Tag: Chris Beard

Chris Beard, the only new SEC men’s basketball coach, talks adversity with Ole Miss tenure set to start

Beard was named AP’s 2019 National Coach of the Year with Texas Tech before he was fired by the Longhorns after a domestic violence arrest.

Among the 14 men’s basketball programs in the SEC, only one will be led by a new head coach this season: Ole Miss, who brought in Chris Beard after he was fired from Texas.

Beard, who was named Associated Press’ coach of the year in 2019 while he was with Texas Tech, took over the Texas basketball program in 2021. In December 2022, he was suspended without pay after he was arrested on a domestic violence charge. The charges were dismissed in February when Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said evidence could not provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but the Longhorns had already officially terminated Beard a month earlier.

Ole Miss officially announced Beard as their new head coach in March.

Beard was asked at the conference’s media day on Wednesday how he approached his past year with parents while he recruited.

“I just talk about the truth,” he said. “Not only what’s happened the last couple of months, what’s happened in my whole career. I also think as human beings, as coaches, as players, we all go through adversity. We all go through tough times. And I’ve always thought that’s an opportunity to respond.”

In Beard’s nationally recognized season, the Red Raiders finished 31-7, winning 14 of their 18 conference games. Texas Tech made it all the way to the national championship game, which they eventually lost to Virginia in overtime.

The Rebels finished 12-21 last season with a 3-15 conference record, the second-worst in the conference. They finished 10th in the conference’s preseason media poll.

Rodney Terry discusses the impact of not being named head coach last year

Rodney Terry was never bothered by the outside noise.

Texas’ basketball season was a roller coaster of headlines throughout the year, as the team seemed poised to make a deep run under head coach Chris Beard. Continue reading “Rodney Terry discusses the impact of not being named head coach last year”

Texas head coach Rodney Terry claims a big role in roster construction

“I recruited three starters on this roster. Don’t get it twisted.”

Texas head coach Rodney Terry proved he can coach this season. His track record of recruiting stands up to scrutiny. Now, he is tasked with rebuilding a team through the transfer portal. Terry believes he can make it happen.

In an interview in Houston over Final Four weekend, Terry aimed to set the record straight on his involvement in building the Texas roster.

Chris (Beard) was a great coach. But he didn’t put this roster together by himself. We did. I’m not one to pat myself on the back, but I recruited three starters on this roster, don’t get it twisted.

Terry wasn’t in any way trying to discredit Beard as a head coach. He drove his point home by stating that recruiting is a team effort. Moving forward it will still be a team effort. Albeit, he pushed back against the notion that he cannot recruit the portal.

Despite his track record, he’ll face the new test of recruiting players to his program, not a program led by Rick Barnes or Chris Beard. If his confidence in his ability of building the program is any indication, Texas is in good hands.

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Penn State coaching target Rodney Terry to be offered Texas job

This potential coaching candidate for Penn State looks to be off the market.

It was reported that [autotag]Rodney Terry[/autotag] was a target of the athletic department to become the next head coach at Penn State.

Terry took over as the interim coach of Texas after [autotag]Chris Beard[/autotag] was dismissed from his job during the season. Under Terry, the Longhorns finished the season with a 29-9 record, winners of the Big 12 Conference Tournament and the first Elite 8 appearance for the program since 2008.

Despite the success during the season, Texas hadn’t removed the interim tag, prompting questions if they would extend the job to Terry. It seems now that the administration is expected to officially offer the job.

If a deal can be reached quickly, Texas could announce Terry as the head coach as early as Tuesday according to 247Sports. There hasn’t been anything reported about the expected length of the contract, but it would be surprising if Terry didn’t become the next head coach of the Longhorns after the successful season.

With one of Penn State’s rumored targets now seemingly off the market, we’ll see where the athletic department will turn to find their next head coach.

They are reportedly meeting with current VCU coach [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] to offer him the job. Florida Atlantic coach [autotag]Dusty May[/autotag] has also been a rumored name, although talks with him won’t come until after the Owls play their Final Four game.

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Time for Texas to take Rodney Terry’s interim tag off

Terry proved he is the man for the job.

The Texas Longhorns season came to an end in the Elite Eight as they fell to the Miami Hurricanes, 88-81. While the loss stings, Texas has to feel good about where its program is.

The Longhorns reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. The season began with Chris Beard running the show until his suspension and ultimately his firing after eight games. At that point, the [autotag]Texas Longhorns[/autotag] were 7-1 and the school made Rodney Terry the interim head coach.

Over the next several months, the interim coach was able to guide the team to a Big 12 Tournament title and a 22-7 record in 29 games. The former Texas-El Paso head coach was previously 163-156 as a head coach with stops at Fresno State and UTEP.

