Chris Beard is staying at Ole Miss.
The 52-year-old will remain the Rebels' head men's basketball coach despite interest from Texas A&M for the school's vacant job. On3's Pete Nakos reported Wednesday that Ole Miss was able to lure Beard back by offering a "significant boost" to his salary and NIL resources.
Ole Miss has offered Chris Beard a significant boost in salary and NIL, sources have told @On3sports. https://t.co/OsP2Qv6Ilh
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) April 2, 2025
Beard led the Rebels to a 24-12 record and a berth in the Sweet 16 this season, his second in Oxford. In his first season on campus, Ole Miss went 20-12 and missed the NCAA tournament.
Beard has had three jobs in Texas already. He was the head coach at Division II Angelo State for two seasons from 2013 to '15, before spending one season at Little Rock, where he went 30-5 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. That landed him the Texas Tech job.
In five seasons in charge of the Red Raiders, Beard went 112-55 (.671) and led the program to the Elite Eight in 2018 and a spot in the national championship game in 2019. Texas hired him away in 2021.
Beard went 22-12 in his first season with the Longhorns, but was suspended and eventually fired midway through the 2022-23 season after being arrested for third-degree felony domestic assault against his fiancee. He was fired on Jan. 5, 2023, though the charges were dropped a month later after his fiancee did not want to prosecute.
Ole Miss hired him in March 2023.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ole Miss Coach Chris Beard Makes Decision About Coaching Future Amid Texas A&M Rumors.
