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.