Former Texas Tech Head Coach Chris Beard has taken the Head Coaching job at Texas as first reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. This comes on the heels of Shaka Smart leaving Texas to head to Marquette.
Beard went to Texas for school and had been connected to the Texas job if it opened, today that theory became reality as Beard inked a deal to become the next head coach at Texas. This also comes as today, the contract buyout for Chris Beard to leave Texas Tech was lowered from $6 million, down to $4 million, making it easier for Texas to pay the buyout.
Beard coached Little Rock and led them to the NCAA Tournament in his lone season there. Beard then took the UNLV job, before heading to Texas Tech thanks to a major salary increase. Since taking Texas Tech, Beard has led the Red Raiders to their first-ever Elite Eight in 2018. He led Texas Tech to its first-ever Big 12 regular-season title, Final Four, and National Championship. In total, he went 112-55, with NCAA Tournament appearances in three of the four NCAA Tournaments at Texas Tech.
For Texas, the Longhorns look to be heading for somewhat of a rebuilding year but with the transfer portal in play, there’s no telling how many players will decide to follow Beard to Texas.
Texas Tech is left in a situation where they will have to fill their head coaching position. Could it be longtime Beard assistant, and defensive mastermind Mark Adams? Another name that could come to mind is Abilene Christian Head Coach, Joe Golding who notably beat Texas in this year’s NCAA Tournament.