Texas Tech AD upset by manner of Chris Beard departure

Chris Beard departed Texas Tech for an in-state and conference rival in Texas, and when that happens, some hard feelings are inevitable. The Red Raiders’ athletic director isn’t bothering to hide that, either.

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said the school never got the chance to make Beard a counter-offer after Texas offered a contract. Hocutt added that it was frustrating to see Beard leave Texas Tech to go to a school in the same state and conference.

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt said “we were not given an opportunity to make a counter offer” to Chris Beard. Hocutt said Beard told him it was not a decision made for financial reasons.

— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) April 1, 2021

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt on Chris Beard: “You have somebody that walks away to go to an in-conference school, an in-state school, absolutely that frustrates you.”

— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) April 1, 2021

One gets the sense that “frustrates” is a substitution for a stronger emotion there, and it’s understandable. That said, Beard’s statement that the move to Texas isn’t financially motivated basically sums up why Texas Tech had little chance to convince him to stay. In fact, Beard’s move to Texas was actually helped along by a clause in his Texas Tech contract.

Fair or not, Beard didn’t owe Texas Tech the chance to make a counter-offer. He was a student manager at Texas in his college days as well, so it’s not as if he left for some program he has no attachment to. It’s a rough business, as Texas Tech found out here, but nobody appears to have done anything wrong in the process.