Texas Tech AD confident he can retain Chris Beard after national championship run
Texas Tech coach Chris Beard is at the top of his game.
Beard, who led the Red Raiders to a 61-51 win against Michigan State in the Final Four on Saturday night in Minneapolis to reach the national championship, has been thrown around recently as a possible candidate for several high-profile coaching jobs that are open — including at Arkansas and UCLA.
With Texas Tech now in the national championship game — where the Red Raiders will take on Virginia on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium — Beard’s stock as a coach has likely never been higher. If he does want to make a change, there may not be a better time to do so.
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Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, however, isn’t worried about the 46-year-old coach leaving Lubbock anytime soon.
“We’ve got the resources to do what we need to retain Chris Beard,” Hocutt said on Saturday, via USA Today.
Hocutt, per the report, said that they began renegotiating Beard’s current contract with the school in February, but held off making anything final until after the season. Beard signed a six-year, $19 million deal after the Red Raiders’ Elite Eight run last season. He currently has a buyout of about $6 million.
Beard — who is in his third season with the Red Raiders, and just his fourth as a head coach — would be a huge get for either Arkansas or UCLA. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek wants to talk to Chris Beard after the season about the job, too, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. They had attempted to land Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, however Sampson agreed to an extension through the 2025 season earlier this month.
The UCLA job is still open after the program fired Steve Alford in December. The Bruins were reportedly closing in on a deal with TCU coach Jamie Dixon earlier this week, however that deal fell through, according to the Los Angeles Times.
While both schools will undoubtedly attempt to sway Beard into leaving Texas Tech after the national championship game on Monday, regardless of outcome, Hocutt said he believes his program is still superior.
And with the investment that the university is making into the basketball program — they are currently building a $30 million practice facility — Hocutt thinks that Beard will remain in West Texas for the foreseeable future.
“I think our job is better than UCLA’s [and Arkansas’],” Hocutt said, via USA Today. “Absolutely. It’s one of the best jobs in the country.”
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