Rick Byrd
Biographical details
Born (1953-04-30) April 30, 1953 (age 70)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma materTennessee
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1976–1978Maryville (asst.)
1978–1980Maryville
1980–1983Tennessee Tech (asst.)
1983–1986Lincoln Memorial
1986–2019Belmont
Head coaching record
Overall805–402 (.667)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3× TCAC Tournament champion (1988, 1994, 1995)
A-Sun North Division champion (2003)
4× A-Sun regular season champion (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011)
5× A-Sun tournament champion (2006–2008, 2011, 2012)
5× OVC East Division champion (2013–2017)
5× OVC regular season champion (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019)
2× OVC tournament champion (2013, 2015)
Awards
NAIA National Coach of the Year (1995)
Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year (2011)
2× A-Sun Coach of the Year (2008, 2011)
3× OVC Coach of the Year (2013, 2017, 2019)[1]
Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame (1996)
NAIA Hall of Fame (2004)
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (2013)
Dr. James Naismith National Sportsmanship Award (1994)
NCAA Bob Frederick Sportsmanship Award (2012)
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2021

Richard F. Byrd (born April 30, 1953) is a retired American college basketball coach who served as the head coach of the Belmont Bruins men's basketball team from 1986-2019.[2] On February 16, 2017, with the Bruins win over Eastern Kentucky, Byrd marked his 750th career win, 658 with Belmont.[3] He retired after the 2018-2019 season with 805 wins,[4] which ranks twelfth all-time among NCAA Division I men's basketball coaches.

Early life

Byrd grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee where he would sit alongside his father, Ben Byrd, and watch him write articles on the Tennessee men's basketball games as a kid. He then went to play basketball at a Florida junior college for a year, but decided to come back home to Knoxville and attend the University of Tennessee, where he was asked to join the junior varsity team for the Volunteers his senior year. The next year, in order to start his coaching career, he became the student assistant to the varsity squad. The very next year Byrd also attempted to become a graduate assistant for the Vols.

Byrd then went to nearby Division III school Maryville as an assistant coach. After Maryville, Byrd moved to Tennessee Tech as an assistant for a few seasons, before becoming head coach at Division II Lincoln Memorial where he stayed for three seasons and finished with a 69–28 overall record.[5]

Career at Belmont

In 1986, Byrd was hired by Belmont as head coach.[5]

At the time of his retirement, Byrd was one of five active NCAA coaches to have 500 wins at one school. Byrd was also one of 11 active coaches to have more than 600 career wins. Byrd won his 700th game as a head coach on January 17, 2015, when Belmont defeated Austin Peay 89–83.[6] Byrd is first among all active NCAA Division I men’s basketball head coaches (min. 10 years at school) when ranked by percentage of schools’ all-time wins; having accounted for over 59 percent of the total victories in Belmont history.[7] Only three Division I men's head coaches in the nation had been at their respective institutions longer than Byrd's 30 years of service at Belmont.

He led Belmont to eight NCAA Tournaments in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. Under Byrd's guidance, the Bruins have won 239 games and posted a remarkable 179–43 (.806) record in conference games over the past 10 years.[7] Byrd, from 2011–2014, led the Bruins to be one of only six NCAA Division I men's basketball programs to win 26 or more games per season, joining the select company of Duke, Florida, Syracuse, VCU, and Wichita State.[7]

On April 1, 2019, Byrd announced his retirement from Belmont after 33 years at the helm of the program.[4]

Notable players

Byrd has coached many players that have gone on to have very accomplished careers after their Belmont careers, including J.J. Mann, the Ohio Valley Conference's Player of the Year, a first-team Academic All-American and the winningest player in Belmont history.[8] He now plays for the German professional team Phoenix Hagen.[9]

Byrd also coached Ian Clark, NBA shooting guard. Clark was Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention, Naismith and Lou Henson National Player of the Year candidate, Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America, Mid-Major All-America, OVC co-Player of the Year, First Team All-OVC, OVC Defensive Player of the Year, OVC All-Tournament Team, Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Men's Basketball Player of the Year all, among many other awards, all under the direction of Byrd.[10]

