Dirk X West

I don't think Tech could pull any coach away from a bigger program. I never said they could, though Beard did leave UNLV for Tech. Beard is Beard, though. He's not an abstraction or a hypothetical. He wants to be at Tech, and he's a good coach. Again, I know that for most of you, the only way this adds up is to see him as an up and comer and who's only gonna be at Tech until a bigger job comes along, because "that's how coaches are". Reality is more complicated than that, however.

You're not getting what I'm saying. I love Austin and kinda hate Lubbock. I'm moved here as soon as I could, and I love it. I also love the university, as an institution. Loving Austin is about a lot more than just whether I cheer for UT versus Tech, though. Again, though, as I said in my last comment, it seems like so many of you don't seem to realize that, even with the facilities and the money and the history, everything is not 100% great here, and also, there are great things about other places too. If it was only about money and facilities, UT would win every 99% of all games in all sports, but there's more to it than that.

No, I'm saying if UT is a top 5, even a top 1 or 2 program, in almost every sport, shouldn't UT have one of the best 2 or 5 coaches in the country most of the time in most sports?

Yes, UT is absolutely what you said. I love it; I'm glad to live here and work here. But, you don't see any downside to being a coach here, at all? I think actual coaches would tell you there is.

UT is my school, in just about every way, except as a sports fan. I grew up partly in Odessa and partly in Lubbock in a family of Tech fans, and that doesn't wash off, for good or for bad. I cheer for UT except when they play Tech, but Tech is in my blood in a different way. My friends and family, however, think I'm "burnt orange through and through". As far as the coaching part, what I'm saying is while UT fans believe they can have any coach they want, the reality is, UT has never had a football coach - much less a basketball coach - in my years as a fan (so since the mid '80s) that would've been considered a coach like not only Saban, but even like Urban Meyer, a guy that other schools dream of having. Mack Brown might have been pretty close, but David McWilliams, John Mackovic, Charlie Strong? Similarly, Barnes was close at his peak, but outside of him? I realize that y'all probably think this is a pattern of bad hiring, but to me, reality is the thing. I know the reality of Tech sports. I'm good with it. Humility is good.

My impression is that he was the arguably the best guy available at the time, if that's how you're defining it, but it seems to me that there's a significant portion of the fanbase that wasn't that excited when he got hired and still aren't quite sold on him.

Tech has more money than they used to to throw at facilities and coaches' salaries than we used to, but I think it's more that Beard - and Tadlock - are different cases. They're guys that want to be at Tech. I know most of you have such a hard time believing the truth of that you can't acknowledge it as a factor in their decision making, but it is.

I'm not naive about anything. I understand that UT is an insanely wealthy athletic dept. that has some individual programs that have been historically very successful, among the very best in college sports. Men's basketball is not one of them. I got two graduate degrees at UT-Austin, have lived here for 20+ years and have worked on campus now for 7 years. I see it up close, and I have loads of friends here who are alums and are huge UT fans. The reality of UT sports is not the same as the myth. It's just not. I know you all are fans and believe in your school, but you seem to think you can have any coach you want. You can't. The reality of who you've been hiring in football, just to name the biggest, wealthiest, most important individual program, bears that out.

And I'm sure you believe that.

Tim Tadlock

I think KU is more his speed.

Agreed.

I don't think he's a lifer, but I don't think he's done at Tech yet either.

Yeah, whatever, Lubbock sucks. Just don't be surprised when he's still at Tech next year.

Because he's happy where he is, he's getting paid well, Tech is about to open a first rate practice facility designed to his specs, and now he's pulling blue chip recruits, maybe?

RE: Josh Jung "Jung left Friday’s game, a 12-2 Tech victory, with a quadriceps strain. His streak of 139 consecutive starts ended Saturday, but Tadlock said the injury is “not very bad.” “He hit this morning,” Tadlock said, “so you can bet he’s ready to go.”" https://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20190309/without-jung-red-raiders-shock-wichita-state

Men's Basketball All-Big 12 Honors Announced

In other news, Beard named Big 12 coach of the year and J Culver Big 12 player of the year by the league.

No, the funny thing is that OSU fans had to watch Tech people do it before they "got the idea".

Pussy. oSu has the worst fanbase in the Big 12, other than maybe WVU. Fuck you.

Yes, no coach is perfect, and there's no coach UT could possibly get (including Beard for the sake of discussion) that would be a 100% guaranteed success in Austin.

Long time coming. That great team we had that won the SWC back in the 'mid 90s with Sasser, Carr, Battie, etc., seems like forever ago.

Tech threatening to blow the game open leading Wichita State 7-1 in the bottom of the 7th in game 1 of the weekend series.