SEC Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches heading into 2023-24 season
By Caleb Hall
No. 7 Chris Beard, Ole Miss Rebels
Chris Beard had some unforeseen controversy last year when he was fired from Texas, however, he looks to get back on track this year with the Ole Miss Rebels. Beard is most known from his time at Texas Tech where he led the red raiders to the national championship game and an elite eight. Then he coached Texas for the last two years until he got fired in the middle of last season for the controversy he was involved.
He led the Texas Longhorns to a 22-12 record in his first year, where they finished 4th in the BIG 12 and made it to the round of 32. Then last season he only coached the first 8 games where they went 7-1 and were looking very good. Without Beard the team still went to an elite eight, so you can only imagine how far they would go with him coaching.
Ole Miss took a chance by hiring Beard, and just by looking at his coaching record and style he will look to be a great hire for the Rebels (if you don’t look at his controversy). Beard already brought in the 9th best transfer class this season, comprised of 6 new transfers (per 247sports).
Ole Miss should be looking up next season and even if the potential future if Beard stays there a while. Beard’s wins throughout the regular season and postseason play proves he is a capable coach who can lead this Ole Miss team to a lot of wins in the future.