BREAKING: Longhorns Hiring Texas Tech's Chris Beard As Head Coach

The Texas Longhorns have found the next leader of their men's basketball program, in Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard.

Matt Galatzan | Apr 1, 2021

Just days after mutually parting ways with former head coach Shaka Smart, the Texas Longhorns have found the next leader of their program, in Texas Tech's Chris Beard, LonghornsCountry.com has learned.

Beard comes to the Longhorns as one of the most desirable coaches in the entire country and has led Texas Tech to three NCAA Tournaments in four seasons, including a final four and national championship game appearances.

Beard, who was a manager for the Texas Longhorns under coach Tom Penders (1991-1995), finished his time in Lubbock with a record of 112-55 (.671 winning percentage) and 49-40 (.551) in the Big 12.

So how much are the Longhorns have to pay to pry Beard away from the Red Raiders? We have confirmed with UT officials that the number for that buyout would be at least $4 million.

A number which, conveniently dropped from $5 million on Thursday. That amount of money would normally be a bit of an issue for most schools, but this is Texas.

And with Smart accepting a job at another school (at the urging of UT, we are told), which allows Texas to bypass the financial ramifications from firing him, the road to finding Smart's replacement, and securing the funds to hire Beard, became that much easier.

"If we want to play big-boy basketball, we are going to have to pay the price," One source told LonghornsCountry.com.

The Longhorns will now pay that price, and what they are getting in return, they expect, will be worth the investment.

Who do you think is the best candidate to replace Smart? Comment and join in on the discussion below!

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.

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.