Texas Tech basketball coach Chris Beard signs lucrative deal

They say you get what you pay for.

And Texas Tech is paying handsomely for the head coach who just led the men’s basketball program to an appearance in the NCAA National Championship Game.

Chris Beard has signed a new six-year deal with Texas Tech that will pay him an average of $4.575 million annually.

According to a database of coaching salaires provided by USA Today, that puts him in the top four in the country in average salary.

He only trails Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, John Calipari of Kentucky, and Rick Barnes of Tennessee in that category.

His yearly salary is more than that of Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Virginia’s Tony Bennett, who just led UVA to a win in the title game over Texas Tech.

Beard was named the AP Coach of the Year this past season and has now guided Texas Tech to at least the Elite 8 in back-to-back years.

“Special thanks to our fans and our students for your incredible support and passion,” said Beard in a statement. “Together we have accomplished some great things in the past three years but we are not satisfied and will continue working tirelessly to build one of the best college basketball programs in the nation.”

The Red Raiders are 58-17 overall in the past two seasons after going 18-14 in Beard’s first season in Lubbock.