 

If Pearl decided to get into the race, it would make him the most high-profile name in the crowded Republican primary to succeed Tuberville, who also coached at Auburn before jumping into politics, leading its football team from 1999-2008. It would also mean walking away from a lucrative contract with Auburn for a far more modest government salary. 

Republicans already in the primary include Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who has been the state’s chief law enforcement officer since 2017; Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) and Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL and pro-Trump businessman. 

The winner of the GOP primary is expected to go on to win the general election given Alabama’s conservative electorate.

The last Jewish Republican to serve in the Senate was former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who now chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition after losing his bid for a second term to former Sen. Al Franken by 312 votes in 2009. The late Sen. Arlen Specter left the GOP for the Democratic Party in the spring of 2009 while facing a primary challenge from former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Specter ultimately lost the Democratic primary for his seat and left the Senate in 2011.

The Auburn basketball coach has emerged as a vocal Jewish advocate and become increasingly politically involved in fighting the rise of domestic antisemitism and supporting Israel in recent years. He became one of the most outspoken voices in sports in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

Pearl often tells the story of his grandparents immigrating to the U.S. in 1929 to escape the pogroms in Eastern Europe (where most of the rest of his family perished in the Holocaust) and makes mention of his Hebrew name, Mordechai, in interviews. 

He has also been active in the Jewish advocacy space for at least half a decade. He joined the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA) board of directors in 2021 and took over as chairman of the board in April of this year. The nonprofit focuses on educating government officials involved in advancing the U.S.-Israel relationship on the pro-Israel cause, and Pearl has led trips for his players to the Jewish state in recent years through the organization. 

In his public comments, Pearl has been outspoken in support of Israel and has voiced his disapproval of any agreement between the U.S. and Iran that allows the latter to enrich uranium. 

Speaking at a breakfast commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month on Capitol Hill in late May, Pearl argued that a Palestinian state had already been “tried” in Gaza in 2005 following the Israeli withdrawal from the area. “They had an opportunity and they turned it into a terrorist state. We cannot make that same mistake again,” Pearl said at the time.

“There cannot be another Palestinian state,” he continued. “We need to practice our faith and we need to put our faith into practice. My Jewish friends, we need to wake up and understand that when we said never again, we meant never again, but it happened again on Oct. 7.”

Pearl also encouraged the U.S. to back Israel in taking out Iran’s nuclear program through an airstrike campaign and praised the U.S. push in nuclear negotiations to force Tehran to ship enriched material to a location where it cannot be used.

“Enriched Uranium is for a weapon, not power. Iran says it will not give up its ability to enrich uranium against US demands. For Iran, it is a matter of national honor and part of their identity. If Iran had it, they would use it,” Pearl wrote on X in late May, adding that Iran must “dismantle it now” for the sake of achieving peace “or Israel needs to do it.”

Jewish Insider’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed to this report.

With Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the former Auburn University head football coach, announcing on Tuesday that he’ll forgo a second term in the Senate to instead run for governor of Alabama, chatter is emerging that another Auburn University coach, Bruce Pearl, might follow in Tuberville’s footsteps and make a bid for his Senate seat.

Semafor reported on Tuesday that Pearl’s name is being floated for the seat, but it’s not clear that he is interested. Pearl is Jewish and has become politically active on issues related to Israel and Middle East policy and antisemitism — delivering a keynote address just last week on Capitol Hill at a breakfast celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month.

“Alabama is a Republican stronghold, so the NRSC is confident voters will elect another Republican to continue representing them and championing President Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement about Tuberville’s decision, which did not mention Pearl specifically.

In his speech on the Hill last week, Pearl, who coaches Auburn’s men’s basketball team, rejected the idea of a two-state solution.

Pearl argued that a Palestinian state had effectively been “tried” in Gaza, following the Israeli withdrawal from the territory in 2005. “They had an opportunity and they turned it into a terrorist state. We cannot make that same mistake again,” he said.

“There cannot be another Palestinian state,” Pearl said. “We need to practice our faith and we need to put our faith into practice. My Jewish friends, we need to wake up and understand that when we said never again, we meant never again, but it happened again on Oct. 7.”

Pearl said that he supports the position recently articulated by Trump administration officials on Iran — that negotiations are the right first step but that Iran must dismantle its nuclear program.

“I’m glad President [Donald] Trump is taking leadership and having this discussion, and giving them the opportunity, and if they don’t take the opportunity, it’s got to be done for them,” Pearl said.

He pushed back on charges of genocide leveled against Israel, highlighting that the Palestinian population has ballooned since 1948, and said that Holocaust education should be mandatory and that colleges should be teaching the truth about the Middle East. Pearl also condemned countries that have criticized Israel’s conduct in the war.

“We’ve gotta protect ourselves from those people that want to kill us,” Pearl, who does not have Israeli citizenship, said. “And the second thing is this: We’ve got to be mensches. We’ve got to be kinder. We’ve got to be more generous. We’ve got to be the very best versions of ourselves that we possibly can. That’s what we’re simply commanded to do.”

Pearl told his family’s story at the event — his grandfather fled the pogroms to the United States with three siblings, while the rest of his family remained in Europe, where most died in the Holocaust. 

He said he remembers sitting with his crying grandfather watching television coverage of the Six-Day War; Pearl said his grandfather was afraid that Israel would be wiped out overnight.

“He said if Israel was a state, maybe, in 1929, maybe more of his family would have been able to go to Israel,” Pearl said. “And maybe some of his relatives would still be alive. He told me two things that day: Number one, the United States of America saved his life … And the second thing was that if Israel was born sooner, maybe more of my family would still be alive.”

Pearl said that his love for Israel is an intrinsic part of his love of his Jewish faith.

He highlighted connections between the Abrahamic faiths — that Abraham “is the father of all nations, that connects us all” and that Jesus was Jewish.

“The Jewish people are strong. The Jewish people know how to work hard. We’re taught to speak the truth. We’re taught to hold the right values. We’re taught to stand up for injustice. We’re taught to teach it to our children,” Pearl said, describing that spirit as the one that brought him and two other Jewish coaches into the college basketball Final Four this year.

He said he believes the “vast majority of Americans support the Jewish people and support the State of Israel,” and praised Evangelical Christians who support Israel for reasons of faith.