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Texas Tech basketball: Why Tech is a better fit for Chris Beard than UT

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gestures during the first half of the college basketball game against the Kentucky Wildcats on January 25, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gestures during the first half of the college basketball game against the Kentucky Wildcats on January 25, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Jan 30, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard reacts to a play by Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) against LSU Tigers during the second half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard reacts to a play by Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) against LSU Tigers during the second half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports /

The culture at Texas Tech is exactly what Chris Beard wants his teams to embody

For years, the Texas athletic department has done less with more than any department in the nation, especially when it comes to football and men’s basketball.  And many people in the know point to the country club mentality that is so pervasive down in Austin as a huge reason why.  Does that sound like an environment for Chris Beard to thrive in?

The exact opposite of UT’s Club-Med environment is what Beard has going on in West Texas.  That’s where his street-dog mentality has taken root and come to define the entire program.  Will he be able to create such an environment in Austin?  Shaka Smart certainly couldn’t.

Though Red Raider fans like to poke fun at Smart given his struggles in Austin, don’t forget that when he was hired at UT, he was one of the rising stars in the sport.  After all, he was just four years removed from taking Virginia Commonwealth to the Final Four and he’d taken the Rams to five-straight NCAA Tournaments.  That sounds quite a bit like Chris Beard’s resume.

What’s more, Smart’s teams were known for playing with an edge and out-working or out-hustling their opponents.  In other words, Smart’s teams played with a chip on their shoulders that seemed to help give them an edge over more talented squads.  That sounds quite a bit like Chris Beard’s reputation.

People have been quick to point out that Beard might be able to recruit at a higher level in Austin but will players ranked that high want to be coached as hard as he will coach them?  Or do they want to be coddled and pampered like they have been their entire lives?  The saga of such high-profile recruits at Tech as Khavon Moore, Nimari Burnett, and highly-regarded transfer Joel Ntambwe suggest that they won’t after all three left the program when they didn’t get their way.

The UT entitlement goes beyond the basketball program too.  Such coaches as Charlie Strong and Tom Herman haven’t been able to cure that problem in the football program despite having all the resources and talent any program could hope for.  That just doesn’t seem like an institutional attitude that would fit Chris Beard’s mentality.

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