Will Chris Beard return to the Forty Acres?

Since Shaka Smart left the Texas Longhorns for the Marquette Golden Eagles last Friday, that question has largely defined the Austin coaching search for athletics director Chris Del Conte.

In recent days, there has been a noticeable lack of information from the Longhorns program and the Red Raiders program.

Aside from Del Conte interviewing Brooklyn Nets assistant Royal Ivey on Sunday and Beard’s first positive ties to Texas on Friday, things have remained largely calm.

In the Southern Plains, Beard has not denied his interest in the Texas job or announced that he is staying in Lubbock. There is no discussion of another contract extension or raise for Beard. In fact, there are even discussions on the message board that Beard and athletics director Kirby Hocutt are not communicating at the moment.

Look for the end of the quiet period on Thursday, when Beard’s buyout to move to another Big 12 school goes from $ 5 million to $ 4 million.

There is also a report that Beard will meet with the Texas administration on a series of questions.

1. Without knowing what kind of freedom Beard wants, this is probably the hardest question to speculate. Is Beard just talking about the money to hire the assistants he wants – defense guru Mark Adams is one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the country – or are they others? aspects of program management?
2. The Moody Center is slated to open next year with protected dates for basketball games and other school events, but it’s possible that access to practice times can sometimes be affected by concerts scheduled on the site. The Cooley Pavilion replacement will be a $ 60 million four-story facility with training space for rowing as well as men’s and women’s basketball, originally slated for completion around the same time. than the Moody Center. Both projects are expected to help the Texas facility surpass that of the current Texas Tech campus.
3. Before the pandemic-related cuts, Beard was expected to earn just over $ 5 million this year under the six-year, $ 27.4 million contract extension he signed less than two years ago. years. In order to convince Beard to leave Lubbock, Texas would almost certainly have to give Beard a raise. New football head coach Steve Sarkisian’s contract is $ 5.2 million in 2021, so hiring Beard probably makes him the highest-paid coach on campus. Is Del Conte ready to make this gesture?

Other factors could also influence Beard’s decision.

Texas are handing over a large chunk of their roster this season, with the potential to have up to nine new scholarship recipients for the 2021-22 campaign. Texas Tech, on the other hand, has a strong core of young talent recruited by Beard.

Job security could also play a role – Beard took Texas Tech to an Elite Eight and the NCAA Tournament National Championship game, marking the most successful era in basketball program history and has earned him the opportunity to go 18-17 in conference for the past two seasons without any fan grumbling or reduced fan support at United Supermarket Arena.

Quite the contrary, in fact Red Raiders fans have passed the days since Smart left speculating what it means that Beard changed his Twitter cover photo, creating shrines and begging him to stay, like Pat Mahomes, or trying to bribe him to stay. , like many local businesses, including this one.

The experiences of Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart in Texas provide a glimpse of what could happen to Beard in Austin.

Like Beard, Barnes presided over the most successful period in school history, but fan support quickly dissolved when Barnes failed to match that success and then spent years trying to get him fired.

Support for Smart waned after an 11-22 season in Smart’s second year on campus, when there was a high turnover after the 2015-16 season. Fans then seemed reluctant to place the 2017-18 season in the context of Andrew Jones’ diagnosis of leukemia or the late suspension of Kerwin Roach II or the suspension of Eric Davis, Jr., focusing instead on a loss. in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for a team from Nevada that was not only higher ranked, but probably under-ranked as well.

Considering the need to completely reshape the Texas roster on arrival, will Longhorns fans have patience with Beard if he has a season like Smart’s second season or if he drops to .500 or less? in conference? Would the frustration over the lack of success in NCAA tournaments since 2008 bleed into the Beard Era as it did in the Smart Era?

Even with the excitement for the start of the Beard era in Austin, attendance may not match that of Texas Tech during the 2019-20 season, when the Red Raiders averaged just over 14,000 fans per game. No. 20 nationally and well over 90% of capacity. .

When Smart arrived, attendance increased by 14%. The same increase for Beard over pre-pandemic attendance would put Texas at around 11,000 fans per game next season, three thousand less than Lubbock last year and around 66% of capacity.

That increase would roughly match Texas’ average capacity per game in the Final Four after the 2002-03 season. So even at the height of success under Barnes, the Erwin Center was a third empty. The following season, when the Longhorns finally made the Elite Eight, attendance declined following the departure of TJ Ford.

The Moody Center will solve some of these issues with a much lower capacity – 10,000 for basketball games instead of almost 17,000 – but it’s not just about the number of fans in attendance, but also their level of engagement. , an area where Texas Tech also has an advantage.

Assuming the Beard-Texas reunion takes place on Thursday and even if Del Conte can answer any questions Beard would have for him, the roster-building benefits, job security, and fan support are all compelling reasons for Beard to stay in Lubbock.

If Beard ends up accepting the Texas job, it seems safe to say it would be because he really wants to come back to Austin and take on the challenge of rebuilding at his alma mater.

On Chris Beard’s day, there should finally be some movement to determine if this is the case.

