Bruce Pearl didn't need Louisville. He can cut down nets with Auburn basketball | Toppmeyer

Bruce Pearl isn't going anywhere, because he doesn't need to go anywhere.

The Auburn basketball coach had topped the hiring wish list for some Louisville fans after Chris Mack was fired amid his fourth season on Wednesday.

“When you win, folks are worried you’re going to leave, and when you’re losing, they’re packing your bags,” Pearl said Thursday on ESPN Radio when asked about speculation that Louisville might be interested.

Pearl won't be packing any bags for a while except for Auburn's next road trip.

Auburn announced Saturday a new contract for Pearl that will run through 2030. The deal starts with a $5.4 million salary, with a $250,000 annual raise.

"I'm blessed to be your coach," Pearl said Friday in a video on Twitter, adding that he plans to serve in that role for "a long, long time."

Pearl didn't need to bolt Auburn for basketball-centric Louisville. A master builder, Pearl has made a career of lifting programs with little hoops pedigree to unprecedented heights.

It's unclear how much interest Louisville's brass had in Pearl, but the Cardinals would have been fortunate to land him.

Sure, Pearl's past is checkered with NCAA rules violations, but that shouldn't be a deal-breaker, especially considering the teeth bared by college athletics’ governing body are growing duller.

Pearl wins wherever he goes, and he oozes enough charisma that he would have attracted limelight for a school that lives in Kentucky’s shadow.

But Louisville needed Pearl more than Pearl needed the Cardinals.

Pearl, 61, is Auburn’s big man on campus. His Tigers (20-1) are the hottest ticket in a football-centric town.

Fans packed cozy 9,121-seat Auburn Arena on Jan. 22 and pumped orange pompoms while the Tigers defeated Kentucky 80-71. Auburn ascended to the No. 1 Associated Press ranking for the first time in program history after Pearl claimed his ninth career victory over John Calipari in 22 meetings.

Auburn enjoyed an 11th consecutive home sellout on Saturday for the Tigers' 86-68 victory over Oklahoma.

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Auburn reached the Final Four for the first time three years ago. Pearl’s squad this season features four players who average in double digits scoring, and the Tigers defend well. They’re positioned to win the SEC’s regular-season crown for the second time in a five-year span.

“Auburn is a fabulous place, and it’s been the best place that I’ve ever been where I can develop players," Pearl said Thursday on ESPN Radio.

Sure, Louisville could have entered a bidding contest for Pearl, but if there’s one thing SEC schools love more than football, it’s spending money.

When UCLA made a run at Tennessee coach Rick Barnes in 2019, the Vols overpaid to retain Barnes and rebuffed the West Coast blueblood.

Some had speculated that Pearl might be enticed by the chance to coach at a school like Louisville, where basketball is king, but that would run counter to Pearl’s career.

Pearl’s jam is to coach at a school where basketball had been a supporting actor, then turn it into the star of the show.

College football championships are won by schools that invest heavily in the sport, boast gleaming facilities and enjoy a deep recruiting base. College basketball’s playing field is more level. A top-rung coach like Pearl can steer an unheralded program into newfound success.

In Pearl’s three Division I stops, he’s coached at commuter school Wisconsin-Milwaukee and two schools in the football-focused SEC – and he led each program to its deepest NCAA Tournament run ever.

Pearl coached Division II Southern Indiana to its lone national championship in 1995. Ten years later, he marched UW-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16 for the only time in program history. The Panthers never made the NCAA Tournament before Pearl’s arrival.

Tennessee was a football school first and a women’s basketball school second before Pearl entered the scene. Vols fans adored Pearl – many still do – while he led Tennessee in 2010 to its only Elite Eight appearance. Pearl might still be painting his chest orange and white if not for an impermissible barbecue invitation to a recruit. Pearl’s crooked cookout sparked an NCAA investigation that ended in his firing and a three-year show-cause penalty.

Auburn offered Pearl a reboot after his time in the penalty box, and it wasn’t long before the NCAA was at his doorstep again.

An FBI investigation landed Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person in court on federal bribery and fraud charges after Person accepted kickbacks to steer athletes to a particular financial adviser.

The FBI probe never directly implicated Pearl as being connected to Person's shenanigans, and although Pearl encountered perilous terrain while initially declining to cooperate with Auburn’s investigation, he emerged mostly unscathed. The NCAA probe concluded in 2021, with Pearl receiving a mere two-game suspension.

Scandals adhere to Louisville basketball like gum to a shoe. The Cardinals are awaiting a verdict from the latest review of their rule-skirting.

Pearl stirs up enough trouble on his own. He didn't need someone else’s mess.

And he didn't need a basketball-oriented school.

Pearl can cut down nets at Auburn.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Bruce Pearl didn't need Louisville basketball. He can win big at Auburn