I appreciate what Terry has done in very difficult circumstances that nobody anticipated going into the season. The team has stabilized and is performing well. He deserves credit for that. He also has a team full of experienced players who have been around the block and have learned how to manage adversity. He did not build this team and he did not create the culture. He is playing the hand he is dealt and is playing it well. The skill set of stepping in to maintain something someone else built and the skill set of leading all facets of a program are very, very different. For better or for worse, Terry has not demonstrated that as the leader of a program he can be anything better than mediocre. Some guys are fantastic assistants and just aren't cut out to be fantastic head coaches. Terry appears to be that. If he isn't, he needs to prove that at a program that isn't Texas.
Honestly, even if Terry would win the national championship, I wouldn't want him to be the head coach. Getting hot at the right time and guiding a team of upperclassmen to 6 wins isn't enough. I'm not naïve, and if he did manage to pull it off I'd fully expect him to get the job and I wouldn't complain.
How is Texas Tech feeling about Mark Adams in Year 2? Year 1 went well enough with Beard's players and with Beard's culture still mostly instilled. One year later and things are starting to look much different. The things Beard did well - and the things that make top head coaches so valuable - are not easy to find.