It is coaching-search season, which once again reminds us the best candidates are not always the most obvious, and the NCAA tournament provides athletic directors an auditioning stage for prospective coaches. Chris Beard, formerly of Arkansas-Little Rock and a few other schools in recent years, is an example of both scenarios.
The 43-year-old Beard was not a household name, let alone a headliner in Vegas of all places, before Little Rock upset Purdue 85-83 in double-overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
If the Trojans, a No. 12 seed, did not upset the Boilermakers, would Beard be hired as UNLV’s head coach? Beard was afforded the opportunity to take over the program Jerry Tarkanian built despite others reported as candidates well before Little Rock beat Purdue — former Stephen F. Austin coach Brad Underwood, former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin and New Mexico State’s Marvin Menzies.
Rick Pitino’s name came up at first but that was a pipe dream because of what it cost to pry the veteran coach from Louisville. Arizona assistant coach Joe Pastnerack was also a reported candidate because UNLV president Len Jessup was in Tucson as the dean of the business school there when Sean Miller hired Pasternack to be his lead assistant.
After everything fell through at UNLV, Beard won more than that double-overtime thriller against Purdue. He won over Rebels athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, who rejected the pleas of former UNLV players to hire Stacey Augmon, a Rebel great who was an assistant under previous coach Dave Rice.
At this time last year, Beard was going through the same situation of being an unknown and unlikely candidate at Little Rock after going 47-15 record in two seasons at Division II Angelo State. Former Arkansas Razorback standout Joe Kleine – an assistant under previous Little Rock coach Steve Shields – was a fan favorite in Little Rock for the job. Darrell Walker, another former Razorback who coached Toronto and Washington in the NBA, was also mentioned as a possible candidate.
Little Rock athletic director Chris Conque was criticized by media and fans in Little Rock for going with Beard, who impressed Conque because of his experience at the collegiate level, including serving as an assistant under Bobby Knight at Texas Tech.
Three years ago, Beard completed his one and only season as head coach at Division III McMurry in Abilene, Texas. Now he is the face of UNLV basketball thanks to the chance Conque took on him and, of course, that thrilling victory over Purdue.
“Me personally, I’ve been overlooked my whole life,” Beard said the day before the upset of the Boilermakers. “I wake up every day with an edge. Guys like me get one chance. I wasn’t a great player. I don’t have a famous grandfather. I get up every day, surround myself with winners. Every day I feel like I’m an underdog.”
Beard is this year’s Andy Enfield and Dana Altman rolled into one as a benefactor of success in the NCAA tournament and fortunate others were not hired before him. If Florida Gulf Coast did not go to the Sweet 16 in 2013, becoming the first No. 15 seed to reach that round, does Enfield become USC’s head coach? Oregon’s coaching search in 2010 took 39 days after the Ducks’ season concluded – deep into April — with reports suggesting the Ducks “settled” on Altman, a fixture at Creighton for 16 years.
Column: After trying big names – including Izzo – Oregon makes solid hire in Altman, but keep the Duck calls down. http://bit.ly/bqWfly
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) April 25, 2010
Is Dana Altman a good enough hire for Oregon to save face?: Almost six weeks after Oregon officially fired longtim… http://bit.ly/cajXtw
— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) April 24, 2010
Gonzaga coach Mark Few, an Oregon grad and native of that state, was one of the first courted by the Ducks. Like Few does almost annually with programs from major conferences, he rejected Oregon’s overture. Tom Izzo, Brad Stevens, Mike Anderson and Jamie Dixon were mentioned as possibilities but were never serious candidates.
The Ducks were in a complete overhaul of the program with Ernie Kent let go and many of his players transferring elsewhere. Nobody, it seemed, wanted the job.
Oregon’s acting athletic director at the time, Patrick Kilkenny, resorted to calling former coach George Raveling, a Nike representative, for advice. Kilkenny did not need to hire a coaching-search firm. All he needed was Raveling, whose expertise led the Ducks’ brass to Altman at Creighton.
Raveling’s suggestion to hire Altman has proven to be clairvoyant. Altman has coached Oregon to six consecutive 20-win seasons and four straight NCAA tournament berths. The Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight this season, one victory away from their first Final Four since 1939.
UNLV’s search for a new coach was longer than Oregon’s because the Rebels fired Rice midway through the season. The attempt by Kunzer-Murphy to lure an established coach with name value dragged on 18 days after the Rebels’ season ended March 10 in the Mountain West tournament.
Beard’s hire two days after Cronin spurned UNLV to remain at Cincinnati prompted Ray Brewer of the Las Vegas Review-Journal to write, “He’s not a sexy pick — at least not yet. And because he won’t get the fan base excited and because UNLV hasn’t been as aggressive in recent seasons marketing the program, Beard will face an uphill battle getting supporters to buy in. He’s not going to fill those empty seats at the Thomas & Mack Center. Like some of you, I didn’t know of Beard until late last week through an Internet search when he emerged as a candidate.”
The media was critical of Altman’s hire by Oregon noting that his ties were almost entirely in the Midwest and not the West Coast, where he needed to recruit to find success. Now the Ducks’ fans would not trade Altman for any other coach.
After going 23-41 in his first two seasons at USC, Enfield quelled the notion that his Florida Gulf Coast success was a fluke by leading the Trojans to the NCAA tournament this season, a year before the youthful and talented Trojans were expected to get that far. Enfield outcoached crosstown rival and big-name coach Steve Alford of UCLA, beating the Bruins three times.
A Shippensburg, Pa., native, Enfield evolved into a coaching candidate himself when Pittsburgh came calling to gauge his interest for the opening thereafter Dixon left to TCU. USC in turn signed Enfield to a two-year contract extension through the 2020-21 season. The Trojans’ fans now look at Enfield as a keeper.
Patience became a virtue after the hire of Enfield off his NCAA tournament success and Altman following a long wait in the interview process. UNLV is banking on Beard following the same paths. What the Rebels’ fan base must realize is Enfield is still building four years into his tenure and Altman reached the Elite Eight in his sixth year.
As we have come to realize in these coaching searches of unknown and unexpected candidates, Beard will not be an overnight success. He is UNLV’s best option because he is the Rebels’ most viable option. Time will tell if folks in Las Vegas will wait long enough for Beard to get it right.
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