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Texas Tech basketball: What Chris Beard’s new deal means for the program

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 04: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2019 NCAA Tournament Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 4, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 04: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2019 NCAA Tournament Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 4, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech fans do not have to worry about losing Chris Beard anytime soon

If there was one annoying aspect of this year’s run to the national title game for Red Raider fans, it was the constant noise from so-called college basketball experts about how Beard would was going to jump ship at the first opportunity.  Unaware of Beard’s deep ties to the university and West Texas, many predicted Beard would be lured away as soon as this offseason by schools such as UCLA or Arkansas when those jobs opened up.

What’s more, it was assumed that Beard would be the primary target of his alma mater, Texas, should Shaka Smart be fired (which seemed possible after the Longhorns missed the NCAA Tournament).  But this new deal makes it highly unlikely that Beard will leave for any but a handful of the top jobs in the nation, especially not Texas.

Beard’s buyout should he leave for another job, including the NBA, is $3 million.  But that number increases to $6 million for Big 12 schools or any school in Texas.  In other words, the Longhorns.

Certainly, Texas has the money to afford a $6 million buyout.  But keep in mind that the school would have to pay Shaka Smart the full remaining amount of his guaranteed contract, which runs through 2022-23, meaning they would owe him close to $8million.

In other words, Texas would have to invest approximately $14 million just to lure Beard away from Tech and that’s on top of a salary that likely would have to be in the neighborhood of $6 million per year.  Should they give Beard five years at $5.5 million, that would bring their total investment in their basketball coach to somewhere approaching $38 million.

Even for the most wealthy athletic program in the nation, that is an astronomical figure to dedicate to basketball, which will always be the step-sister to football in Austin.  And given that Kansas seems to be the only other program in the Big 12 that would have the prestige required to pry Beard away, Tech fans can rest easy knowing that their coach is gong to be a Red Raider for quite some time.

Given that there are only two programs currently paying their coaches more money than Beard is making, we can eliminate all but perhaps 10-15 programs in the nation that would have both the pedigree and the resources to make a serious run at Chris Beard.  Hopefully, this will give us a rest from the constant speculation about Beard’s future in Lubbock.

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