Note: Joe vs. the Pro and the Hero returns on Thursday. Make your picks against the spread!

This is an opinion column.

___________________

Bruce Pearl, habitually online political junkie, is one of the most fascinating people in American sports.

He’s a future Hall of Famer, or at least should be, and the greatest basketball coach in the history of Auburn University. That’s pretty good stuff, especially considering his history.

Pearl was fired by Tennessee in 2011 amid a controversy of his own making and then slapped with a show-cause penalty by the NCAA.

He couldn’t coach for three years. Auburn was desperate and they gave him a job. Turns out, Auburn and Pearl are a great fit.

Ah, cheers to the duality of man.

America loves a good comeback story, and Pearl has comebacks from his comebacks.

I love pretty much everything about Pearl, and especially his outspoken support of Israel, but some of these tweets lately are — what’s the best way to put this — not about basketball.

Earlier this week, Pearl used social media to endorse the election-year rhetoric of Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). I’m not going to get lost in the weeds over Pearl’s tweet. I’m told a lot of fans didn’t like it. A lot of fans probably did. Personally, I don’t care. To sum it all up, Pearl isn’t voting for Kamala Harris.

Next week, or tomorrow, or today, or within the next hour, or every 30 seconds, Pearl will tweet his opinions about more topics related to politics. He believes what he wants. He says what he wants. That’s his right, and good for him.

But what’s the endgame with all this?

Why is Pearl, a massively popular public figure in Alabama, hellbent on involving himself with politics?

Where is this all going?

Pearl uses his celebrity as a high-profile employee of a public university to espouse political ideology. I think we can all agree that Auburn University doesn’t exist to amplify the politics of its employees.

It’s problematic, but we’ve seen it before.

When Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) was a coach, he used that platform to insert himself into the political discourse of the day. What happened next? After Tubs retired, he used his celebrity to get elected.

Considering the trend of former Auburn coaches and politics, it’s fair to question Pearl’s motives.

What’s the goal here for Pearl? Does he have a future in politics? Is he going to tweet himself into the news again and again during an election year? Last year, considering his public criticisms of the Biden Administration, I asked him point blank if he had political aspirations. It was at SEC Media Day. He deflected the question, saying he only wanted to talk about basketball.

That’s not the case, though. Based on his media profile, Pearl wants everyone to know where he stands politically at all times.

Pearl can have it both ways if he wants. No one is going to stop him from tweeting. I’d argue that there isn’t a coach in the country with better job security. He might even be more beloved than Nick Saban in Alabama. Pearl has made Auburn basketball a national brand. It’s one of the best stories in college basketball over the last 10 years.

As for his politics, Pearl’s beliefs align with some of Auburn’s biggest donors. If he wanted to run for office, he’d probably have no trouble raising plenty of money for the cause.

When I asked Pearl if he would ever run for office, he didn’t say no.

Saban has friends in politics, but he mostly stays away from that arena. When Saban was a coach, every decision he made boiled down to one question. Will it help him land the best recruits in the country?

Do the tweets help Pearl with recruiting?

If it’s basketball recruiting we’re talking about, then the answer is not at all. If we’re talking about recruiting a political base, then Pearl has been busy.

It’s a good thing for Nate Oats and Alabama that Pearl spends so much time online. Could you imagine if Pearl was only focused on basketball?

Pearl was the first coach to lead a team from Alabama to the Final Four. The Tigers’ run in 2019 set into motion the greatest era of college basketball in the history of the state. Alabama reached the Final Four for the first time back in March.

This upcoming season of college basketball will be another showcase for the state. It’s an election year, though. Based on Pearl’s online activity, that probably gives Alabama the advantage.

MAILBAG

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind for the mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Bill from Over the Mountain writes …

You attacked Texas for restocking by buying players to fill voids from last year’s team.

How about Alabama “stealing” a new placekicker for their replacement. Anyone who believes he wasn’t recruited into the portal is drinking the wrong liquid Kool-aid…You can write some good articles. Just be fair!

Do you still think Prime Time would be great for the SEC? Haven’t heard you promote this lately.

ANSWER: I’m not a fan of Coach Prime freezing out reporters, but doesn’t that make him an even more attractive coach for schools in the SEC?

Bryan in Costa Rica writes …

I know that there was a recent comment by Greg Byrne that Alabama is unlikely to schedule any sort of future P4 games right now due to the SEC scheduling model still being decided (which would apply to Auburn as well), but reading your article gave me an idea.

Once the dust settles, I want both the Tide and Tigers to explore these international possibilities in case a home and home series is still unlikely.

Alabama vs. Oregon in Tokyo, Japan

Auburn vs. Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland

I mostly chose those matchups as they’re infamous for never happening yet, I’ll be open to hearing what other people will say regarding the possibilities.

ANSWER: I can pretty much guarantee that everyone would be OK with a game in Costa Rica.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”