Texas Tech, Chris Beard agree to lucrative long-term extension

After taking Texas Tech to the national title game this season, head coach Chris Beard is about to get paid handsomely for his work in Lubbock.

After leading Texas Tech to the National Championship Game, Chris Beard has been rewarded with a long-term extension.

Jon Rothstein was the first to report the news.

Texas Tech has never really been known as a basketball school, but that has changed under Beard’s watch. Beard has gone 76-31 since taking over at Texas Tech in 2016, leading the Red Raiders to three straight NCAA Tournaments and the national title game this year, and he is being handsomely rewarded for his hard work.

Jeff Borzello reports the extension is for six years and pays Beard $4.575 million per year, which trails only Kentucky’s John Calipari and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski for an annual salary. Good company.

That guarantee, which makes Beard the third highest paid coach in the country, should ease the fears of Red Raiders’ fans that a higher major program would try and lure him away from Lubbock. Having success at that kind of level at a school not known for basketball shows how good a coach Beard is, and that would have made him a guy to watch for future high-profile openings.

Texas Tech did a smart thing to reward Beard with a long-term extension, ensuring one of the brightest young coaches in the nation sticks around. Even before leading Texas Tech to new heights, Beard demonstrated he was an excellent coach at Arkansas-Little Rock, going 30-5 in his lone season there and winning a first round game in the NCAA Tournament before accepting the Red Raiders’ job.

Beard’s long-term commitment to the Red Raiders could also influence the balance of power in the Big 12, which has been lorded over by Kansas for a long time now. Texas Tech, along with Kansas State, snapped the Jayhawks’ run atop the conference and is now poised to be Kansas’ biggest rival for years to come.