Rick Byrd

For other people with the same name, see Richard Byrd (disambiguation).
Rick Byrd
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Belmont
Conference OVC
Biographical details
Born (1953-04-30) April 30, 1953
Knoxville, Tennessee
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 1st Round
2016–17 Belmont 0–0 0–0 (East)
Belmont: 639–324 (.664) 332–104 (.761)
Total: 731–379 (.659)

      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. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  3. ↑ http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400596385
  4. 1 2 3 4 http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/coaches/BYRD_RICK
  5. ↑ http://sportsandentertainmentnashville.com/the-rise-of-rick-byrd-and-belmont-basketball/
  6. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/JJ_Mann/Austria/Redwell_Gunners_Oberwart/204374
  8. ↑ http://belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/2012-13/bios/clark_ian_0yai
  9. ↑ http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/2013-14/releases/20130811xe9zvw
  10. ↑ http://lmurailsplitters.com/page.asp?articleID=274
  11. 1 2 Belmont Basketball Media Guide
  12. ↑ Atlantic Sun Conference
  13. ↑ Ohio Valley Conference
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