""Three years ago, [my father] told him, like, 'Listen, I don't know how much longer I'm going to do this,'""
""So [Cohen] has been actively, in his mind, being prepared for this for three years now and going through all the different options of, 'Do I bring in an outside coaching staff? Do I bring in a big-name guy or watch this grow? Does the staff grow as a unit and stay together and not go chasing other assistant jobs, not go chasing other coaching jobs?' And he ultimately felt like the staff had earned the right and the opportunity to continue to move this thing forward.""
Bruce Pearl retired last month and his son Steven succeeded him as Auburn's head coach. John Cohen, Auburn's athletic director, had known for years that Bruce had considered retirement and had prepared succession options for three years. Cohen chose to promote from within to keep the existing staff intact and to allow the program to continue its momentum. Bruce's retirement followed speculation about a potential U.S. Senate run in Alabama. Steven played for his father at Tennessee and spent more than a decade as his assistant, which helped prepare him for the Auburn role. Auburn enters the season ranked 20th in the AP preseason poll.
Read at ESPN.com
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