Rick Byrd
Sport(s) | Basketball |
---|---|
Current position | |
Title | Head coach |
Team | Belmont |
Conference | OVC |
Biographical details | |
Born |
Knoxville, Tennessee | April 30, 1953
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1976–1978 | Maryville (asst.) |
1978–1980 | Maryville |
1980–1983 | Tennessee Tech (asst.) |
1983–1986 | Lincoln Memorial |
1986–present | Belmont |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
3× TCAC Tournament championship (1988, 1994, 1995) A-Sun North Division championship (2003) 4× A-Sun regular season championship (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011) 5× A-Sun Tournament championship (2006–2008, 2011, 2012) 3× OVC East Division championship (2013–2015) 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) OVC Coach of the Year (2013)[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) |
Rick Byrd (born April 30, 1953) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Belmont Bruins men's basketball team.[2] He led Belmont to seven NCAA Division I tournaments in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015 and 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.[3] 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.[4] Only three head coaches in the nation have been at their respective institutions longer than Byrd's 30 years of service at Belmont. Under Byrd's guidance, the Bruins have won 239 games and posted a remarkable 167-38 (.815) record in conference games over the past 10 years.[4] 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, joining the select company of Duke, Florida, Syracuse, VCU, and Wichita State.[4]
Early Life Leading into Coaching
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 Florida junior college for a year, but decided to come back home to Knoxville and attend the University of Tennessee as a normal student until his senior year, where he was asked to join the junior varsity team for the Volunteers. 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. After two months on the job the university realized that in order to be considered a graduate assistant you must be in your fifth year of school, and Byrd was in his sixth, and was forced to resign from the position. Byrd then had an opportunity open at the nearby Division two school of Maryville, where he ended up playing two roles, both head and assistant coach. Byrd would coach the team during the week while the head coach was finishing up school, and actually coached the team on a few occasions during games. After Maryville, Byrd moved to Tennessee Tech as an assistant for a few seasons, but then got his first true opportunity to become a head coach at Lincoln Memorial where he stayed for three seasons and had great success (69-28 overall record). Opportunity knocked again, and Byrd landed at Belmont, and is still there to this day.[5]
Notable Players
Byrd has coached many players that have gone on to have very accomplished careers after their Belmont careers. J.J. Mann was a 6-6, 215-pound post player from Smyrna, Ga. He was the Ohio Valley Conference’s Player of the Year, a first-team Academic All-American and the winningest player in Belmont history.[6] He now plays for the European professional team called Phoenix Hagen in Germany.[7] Byrd also coached Ian Clark, shooting guard for the Golden State Warriors. 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.[8] 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.[9]
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maryville Scots[4] (Old Dominion Athletic Conference (NCAA DIII)) (1978–1980) | |||||||||
1978–79 | Maryville College | 8–16 | |||||||
1979–80 | Maryville College | 15–11 | |||||||
Maryville College: | 23–27 | ||||||||
Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters[10] (Volunteer State Athletic Conference (NAIA)) (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 | 32–4 | |||||||
Belmont Rebels/Bruins[11] (Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (NAIA)) (1986–1996) | |||||||||
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 National Championships | |||||
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 | ||||
1995–96 | Belmont | 29–11 | 13–5 | NAIA Semifinals | |||||
Belmont Bruins[11] (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[12] (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 1st Round | ||||
2006–07 | Belmont | 23–10 | 14–4 | 2nd< | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
2007–08 | Belmont | 25–9 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
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 2nd Round | ||||
2011–12 | Belmont | 27–8 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
Belmont Bruins[13] (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–present) | |||||||||
2012–13 | Belmont | 26–7 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | NCAA 2nd round | ||||
2013–14 | Belmont | 26–10 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
2014–15 | Belmont | 22–11 | 11–5 | T–1st (East) | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
2015–16 | Belmont | 20–12 | 12–4 | 1st (East) | NIT First Round | ||||
Belmont: | 639–324 (.664) | 332–104 (.761) | |||||||
Total: | 731–379 (.659) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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See also
References
- ↑ "Murray State's Canaan, Belmont's Clark and Byrd Earn Top 2012–13 OVC Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ↑ "Rick Byrd". Belmont Official Athletic Site. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ↑ http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400596385
- 1 2 3 4 http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/coaches/BYRD_RICK
- ↑ http://sportsandentertainmentnashville.com/the-rise-of-rick-byrd-and-belmont-basketball/
- ↑ http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2014-03-05/jj-mann-belmont-ovc-player-of-year-bruins-win-over-north-carolina-rick-byrd-alexander
- ↑ http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/JJ_Mann/Austria/Redwell_Gunners_Oberwart/204374
- ↑ http://belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/2012-13/bios/clark_ian_0yai
- ↑ http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/2013-14/releases/20130811xe9zvw
- ↑ http://lmurailsplitters.com/page.asp?articleID=274
- 1 2 Belmont Basketball Media Guide
- ↑ Atlantic Sun Conference
- ↑ Ohio Valley Conference
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