What he did with Texas was remarkable. Terry kept the team focused on one goal, winning a Big 12 title and making a run in the tournament. They looked like one of the best teams in the NCAA Tournament after winning seven-straight games including two matchups with the Kansas Jayhawks.

It was clear that the team rallied behind Terry and now the Longhorns should remove the interim tag and make him the head coach of the program. He has been around the program as an assistant from 2002 to 2011 and returning in 2021. Terry was part of the staff that made it to the Final Four in 2003.

While boosters might be clamoring to make a run at John Calipari or another big-name coach, Rodney Terry has proven that he is the man for the job. At least give him the opportunity after he got results from this team which could have crumbled given the circumstances.

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Dick Vitale criticizes Texas for delaying in hiring Rodney Terry

Dick Vitale goes too far in his criticism of Texas’ athletic department.

Dick Vitale is not impressed by Texas’ long wait to hire Rodney Terry. He tweeted as much in a strongly worded statement on the athletic department’s delay.

Lack of class by Texas athletic board. I can buy waiting until the end of the regular season on the status of ⁦Rodney Terry. However after winning ⁦the Big 12 conference title, he deserved a multi-year deal.

That’s one way to put it. Albeit, Vitale’s take on the situation is probably too strong given Terry’s lack of proven track record prior through ten seasons as a Division I head coach.

We discussed Terry as having proven himself by winning two NCAA Tournament games. Terry did just that in reaching the Sweet 16. However, prior to those wins he had yet to put together the postseason resume to command the coaching job. Winning Big 12 Tournament titles is great, but Shaka Smart did that, too.

Texas hired former head coach Chris Beard to bring in a proven commodity. In Beard, the Longhorns had a coach who had won games in the tournament that mattered. Now that Terry has advanced in tournament play, he is more than qualified to be the coach of the future.

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Five reasons Texas HC Rodney Terry will be assessed on March success

We look at why we’ll assess Terry’s coaching job on what he does in the NCAA Tournament.

We’re a day away from Texas head coach Rodney Terry’s biggest slate of games. For the Longhorns’ acting head coach, the task is simple and straightforward: Get to the second weekend.

Terry and the Texas Longhorns (26-8) face the Colgate Raiders (26-8) in what could be a sharp-shooting contest from the outside. To date, the game is the most important event of the season for the 2022-23 squad.

Everything the team has done to this point is important. Taking care of business in high profile games and in the conference tournament sets the Longhorns up for a manageable tournament path. That said, the team needs to capitalize or there will likely be changes.

If Terry and company beat Colgate and the winner of Texas A&M/Penn State, the administration can’t ignore what the coaching staff has accomplished. If they can’t make it out of the weekend, the athletic department might reconsider who leads the team.

Here are a few reasons why we’ll judge Terry’s coaching job on what he does in the NCAA Tournament.

Quotes from former Texas HC Chris Beard during Ole Miss press conference

Chris Beard has a doozy of a first press conference.

Former Texas head coach Chris Beard is now the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. That’s great news for both parties as far as their on-court prospects, but not the strongest public relations move.

On a personal note, many hope Beard can rehabilitate and better himself after an alleged domestic altercation got him arrested. The only question is, was he given enough time to reflect and learn from the situation? Ole Miss doesn’t appear concerned about reflection time.

We’ve wrote that the incident in question is alleged, but Beard didn’t give much reason to doubt those claims in his press conference. When asked point blank about specific details, the now Ole Miss head coach offered no denial.

Here’s a look a some of what Beard had to say to his new school and fanbase.

Chris Beard takes over the Ole Miss basketball program

Chris Beard didn’t have to wait long to find a new gig.

The Ole Miss Rebels are  removing themselves from the coaching carousel and hiring the next men’s basketball head coach.

It was first reported by college basketball insider Jon Rothstein that the Rebels are finalizing a deal with Chris Beard. Beard was fired from Texas during the season following an arrest for assault against a family member. The charges were eventually dropped but not before the Longhorns decided to move on. Ole Miss later confirmed that Beard would take over the program.

During his short tenure in Austin, Beard was 29-13 and 10-8 in Big 12 play. Beard wouldn’t coach a single conference game for the 2022-23 season after being suspended just nine games into the season. Prior to his time with his alma mater, Beard coached Texas Tech for five seasons. During that time he was 112-55 and 49-40 in conference play.

Beard led Tech to an Elite Eight finish in 2018 and the NCAA runner-up the following season. Now he will attempt to turn around an Ole Miss program that finished 23-37 and 6-27 over the last two seasons.

The best success for the Rebels since 2000 came in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when Ole Miss reached the Sweet 16 but fell to Arizona. Beard will be looking to reach the level of success he achieved with the Red Raiders.

Beard will replace the outgoing Kermit Davis, who finished 74-79 and reached the NCAA Tournament just once in his five seasons with the Rebels.

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