Who is Chris Beard?
Christopher Michael Beard (born February 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). He also previously served as head coach at Texas, Texas Tech, Little Rock, Angelo State, and McMurry. Beard graduated from high school from McCullough High School in The Woodlands, Texas. He was a manager at Texas under former Longhorns coach Tom Penders, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology. He received a Masters of Education from Abilene Christian University where he served as a graduate assistant in 1998. Under Beard's watch, the Texas Tech Red Raiders made the deepest NCAA Tournament runs in school history. In 2019, the Red Raiders won a school-record 31 games on the way to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game against the Virginia Cavaliers. He was recognized as the 2019 AP National Coach of the Year.
