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Texas Tech basketball: What we hope the new coach does better than Chris Beard

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 04: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle during a timeout during the first half of the college basketball game against the Iowa State Cyclones at United Supermarkets Arena on March 04, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 04: The Texas Tech Red Raiders huddle during a timeout during the first half of the college basketball game against the Iowa State Cyclones at United Supermarkets Arena on March 04, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 21: Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders goes for a lay-up during the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 21: Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders goes for a lay-up during the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Keep rosters intact

Speaking of processing the roster on a yearly basis, can we stop that now?  It only worked for Beard once and it isn’t a way to build a consistent program.

By “processing” we mean getting rid of a huge swath of the players on the active roster every offseason.  That’s what Beard did every year and as justification, he always pointed to his time as an ABA head coach or as a coach at lower levels where he often had to restock his roster on an annual basis.

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Since Beard’s first season as head coach, the Texas Tech basketball program has averaged 7.2 newcomers to the roster every year.  That’s no way to build consistency and it’s a tough way to put together a cohesive team as for half of every season, your new collection of players is learning how to coexist with each other on the floor.

Sure, it worked one time.  In 2018-19, he took a team with six newcomers all the way to the National Title Game.  But in the two years since, Beard tried to re-create that magic with far less success.

Meanwhile, other teams, older teams that have played together, surpassed Tech in the Big 12.  For instance, the program he just joined had nine upperclassmen, all of whom were with the program the year prior as they finished third in the conference race.  Then there’s Baylor, which has seven upperclassmen, six of which have multiple years of experience in that program.

The next coach must do a better job at putting together a roster and developing it on a yearly basis rather than simply shuffling the deck every offseason like a dealer at a Vegas blackjack table.  That’s not how Texas Tech is going to sustain success season after season.

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