Shutterstock
Paul Finebaum had some brutally honest criticism for Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who was clearly upset that men’s basketball coach Chris Beard left the Red Raiders to accept a head coaching job with the Texas Longhorns.
Hocutt told reporters that he was frustrated with Beard’s decision to leave for another opportunity and Finebaum wanted to bring the Texas Tech AD back to earth.
Finebaum did just that during an appearance on WJOX’s The Roundtable Monday morning
“You’re Texas Tech,” Finebaum said, via 247 Sports. “Good. You made it to the Final Four. They played for the championship … that’s not the ceiling for Texas Tech. That’s 100 miles above the ceiling.
“I think, sometimes, ADs and I blame Twitter for this, they get so hung up on beating their chest that they forget how stupid they sound when they say some of the things that they say.”
Ouch.
Finebaum isn’t wrong, though. Texas Tech has done a great job under Beard, but now the head coach wants to go to a program that he believes he can help contend for a national championship. Ultimately, that’s the goal, right? And a pay raise certainly doesn’t hurt, so let the man live.
As for Beard, he took the high road on his way out and shared some positive remarks about his former employer and he is already looking forward to the great opportunity ahead.
“We took the program to new heights TOGETHER resulting in a Big 12 Championship, a berth on Monday night in the National Championship Game, an Elite Eight appearance and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history,” he said.
“I am truly thankful for all the people of West Texas and their incredible support. Thank you, you have provided memories that will last a lifetime.”
Now, it’s time to see what Beard can do in the next chapter of his career.
