There were days not long ago, the late fall of 2017, when Bruce Pearl and his staff weren't sure they'd have a job in the morning.
The days and weeks after former assistant Chuck Person's arrest on federal corruption charges created unrest throughout the Auburn University ecosystem — with new president Steven Leath enraged by the whole scene and lame duck athletic director Jay Jacobs defiantly circumspect. It was a fire in a vacuum.
That's how Allen Greene saw it the moment he took the job one year ago.
"It was a challenging situation, to say the least," Greene said. "The situation was ... complicated."
Most observers believe Greene is the reason Pearl roams the Auburn sidelines these days. After taking six weeks to survey the scene — a process he called "level-setting" — Greene recommended that Pearl be retained despite the Department of Justice's investigation and the hubbub that surrounded it. To put that recommendation into action, however, Greene had no choice but believe wholeheartedly in Pearl's innocence and stake his reputation upon that claim.
Some saw that as a serious risk.
Greene didn't. He said during a recent interview that Pearl's willingness to discuss candidly all aspects of his program's operation, including Person's time with the program, gave him the confidence required to make a stand.
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"I tried to just take a step back and evaluate for myself the state of the program — and get to know Bruce and his staff and the players," Greene said, "I had to do that quickly. And we’re still in that process of getting to know one another. I’m very thankful that he’s opened up his program to me to be a part of it."
Greene's first tangible stroke of approval occurred last summer when he rolled over Pearl's contract, thereby extending their contractual relationship through the 2022-23 season. The two men more recently have discussed a new, richer contract that would provide an even stronger show of solidarity. Those discussions are expected to resume in earnest once the Tigers' season ends.
That season, of course, hasn't unfolded as expected. The same team that ascended into the Associated Press Top 10 in December now finds itself 7-7 in league play. It hasn't beaten a ranked team since early November. It just lost by 27 points at Kentucky.
Those struggles haven't affected Greene's view of Pearl, whom he still sees as the ideal man to lead Auburn basketball.
"You don’t have to look much further than our student body, our student section, to see what he means to Auburn," Greene said. "He’s done a masterful job galvanizing the Auburn basketball fan base. Our purpose is developing young people. He is very much invested in that. As I’ve gotten to know him, and we’ve gotten to interact, his dedication shows. He really develops young men. I look forward to working with him for many years."
