Last season, Chris Beard was the toast of Oxford after a Sweet 16 run and a "Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year" trophy.
A Sweet 16 appearance was the minimum expectation after that, but a 9-game skid put those dreams through a shredder.
You don't just lose nine in a row in the SEC and expect the status quo to remain. The rout being the worst in Beard's three years at Ole Miss is the added insult to the injury.
Is Chris Beard on the hot seat?
Now for the million-dollar question: Is bad enough to put Beard on the hot seat.
Luckily, Beard faced all the devastating losses, depressing even, in one single season. His saving grace is the Rebels making the Sweet 16 last season in a postseason run that tied for the deepest NCAA Tournament run in Ole Miss history
College athletic directors generally give a "buffer period" before the seat starts getting hot.
Plus, Ole Miss signed a massive contract with Beard recently in April 2025 that runs through 2031. If the program fires him "without cause," they owe him 75% of the remaining contract. We’re talking about a multi-million dollar buyout that could make the athletic department flinch.
"I have not (been through a skid like this)," Beard said earlier this season. "And that's OK. It's a chance to get better. It's a chance to compete. I still have a lot of belief in this team. I promise that's not coaching speak. We're going to play it all the way to the bone."
"My promise to them, I make a lot of promises, but I'll deliver on this, that there'll be better days sooner than most people think," he added.
Beard is a combined 55-40 at Ole Miss in his third season.