Under Beard's watch, the Texas Tech Red Raiders made the deepest NCAA Tournament runs in school history.

Following that season, Beard was hired as an assistant and later associate head coach at Texas Tech to work under the legendary Bob Knight.

[3] Beard also spent one year as head coach for the South Carolina Warriors of the American Basketball Association, where he led the team to a 29–2 record.

[4] On March 8, 2012, Beard was hired as head coach at Lamar State College–Port Arthur, but resigned six days later for the same position at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, where he spent one season.

Little Rock was awarded a 12 seed and knocked off fifth-seeded Purdue 85–83 in double overtime to advance to the Second Round, where they fell to Iowa State.

On January 3, 2017, Beard led Texas Tech to upset #7 West Virginia[8] leading the Red Raiders to their first regular-season win over the Mountaineers in program history.

On March 23, 2018, Beard coached Texas Tech to its first-ever Elite Eight berth in program history with a 78–65 win over the Purdue Boilermakers.

[11] On March 30, 2019, Beard led Texas Tech to the first Final Four appearance in school history with a 75–69 victory over Gonzaga to win the West Regional.

On April 6, 2019, Beard led the Red Raiders to a 61–51 victory over Michigan State to earn the school's first National Championship berth.

On April 29, 2019, Beard signed a six-year extension worth more than $4.5 million a season,[12] becoming the third-highest-paid college basketball coach in the country.

[21] Trew later claimed that Beard was acting in self-defense and that he never strangled her, stating "As Chris' fiancé and biggest supporter, I apologize for the role I played in this unfortunate event.

[22] On February 15, Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced that based on the case evidence and the fiancee’s wishes not to prosecute, he likely could not get a conviction.

ESPN quoted Beard as saying, "I am honored to be joining the Ole Miss family and excited to get started at this great university".