By CHARLIE PARENT
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard has signed a four-year extension that will keep him with the Rebels through the 2029-2030 season, the university announced Wednesday.
The financials of the deal weren’t disclosed. He was scheduled to make $3.35 million next season.
Beard, the 2019 National Coach of the Year, led Ole Miss to their first 20-win campaign since 2019 in his first year in Oxford.
“I appreciate Chancellor (Glenn) Boyce, Keith and the Ole Miss administration for their belief and support as we continue on our path of building a championship program in Oxford,” Beard said. “I also want to express my gratitude to the Ole Miss fan base, supporters, alumni and our students for their dedication to our players and program. We are just getting started.”
The Rebels finished the regular season 20-11 (7-11 SEC). They started the year at 13-0 but struggled with higher competition all season and are likely to miss the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss starts the SEC Tournament Thursday against 7th-seeded Texas A&M.
He will now remain out of any offseason coaching rumors, with jobs at Louisville, West Virginia, DePaul and Ohio State currently open.
Beard started his head coaching career at Little Rock, where he took the Trojans to a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament and upset No. 5 seed Purdue in 2016. He then moved to Texas Tech and took the Raiders to the Final Four in 2019. Beard was hired away from Lubbock by his alma mater Texas in 2021, but was ultimately let go in his second season after he was arrested and charged with third-degree family violence, though the charges later were dropped.
Follow Charlie on Twitter
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram
And Like ZAGS on Facebook
