Texas hires Chris Beard after an impressive five seasons as head coach at Texas Tech. After Shaka Smart left for Marquette it was speculated that Beard may end up in charge of the Longhorns. Today his contract buyout dropped opening the way for Texas to hire him without paying as much money. Beard led the Red Raiders to their first Elite Eight in 2018. He followed that up by making a trip to the NCAA championship in 2019, losing to Virginia in the final.
This is obviously a terrific hire for Texas.
Chris Beard went to school at Texas, and has done an incredible job in his time at Texas Tech. Took the Red Raiders to a national title game, and an Elite Eight appearance. https://t.co/wFHJEenSkO
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 1, 2021
A former Longhorn himself, coach Beard may be what the program needs to reach the next level. Although coach Smart was able to bring in the recruits, such as Mo Bamba, it didn’t correlate to success on the court. While there were many memorable moments in the Smart era, it was clearly time for both to move on from one another and hope for the best. For Texas, this is the best hire they could arguably make.
This has made for an interesting April Fool’s Day. With news such as Roy Williams retiring and now this hire, there have been big moves made today. The best part is, they aren’t fake! While some fans may find it hard to believe it has actually happened. Beard is known for developing talent and has pulled from the transfer portal in his time as a head coach. Most notably this season was the leading scorer for the Red Raiders this season, Mac McClung.
Coach Beard should be able to bring quality talent to Texas and use the resources that the university has in ways that Smart did not. With the money and facilities that Texas has, as well as the athletic history, a coach like Beard may be the perfect fit to make the Longhorns a perennial power in college basketball.
