What Chris Beard Brings to Longhorns as New Texas Coach

The Texas Longhorns have moved to hire Texas Tech's Chris Beard to replace Shaka Smart as head coach. So what will he bring to the program?

Matt Galatzan | Apr 1, 2021

After a disappointing NCAA Tournament, rumors about Texas coach Shaka Smart’s future were buzzing.

Shortly after that, Smart reportedly agreed to become Marquette University’s next head coach, leaving Texas after six seasons.

On Thursday, as sources told LonghornsCountry.com, that vacancy has now been filled by one of the nation’s most esteemed coaches, Texas Tech's Chris Beard.

So what will Beard bring to the Longhorns? Defense, discipline, and hopefully, a. type of success the program has not seen since the Rick Barnes era in Austin.

First and foremost, Beard's ability to put players in the NBA has become apparent, with 2019's No. 6 overall picks Jarrett Culver and 2020 second-round pick Jahmi'us Ramsey being selected into the league in back-to-back seasons... a crucial factor in the recruiting front, a place where Texas has struggled to maximize their talent in recent seasons.

Schematically, however, is where Beard truly shines, where his unique “no-middle” defense, which has ranked No. 4, No. 1, No. 9, and No. 24 in defensive efficiency in the nation from 2018 through 2021, is one of the most complicated defensive schemes for the opposition to decipher in all of college basketball.

Moreover, Beard's offensive acumen should not be underestimated either, as his leadership has allowed Tech to rank in the top 50 in offensive efficiency in each of the past four seasons.

Using that defense-first formula, Tech finished in the top-three of the Big 12 in three of his five seasons, including winning a regular-season Big 12 Conference Championship in 2019.

In fact, during that 2019 season, Beard was the winner of both the Big 12 and AP National Coach of the Year awards, following a 31-7 overall record and his team's overtime loss in the national title game to Virginia.

Now with the resources and the prestige of the University of Texas behind him, and assuming he can put them to good use on the recruiting front, Beard's ability to cultivate a winning culture should shine through, and make the Longhorns a top contender in the Big 12 for years to come.

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Published Apr 1, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.