SAN ANTONIO — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl laid out the significance of having three Jewish coaches at the Final Four on Friday, saying, “It speaks to the fact that we live in the greatest country in the world.”
Pearl’s Tigers will take on fellow No. 1 seed Florida on Saturday (6:09 p.m. ET streaming on Paramount+ and March Madness Live) with a spot in the national championship game on the line. The game pits Pearl against fellow Jewish head coach Todd Golden of Florida. The evening’s second semifinal includes Duke’s Jewish head Jon Scheyer as the Blue Devils take on Houston.
“I always tell my players that there are going to be obstacles to success, but not roadblocks,” Pearl said. “I don’t want to hear it, that just because of anti-Semitism, racism, profiling, you can’t be anything you want to be.”
The last Jewish coach to win a national championship was Larry Brown in 1988, according to the Times of Israel. The only way that won’t change on Monday night is if Houston wins the title, in which case Kelvin Sampson will be the first Native American coach to win a national championship.
“For three Jewish coaches and Kelvin Sampson, all of us, to be able to get here, you work hard, you do the right things, you surround yourself with great people, and anybody can be anything in this country because we live in the greatest country in the world.” Pearl said.
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Pearl has a particularly strong connection with Golden, who worked as an Auburn assistant from 2014-16 as Pearl began rebuilding the program. Both Golden and Scheyer played professionally in Israel after their college careers ended.
“Specifically I’m really proud of Todd and really proud of Jon for being young Jewish coaches,” Pearl said. “Wearing their faith on their sleeves, they both played professionally in Israel, and they’re both young mensches. It’s easier to be an old mensch than it is to be a young mensch these days.”
Pearl recalled helping to start the Jewish Coaches Association, which began in 2005. The goal, Pearl said, was to get some younger Jewish coaches into graduate assistant positions and to help former players get started in the profession.
In San Antonio this week, the fruits of that work are evident.
“I’m going to think as a young Jewish boy growing up in Boston, I would have been proud,” Pearl said.
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