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

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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Chris Beard directs his players of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the college basketball game against the Northwestern State Demons at United Supermarkets Arena on November 25, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

He will always be second-fiddle to the football coach in Austin

Right now, Chris Beard could run for mayor of Lubbock and win unanimously, even getting the vote of current mayor Dan Pope. But were he to take the job in Austin, he would lose his status as the biggest entity on campus.

There’s simply no way that basketball will ever be a greater priority in Austin than football. Thus, Beard would always have to play second-fiddle to someone were he to head to a football school.

What’s more, Texas basketball will never get the type of treatment that Texas football will. For instance, right now, he makes $4.9 million per year, which is over twice what Matt Wells makes. There’s no way anyone could ever fathom seeing UT pay their basketball coach twice what they pay their football coach regardless of whether that coach was John Wooden.

What’s more, the fan support for his program will never be what it is for the football program at UT. Anyone who has been to a recent Red Raider game at the Erwin Center knows that the crowd has been 40% or more Red Raider fans and that those fans have made about 80% of the noise in the arena.

Texas is purely a football school. Sure, they have historically had success in other sports but in the end, all that matters in Austin is what happens at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Thus, Beard would have to accept being an afterthought to not only his fan base but also to his own administration and that’s certainly not the case in Lubbock.

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