Longhorns land their top coaching target in Texas Tech's Chris Beard less than a week after the job became vacant
The University of Texas has hired Texas Tech's Chris Beard as its next basketball coach, according to Stadium's Jeff Goodman.
The hiring of Beard comes less than a week after former UT head coach Shaka Smart left Austin and accepted the same position at Marquette. Smart's decision to move to Marquette saved the university $7.1 million in buyout money on Smart's contract that spanned through the 2023 season.
Beard, a Texas alumnus, spent the last five seasons in Lubbock. He led the Red Raiders to an overall 112-55 record, including a spot in the Championship Game in 2019. During his time in Lubbock he guided his teams to the NCAA Tournament in three out of four opportunities, including an Elite 8 berth in 2018.
Beard began his coaching career as a student assistant under former Texas coach Tom Penders. After several graduate assistant roles and assistant coaching positions at a handful of schools, Beard became the head coach at McMurry University in Abilene, TX in 2012. His subsequent head coaching positions were at Angelo State and Little Rock before he took over the Texas Tech program in 2016.
April 1st was a key date in Beard's contract at Texas Tech, due to his buyout with the school dropping from $5 million to $4 million on his contract.
Beard was Texas AD Chris Del Conte's top choice to replace Shaka Smart who was at Texas for 6 years and made the NCAA Tournament in just three of those years. The Longhorns were ousted in the first round in each of those appearances.
We expect an official release from UT soon.
Last edited by a moderator:
