Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard gives heartfelt tribute to his mentor, the late Coach Bobby Knight
Oxford, Miss — The Ole Miss men’s basketball team opens the 2023-24 regular season on Monday night as the Rebels play Alabama State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the SJB Pavilion.
Head coach Chris Beard met with the media on Thursday to discuss the upcoming matchup.
Before looking ahead to the game against Alabama State, Beard talked about Bobby Knight, his former mentor, who died on Wednesday at the age of 83. During his coaching career, Knight won 902 games.
“Not an easy last day or so,” Beard said.
“I tried to wrap my head around it. Coach’s health hadn’t been great the last couple of years, so I guess in a lot of ways all of us who loved him, myself included, kind of knew this day was coming, but still, it didn’t make it any easier.”
Coach Chris Beard on the death of his mentor, Bobby Knight
Beard added that he lost his own father in June, something most people didn’t know. “But the combination of that with Coach Knight just made me reflect on a lot of things,” he said.
“For me, it’s accurate to say besides my own father nobody’s had more impact on my life than Bob Knight.”
Coach Beard
Beard was brought on staff by Knight in the 2001-02 season at Texas Tech.
“I met him in 2000 and for almost half my adult life I’ve been a Bob Knight guy, and I’m proud of that. They took a chance on me as a junior college coach in 2000, not only gave me that opportunity, but really just empowered me and gave me the confidence to know that I coach at this level and win at this level. Coach means the world to me… Coach wouldn’t want any of us to say the things that will be said the next couple of days and weeks because he just wasn’t a self promoter, and I think that’s the biggest thing.“
Coach Beard
Coach Beard also talked about the loyalty that Bob’s son, Pat, showed for his dad.
“I don’t think there has been a more loyal son to a dad than Pat and basically for the last X number of years of how he helped Karen and the family take care of coach,” Beard explained. “The sacrifices that Pat made and all the things that went into this — I don’t normally ramble at press conferences like this but it’s just what is on my heart. I just think when I am dead and gone one day and maybe my daughters can get a copy of this and then they’ll know very clearly how I felt about coach, but Pat I mean he is the best son I have ever seen.”
Beard also talked about all the Knight family did for others without ever wanting any attention for doing so.
“Fiercely loyal, period… I’m talking about on the court off the court. I’m talking about when things happen in life with your family and children, he was always there. So giving you talk about a family with coach and Pat and Karen, they did so many things for so many people… I was with him every day for eight years, we ate lunch, we hunted. I never played golf, and I’m not a golfer, but I went out there a few times and took him his clubs and things like that… My daughter was born in Lubbock, and he was with us… They did so many things for so many people. The money he would give, the time he would give, he would do anything for any cause, but he didn’t want anyone to know that because he wasn’t a self promoter. He’s one of the most giving human beings that’s ever lived. If someone was in need, he never said no…He was literally one of the funniest men I’ve ever known. It was always ‘expect the unexpected’ going into the office. “(He had) an unparalleled graduation rate over a 40-plus year career at three different institutions at Army, Indiana, Texas Tech. We simply stated, you play for coach, you’re going to graduate.”
Coach Beard on Bobby Knight and his family
It’s clear the impact Knight has had on Chris Beard, professionally of course, but also personally.
“That’s a national story out there too but the Knight’s don’t self-promote and don’t put their business out there so a lot of the world doesn’t know what great men and family this is,” Beard noted. “I am so proud to be associated with Coach Knight and I hope in some way he enjoys watching our teams play here at Ole Miss, and we will honor him in every way we can.”
Game info
The season officially gets under way Monday night as the Rebels take on Alabama State at 7 p.m. It can be seen on SEC Network+.
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
