Chris Beard addresses decision to hire Mark Adams, past controversy

Chris Beard is reuniting with an old colleague at Ole Miss, hiring Mark Adams as an assistant coach. The two have worked together at multiple stops, most notably at Texas Tech. Beard was the head coach in Lubbock before infamously leaving for Texas and Adams was promoted from an assistant role.

During on press conference on Wednesday, Beard explained the decision to hire Adams. He cited the relationship they have with one another but more importantly, the type of teacher Adams is. After all, it’s never a bad idea to have somebody with head coaching experience on your staff.

“We’ve known Coach for a long time,” Beard said. “I think, above all, he impacts winning because of his teaching ability and like all teachers will tell you, ‘To be the best teacher, you have to have a relationship with the people you’re working with.’ So, Coach has been doing this for a long time.

“Whether it’s his junior career, his first stint as a Division I coach at Pan American, and most recently with us at Little Rock and Texas Tech — Coach develops relationships with players and then he helps them by teaching them the game and having high expectations for them.”

There is some controversy surrounding Adams, bringing questions about the hire.

In the midst of a tough season for Texas Tech, he resigned from his position after making a comment deemed “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive.” Adams says he was just quoting the Bible when speaking to a player but reportedly used the terms “slaves” and “masters.”

Beard says Ole Miss went through a vetting process when hiring Adams, as they would with anybody else. They then came to the conclusion that hiring Adams would be best for the program.

“There’s a vetting process for everybody,” Beard said. “We hire in terms of reaching out, talking to past employers, and things like that. So, I understand the question with Coach Adams but absolutely. We went through the whole process, got the facts, the truth, and made a decision that we think is best for Ole Miss. We’re really happy Coach Adams is here.”

Hiring Adams is what Beard believes will ultimately benefit the players the most. The Ole Miss head coach believes they will learn a ton from Adams, both on and off the court.

“For us, the decision was really made on our players,” Beard said. “Everybody we hire in our organization, I try to keep the main thing the main thing. I start the process with one thing in mind and I ultimately make the decision with one thing in mind — what’s best for our players? Coach Adams will do a great job here and have relationships with our guys and impact our guys on a daily basis with his experience.”