Sun Belt Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jul 6, 2020

PHOENIX - MARCH 27: Head coach Darrin Horn of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers yells at his team during the second half of the West Regional Sweet 16 game against the UCLA Bruins at the U.S. Airways Center on March 27, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

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DENVER, CO – MARCH 17: Chris Beard, head coach of Arkansas Little Rock Trojans (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

3. Chris Beard – Little Rock (2015-2016)

It’s easy to argue that for his immediate success with the Trojans that Beard should be the conference’s best head coach. When you consider what’s happened in his years with Texas Tech, we can only imagine what could have happened had he spent more than one season in the Sun Belt. He had jumped around as head coach at a number of smaller colleges before getting his first D1 job in 2015, taking full advantage.

The Trojans had won 28 total games in their last two seasons before Beard took over. He won 30 games in his only year in Little Rock. Not only did he lead Little Rock to a program-record number of wins, but they made the NCAA Tournament and upset 5-seed Purdue in a thrilling opening-round game. Considering that Little Rock won just 22 games in the two seasons following Beard’s departure, his accomplishments look even more impressive.

We all know Beard for his work with Texas Tech since 2016, including leading them to the national title game in 2019. It’s impossible to know what he would have done had he stayed for longer in the Sun Belt, but we can only assume it would be a more stupendous success. Beard is clearly the most successful coach produced by the Sun Belt since the turn of the century, but he’s limited by spending just one season in the conference.