Rick Byrd

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 1 men's basketball coaches.

Rick Byrd
Biographical details
Born (1953-04-30) April 30, 1953
Knoxville, Tennessee
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
TCAC Tournament championship (1988, 1994, 1995)
A-Sun North Division championship (2003)
4× A-Sun regular season championship (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011)
A-Sun Tournament championship (2006–2008, 2011, 2012)
OVC East Division championship (2013–2017)
OVC regular season championships (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019)
2× OVC Tournament championship (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

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]

Byrd is currently one of five active NCAA coaches to have 500 wins at one school. Byrd is 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 head coaches in the nation have been at their respective institutions longer than Byrd's 30 years of service at Belmont.

He has 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 European professional team called Phoenix Hagen in Germany.[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 College 8–16
1979–80 Maryville College 15–11
Maryville College: 23–27 (.460)
Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters[12] (Volunteer State Athletic Conference (NAIA)) (1983–1986)
1983–84 Lincoln Memorial 22–1011–1NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1984–85 Lincoln Memorial 26–910–2NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1985–86 Lincoln Memorial 21–911–11stNAIA District 24 Playoffs
Lincoln Memorial: 69–28 (.711)32–4 (.889)
Belmont Rebels/Bruins[13] (Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (NAIA)) (1986–1996)
1986–87 Belmont 15–157–9
1987–88 Belmont 22–915–1NAIA District 24 Playoff
1988–89 Belmont 25–1012–4NAIA National Championships
1989–90 Belmont 27–714–2NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1990–91 Belmont 23–911–5NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1991–92 Belmont 22–1012–4NAIA District 24 Playoffs
1992–93 Belmont 30–612–4NAIA Sweet Sixteen
1993–94 Belmont 30–714–21stNAIA Quarterfinals
1994–95 Belmont 37–218–01stNAIA Semifinals
1995–96 Belmont 29–1113–5NAIA Semifinals
Belmont Bruins[13] (NCAA Independent) (1996–2001)
1996–97 Belmont 15–11
1997–98 Belmont 9–18
1998–99 Belmont 14–13
1999–00 Belmont 7–21
2000–01 Belmont 13–15
Belmont Bruins[14] (Atlantic Sun Conference) (2001–2012)
2001–02 Belmont 11–178–12T–7th
2002–03 Belmont 17–1212–41st (North)
2003–04 Belmont 21–915–53rdNIT Opening Round
2004–05 Belmont 14–1612–83rd
2005–06 Belmont 20–1115–5T–1stNCAA Round of 64
2006–07 Belmont 23–1014–42ndNCAA Round of 64
2007–08 Belmont 25–914–21stNCAA Round of 64
2008–09 Belmont 20–1314–6T–2ndCIT Quarterfinals
2009–10 Belmont 19–1214–6T–1st
2010–11 Belmont 30–519–11stNCAA Round of 64
2011–12 Belmont 27–816–21stNCAA Round of 64
Belmont Bruins[15] (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–2019)
2012–13 Belmont 26–714–21st (East) NCAA Round of 64
2013–14 Belmont 26–1014–21st (East) NIT Quarterfinals
2014–15 Belmont 22–1111–5T–1st (East) NCAA Round of 64
2015–16 Belmont 20–1212–41st (East) NIT First Round
2016–17 Belmont 23–715–11st (East) NIT Second Round
2017–18 Belmont 24–915–32nd
2018–19 Belmont 27–616–2T–1stNCAA 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

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