Will Chris Beard return to the Forty Acres?

Since Shaka Smart left the Texas Longhorns for the Marquette Golden Eagles last Friday, that question has largely defined the Austin coaching search for athletics director Chris Del Conte.

In recent days, there has been a noticeable lack of information from the Longhorns program and the Red Raiders program.

Aside from Del Conte interviewing Brooklyn Nets assistant Royal Ivey on Sunday and Beard’s first positive ties to Texas on Friday, things have remained largely calm.

In the Southern Plains, Beard has not denied his interest in the Texas job or announced that he is staying in Lubbock. There is no discussion of another contract extension or raise for Beard. In fact, there are even discussions on the message board that Beard and athletics director Kirby Hocutt are not communicating at the moment.

Look for the end of the quiet period on Thursday, when Beard’s buyout to move to another Big 12 school goes from $ 5 million to $ 4 million.

There is also a report that Beard will meet with the Texas administration on a series of questions.

1. Without knowing what kind of freedom Beard wants, this is probably the hardest question to speculate. Is Beard just talking about the money to hire the assistants he wants – defense guru Mark Adams is one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the country – or are they others? aspects of program management?
2. The Moody Center is slated to open next year with protected dates for basketball games and other school events, but it’s possible that access to practice times can sometimes be affected by concerts scheduled on the site. The Cooley Pavilion replacement will be a $ 60 million four-story facility with training space for rowing as well as men’s and women’s basketball, originally slated for completion around the same time. than the Moody Center. Both projects are expected to help the Texas facility surpass that of the current Texas Tech campus.
3. Before the pandemic-related cuts, Beard was expected to earn just over $ 5 million this year under the six-year, $ 27.4 million contract extension he signed less than two years ago. years. In order to convince Beard to leave Lubbock, Texas would almost certainly have to give Beard a raise. New football head coach Steve Sarkisian’s contract is $ 5.2 million in 2021, so hiring Beard probably makes him the highest-paid coach on campus. Is Del Conte ready to make this gesture?

Other factors could also influence Beard’s decision.

Texas are handing over a large chunk of their roster this season, with the potential to have up to nine new scholarship recipients for the 2021-22 campaign. Texas Tech, on the other hand, has a strong core of young talent recruited by Beard.

Job security could also play a role – Beard took Texas Tech to an Elite Eight and the NCAA Tournament National Championship game, marking the most successful era in basketball program history and has earned him the opportunity to go 18-17 in conference for the past two seasons without any fan grumbling or reduced fan support at United Supermarket Arena.

Quite the contrary, in fact Red Raiders fans have passed the days since Smart left speculating what it means that Beard changed his Twitter cover photo, creating shrines and begging him to stay, like Pat Mahomes, or trying to bribe him to stay. , like many local businesses, including this one.

The experiences of Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart in Texas provide a glimpse of what could happen to Beard in Austin.

Like Beard, Barnes presided over the most successful period in school history, but fan support quickly dissolved when Barnes failed to match that success and then spent years trying to get him fired.

Support for Smart waned after an 11-22 season in Smart’s second year on campus, when there was a high turnover after the 2015-16 season. Fans then seemed reluctant to place the 2017-18 season in the context of Andrew Jones’ diagnosis of leukemia or the late suspension of Kerwin Roach II or the suspension of Eric Davis, Jr., focusing instead on a loss. in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for a team from Nevada that was not only higher ranked, but probably under-ranked as well.

Given the need to completely reshape the Texas roster on arrival, will Longhorns fans have patience with Beard if he has a season like Smart’s second season or if he drops to .500 or less? in conference? Would the frustration over the lack of success in NCAA tournaments since 2008 bleed into the Beard Era as it did in the Smart Era?

Even with the excitement for the start of the Beard era in Austin, attendance may not match that of Texas Tech during the 2019-20 season, when the Red Raiders averaged just over 14,000 fans per game. No. 20 nationally and well over 90% of capacity. .

When Smart arrived, attendance increased by 14%. The same increase for Beard over pre-pandemic attendance would put Texas at around 11,000 fans per game next season, three thousand less than Lubbock last year and around 66% of capacity.

That increase would roughly match Texas’ average capacity per game in the Final Four after the 2002-03 season. So even at the height of success under Barnes, the Erwin Center was a third empty. The following season, when the Longhorns finally made the Elite Eight, attendance declined following the departure of TJ Ford.

The Moody Center will solve some of these issues with a much lower capacity – 10,000 for basketball games instead of almost 17,000 – but it’s not just about the number of fans in attendance, but also their level of engagement. , an area where Texas Tech also has an advantage.

Assuming the Beard-Texas reunion takes place on Thursday and even if Del Conte can answer any questions Beard would have for him, the roster-building benefits, job security, and fan support are all compelling reasons for Beard to stay in Lubbock.

If Beard does end up accepting the Texas job, it seems reasonable to argue that it would be because he really wants to come back to Austin and take on the challenge of rebuilding at his alma mater.

On Chris Beard’s day, there should finally be some movement to determine if this is the case.