Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Texas A&M took a shot at landing Chris Beard and missed

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Apr 2, 2025 5:59 PM ET

Texas A&M men's basketball suffered a big loss when the Maryland Terrapins poached now-former head coach Buzz Williams to lead their program.

Getting the next head coach right is important for athletic director Trev Alberts, especially because Williams had gotten the Aggies on a great track. He had taken them to the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons and he had the Aggies ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll this season.

The Aggies should have plenty of options as a historically strong program, but there was one intriguing head coach option they had in their crosshairs.

According to college basketball insider Pete Thamel of ESPN that would be current Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. In fact, the two were engaged in some serious conversations, per Thamel.

Chris Beard has informed Ole Miss he's staying at the school, sources tell me and @jeffborzello. He'd engaged in significant discussions with Texas A&M, but he ultimately decided to stay at Ole Miss. He's set to receive a raise, more resources for staff and a strong NIL package. pic.twitter.com/5N0g629V6I
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 2, 2025

Beard would have been a very intriguing option for the Aggies because he has a ton of experience coaching and recruiting in the state of Texas.

He was the head coach at Texas Tech for five seasons and led the Red Raiders to the Final Four in 2018-19. He then was the head coach of the Texas Longhorns starting in 2021 before an arrest for an alleged domestic assault led to his firing. Notably, the charges were dropped against him soon after the Longhorns fired him.

This is all in the past tense, though, because Beard is apparently happy at Ole Miss. One gets the sense that Ole Miss is happy with Beard as well. Here's Athletic Director Keith Carter on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter:

Why stop now? pic.twitter.com/SD9tcr8Npd
— Keith Carter (@KeithCarterOM) April 2, 2025

You've got to give Texas A&M the credit for going after Beard, but the Aggies shot their shot and missed. Usually, this is the part of the story where a nice and lucrative extension is announced, and it didn't take long.

It's a tale as old as time.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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