DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Texas is hiring Texas Tech's Chris Beard to be the next head coach of their men's basketball program, according to 105.3 The Fan's Mike Fisher.
According to Chip Brown of Horns247, Texas waited until today to speak with Beard after his buyout dropped from $5 million to $4 million. But according to Fisher, Texas had been hot on Beard's trail since they mutually parted ways with former head coach Shaka Smart last week and helped lead him to his new job at Marquette.
Beard, 48, is a former Texas graduate. He got his first coaching experience as a student assistant under Tom Penders in the early 1990s.
Brown reports that the decision to leave the Red Raiders wasn't an easy one for Beard as he has taken the program to new heights in his time leading the program. Tech reached the Elite Eight in 2018 and reached the national championship game in 2019. However, the allure of heading back to his alma mater was too much for him to pass up.
Beard was reportedly earning an average salary of $4.6 million per season on his contract with Texas Tech that was set to run through 2024-25.