Ole Miss Takes Much-Needed Home Run Swing With Chris Beard Hire

The Ole Miss Rebels hiring of Chris Beard is a major risk, but one that the fledgling program needed to take.

The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball program is an absolute dumpster fire, but Chris Beard might just be the man who can finally save it.

On Thursday, following four and a half seasons of mediocrity under Kermit Davis, the Rebels officially hired Beard as its next head coach, making him the 26th head coach in program history.

Entering the 2022-23 season, despite the new investments into the program, including new facilities, the Rebels were 64-61 under Davis.

28 games later, the Rebels had fallen to 74-79 in Davis' tenure and had cemented themselves as the SEC's worst program. 

And while the football and baseball programs were surging upward, basketball had devolved into arguably the school's worst major sport.

Suffice it to say, there was nowhere to go but up, and it was time to take a risk.

And while Beard does bring significant risk with him to Oxford, his hiring was the only choice the Rebels could have, and should have made.

Yes, the controversy surrounding Beard and his exit from the Texas Longhorns after being charged with felony assault of his fiance is nothing to brush off. 

But Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter has done his due diligence, and he would not be bringing Beard to Oxford if he felt that the proverbial juice was not worth the squeeze.

From a strictly legal standpoint, Beard is now 'off the hook' after those charges were dismissed by the Travis County District Attorney's Office.

So, while it might not be the best 'look' for the program, Beard will now get his second chance, while the Rebels get their opportunity at revival. 

And let's be clear, Beard was also - far and away - the most qualified candidate on the board for the Rebels.

Beard has won everywhere he has been. Whether it be McMurry (19-10), Angelo State (47-15), or Little Rock (30-5).

He has revived dead programs before, taking Texas Tech program that had been to one NCAA Tournament in a decade to four-straight March Madness appearances, including an Elite Eight and a national championship game.

Before his arrival at Texas, the Longhorns had not been past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2013-14. 

Ahead of his firing from Texas, Beard was 29-13 and had the Longhorns on the cusp of being ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, and many pundits had them pegged as the favorite to win the national title.

That is exactly the kind of consistency and juice that the Rebels needed to inject into their program. 

Dusty May, Steve Forbes and Grant McCasland would all have likely been better PR choices, but none of them have the proven record of winning that Beard has managed to cultivate over the last decade. 

So while it may not be pretty, or PC, or fill the college basketball landscape with warm fuzzies, the Rebels needed to find a way to hit a home run, and turn around the basketball program. 

And Beard was the only man truly qualified enough to fight that kind of uphill battle.

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You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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