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Texas Tech coach Chris Beard will be named Texas Longhorns head coach, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

Beard goes to the Longhorns from the Big 12 rival Red Raiders, which he led to three NCAA Tournaments and a 112-55 record over five seasons. The Red Raiders lost to Virginia in the NCAA Tournament final in 2019.



The 48-year-old Beard got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Texas in the early 1990s, spent 10 years as an assistant at Texas Tech in the Bob Knight era and landed his first Division I head coaching job in 2015 at Little Rock. He spent just one season at the Sun Belt Conference school and posted a 30-5 record and a win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament before moving on to Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders finished the 2020-21 season with a 18-11 record (9-9 Big 12) and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They defeated No. 11 Utah State but lost to No. 3 Arkansas 68-66 in the second round.

At Texas, Beard will replace Shaka Smart, who left the Longhorns last week to become the head coach of Marquette.



Smart compiled a 109-86 record in Austin, including 52-56 in the Big 12, since his hiring in April 2015.

Texas was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round in both previous appearances under Smart, falling to No. 11 seed Northern Iowa in 2016 and No. 7 seed Nevada in 2018.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)