9. Chris Beard
Current Position: Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach
Head Coaching Record: 106-36 (all college basketball)
Looking to the college hoops ranks, the Chicago Bulls could seek out the Texas Tech Red Raiders hotshot head coach Chris Beard if he would’ve had any interest in making the jump to the NBA. Beard surely took the Texas Tech basketball program far enough last season to warrant the whispers of him breaking through to the NBA coaching ranks.
Texas Tech went from what appeared to be a middle of the road team in the Big 12 to one that nearly won a National Championship. If not for a late run from former star wing De’Andre Hunter and the Virginia Cavaliers to rally and win in overtime, Texas Tech would be the reigning National Champions.
Beard has a solid career record as a college head coach, and currently sits at 76-31 during his four season tenure at Texas Tech. There’s not much better the Bulls could in landing a rising star in the coaching ranks from college than landing Beard. But he does appear to be as committed to Texas Tech as a coach of his stature could be.
The Bulls would be taking a big risk in reaching to the collegiate ranks to find their next head coach, but it wouldn’t be any worse than what they did by rolling the dice on Boylen. Beard at least has significant success at the collegiate level as a head coach, which is much more than Boylen can say. Boylen’s coaching tenure with the Utah Utes was less than stellar.