Byrd also coached Kerron Johnson who helped take the Belmont program to new heights, leading the Bruins to 102 victories, four regular season conference championships, three conference tournament championships and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Moreover, Johnson helped Belmont earn national Top 25 poll votes three straight seasons and the program's best NCAA Tournament seed - No. 11 - in 2013.[11] This seed would later be matched by the 2018-19 squad.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Maryville Scots[7] (Old Dominion Athletic Conference (NCAA DIII)) (1978–1980)
1978–79 Maryville 8–16
1979–80 Maryville 15–11
Maryville: 23–27 (.460)
Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters[12] (Volunteer State Athletic Conference) (1983–1986)
1983–84 Lincoln Memorial 22–10 11–1 NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1984–85 Lincoln Memorial 26–9 10–2 NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1985–86 Lincoln Memorial 21–9 11–1 1st NAIA District 24 Playoffs
Lincoln Memorial: 69–28 (.711) 32–4 (.889)
Belmont Rebels[13] (Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference) (1986–1995)
1986–87 Belmont 15–15 7–9
1987–88 Belmont 22–9 15–1 NAIA District 24 Playoff
1988–89 Belmont 25–10 12–4 NAIA first round
1989–90 Belmont 27–7 14–2 NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1990–91 Belmont 23–9 11–5 NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1991–92 Belmont 22–10 12–4 NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1992–93 Belmont 30–6 12–4 NAIA Sweet Sixteen
1993–94 Belmont 30–7 14–2 1st NAIA Quarterfinals
1994–95 Belmont 37–2 18–0 1st NAIA semifinals
Belmont Bruins[13] (Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference) (1995–1996)
1995–96 Belmont 29–11 13–5 NAIA semifinals
Belmont Bruins[13] (NCAA Independent) (1996–2001)
1996–97 Belmont 15–11
1997–98 Belmont 9–18
1998–99 Belmont 14–13
1999–2000 Belmont 7–21
2000–01 Belmont 13–15
Belmont Bruins[14] (Atlantic Sun Conference) (2001–2012)
2001–02 Belmont 11–17 8–12 T–7th
2002–03 Belmont 17–12 12–4 1st (North)
2003–04 Belmont 21–9 15–5 3rd NIT Opening Round
2004–05 Belmont 14–16 12–8 3rd
2005–06 Belmont 20–11 15–5 T–1st NCAA round of 64
2006–07 Belmont 23–10 14–4 2nd NCAA round of 64
2007–08 Belmont 25–9 14–2 1st NCAA round of 64
2008–09 Belmont 20–13 14–6 T–2nd CIT Quarterfinals
2009–10 Belmont 19–12 14–6 T–1st
2010–11 Belmont 30–5 19–1 1st NCAA round of 64
2011–12 Belmont 27–8 16–2 1st NCAA round of 64
Belmont Bruins[15] (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–2019)
2012–13 Belmont 26–7 14–2 1st (East) NCAA round of 64
2013–14 Belmont 26–10 14–2 1st (East) NIT Quarterfinals
2014–15 Belmont 22–11 11–5 T–1st (East) NCAA round of 64
2015–16 Belmont 20–12 12–4 1st (East) NIT first round
2016–17 Belmont 23–7 15–1 1st (East) NIT second round
2017–18 Belmont 24–9 15–3 2nd
2018–19 Belmont 27–6 16–2 T–1st NCAA round of 64
Belmont: 713–347 (.673) 373–108 (.775)
Total: 805–402 (.667)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References

  1. ^ "Murray State's Canaan, Belmont's Clark and Byrd Earn Top 2012–13 OVC Men's Basketball Honors". Men's basketball all-conference awards announced (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Rick Byrd". Belmont Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  3. ^ "Eastern Kentucky vs. Belmont - Game Recap - February 16, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Organ, Mike (April 1, 2019). "Rick Byrd retiring as Belmont basketball coach". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "The Rise of Rick Byrd and Belmont Basketball". Sports and Entertainment Nashville. November 28, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  6. ^ "Belmont vs. Austin Peay - Box Score - January 17, 2015 - ESPN".
  7. ^ a b c d "Belmont Bruins". www.belmontbruins.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  8. ^ "Belmont's J.J. Mann has brilliant resume and a chance to fill gaping hole | NCAA Basketball | Sporting News". www.sportingnews.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2015.
  9. ^ "J.J. Mann Player Profile, Bayer Giants Leverkusen, News, Stats - Eurobasket".
  10. ^ "Ian Clark - Belmont Bruins". Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  11. ^ "Former Bruin Kerron Johnson Signs Pro Deal - Belmont Bruins".
  12. ^ "Media Guides | the Official Website of Lincoln Memorial University Athletics". Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Belmont Basketball Media Guide
  14. ^ Atlantic Sun Conference
  15. ^ Ohio Valley Conference
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