It became official early Thursday evening (Dec. 11) as Coastal Carolina VP for Intercollegiate Athletics and Campus Rec Chance Miller announced that he has chosen Missouri State head coach Ryan Beard to become the fifth head football coach in CCU program history.
Just one man’s opinion: I am pleased with this choice.
We broke things down and discussed Beard’s hiring on Thursday’s special podcast, but I wanted to supplement with some thoughts in this blog.
Following the Nov. 30 announcement of Tim Beck’s firing, the online chatter about who would replace him centered around a number of candidates to include current FCS/FBS head coaches and P4 coordinators, some with HC experience and some without.
In all honesty, I would not have been excited or enthusiastic in any way had Coastal hired a coordinator who has never been a college head coach. I was prepared to say as much on the pod. No offense, but we just went down that road, and it failed.
My opinion was/is that Beck’s successor needed to have successful head coaching experience at the college level (FCS/G5), the ability to establish winning culture, connect with the community, and be a leader of men. I think Beard checks all these boxes.
Beard is only 36 years old and has been Missouri State’s head coach for three seasons, with an overall record of 19-16. That record doesn’t blow you away, but when you consider the Bears just transitioned from FCS football (MVFC) to the FBS level (CUSA), from 2024 to 2025, and both of those were winning seasons (8-4, 7-5), that gets your attention.
Additionally, in just their first season of FBS, the Bears qualified to play in the Xbox Bowl (formerly the Bahamas Bowl) next week in Frisco, Texas, against Sun Belt member Arkansas State.
From what we know now, Miller spoke with Beard early in the search process and as he continued to vet other candidates, as many as 30 according to TD, he kept coming back to Beard. That would indicate a strong interview and an impressive plan laid out to move Coastal Football forward. That’s good.
Beard’s background is on the defensive side of the football, as he played DB at Western Kentucky (2007-11), was DB coach at his alma mater (2016) and Northern Michigan (2015) and was Missouri State’s defensive coordinator from 2020-2022.
Moreover, again in my opinion, I think this hiring also offers Miller the opportunity to get some things fixed with the football program, to bring them back in line with the rest of the athletic department, redefine roles and allocate money and responsibilities in a way that makes much more sense than in recent years.
So kudos to AD Miller for doing his due diligence, not rushing things for sake of a “splashy” big-name hire, taking his time, keeping a pretty good lid on things, and ultimately deciding to hire Ryan Beard.
Obviously, only time will tell if Beard works out and is able to turn Coastal Football back into a team to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt conference. With this decision, and with Beard’s credentials he’s bringing to Conway, I’m hopeful that’s exactly what will happen.
Now – let’s go to Shreveport and bring home some hardware as we eagerly anticipate a fresh start in 2026!
CHANTS UP!