July is one of the quietest months on the college basketball calendar, but at a program like Auburn, the speaking and media responsibilities don’t stop.

This summer, associate head coach Steven Pearl has been taking on more of those responsibilities. He spoke at the ‘Ballin in Boutwell’ reveal press conference on July 8, Auburn’s AMBUSH event on July 2 and was quoted in the press release from Auburn after the school’s switch to Nike was made official on July 1.

When asked why he’s taken on the role of being the program’s public representative recently, Pearl said it was due to head coach Bruce Pearl “taking his first vacation in 11 years.” Steven Pearl added that the head coach is overseas with friends when asked where Bruce Pearl is vacationing.

“He’s just enjoying himself and trying to recharge the batteries a little bit so he can get ready for this upcoming season,” Steven Pearl said.

While Steven Pearl’s comments suggest his recent media responsibilities are temporary, he’s comfortable taking them on. Representing the program at these events is one of the many hats worn by head coaches in 2025.

“It’s great practice. If I’m ever able to run my own program one day, whether it’s at Auburn or somewhere else, this is great reps and great practice for me to be able to do so,” Pearl said.

All of this comes just over a month after rumors of Bruce Pearl’s interest in running for the U.S. Senate were reported by the news site Semafor. The report came after Tommy Tuberville officially entered the Alabama gubernatorial race, leaving one of the state’s Senate seats open.

Shortly after that report, Bruce Pearl was asked about his interest in running at SEC spring meetings, but declined comment.

Pearl didn’t publicly address the rumors until an appearance on Fox News’ One Nation with Brian Kilmeade on June 29, where he was asked directly if he was considering running.

“I love my country, but I love being the basketball coach at Auburn‚” Pearl said. “As we’re speaking right now, I’m in Atlanta recruiting players. So, look, these issues matter to me, and it’s not really about politics.”

On Tuesday, the same day Steven Pearl spoke with reporters at the ‘Ballin at Boutwell’ press conference, Bruce Pearl appeared on the One Jewish State YouTube channel, where he was asked again about his interest in running for the senate.

“There is no news to be made,” Pearl said, before talking for over a minute about his support for Israel, concerns surrounding certain policies and “things going on on these college campuses and regarding education and what we’re willing educate.”

“We’re in trouble. With the amount of immigration that’s taken place and just the leadership of these universities and what they’re teaching,” Pearl continued. “It goes back to our own fault here of not teaching our kids to love their own country.”

Pearl hasn’t mentioned anything about interest in the open senate seat on his X (formerly Twitter) page, despite consistently posting about political topics such as support for Israel and criticism of certain democratic policies.

Along with the tweets, Pearl has also recently written op-eds for AL.com and the New York Post.

Neither Pearl nor Auburn responded immediately to recent requests for comment from AL.com regarding the coach’s rumored interest in running for the open senate seat.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m