Ole Miss Basketball: 3 takeaways from the hiring of head coach Chris Beard

What does this mean for Beard?

To understand why the Rebels would be willing to make this hire, you have to understand more about Beard’s background. We’re not talking about the off-court shenanigans, because Beard’s coaching career has been a story of consistent success no matter where he’s gone. He was a graduate assistant at Texas back in the early 90’s and was an assistant or junior college head coach at five different schools early on his career.

Beard spent a decade at Texas Tech, mostly under Bob Knight, and was also a semi-pro coach for a year in South Carolina. Early head coaching stints at McMurray and Angelo State were successful in the lower collegiate levels, but he really had his breakthrough at Little Rock. Beard spent just one season with the Trojans, but took that program to 30 wins an upset victory over Purdue in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

That instant success is why Ole Miss was interested in Beard, and Little Rock wasn’t the only example. He returned to Texas Tech as head coach a few weeks later and led the program to its first-ever trip to the national championship just three years later. In fact, the year before (2018), he actually took the Red Raiders to their first-ever Elite Eight and is thus responsible for their two most successful postseason runs.

Before he was fired by Texas, his year and a half with the Longhorns had actually been pretty solid. His Texas team made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first year, and has been one of the Big 12’s best teams this season, even if he’s been gone for most of that ride. Beard certainly built the team that has a 2-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and just won the Big 12 Tournament, even if he wasn’t the one directly coaching them to that recent success.

Ole Miss is a chance for redemption for a coach who’s shown that he can win anywhere he goes. He was willing to leave Texas Tech for an in-conference rival that happened to be his alma mater. What this hiring means is that Beard is back at a major conference school and at a place where he’ll be given a second chance. If Beard were to lead the Rebels to the promised land and a bigger job opens up, he won’t hesitate to bolt yet again.