Ryan Beard, who's helped Missouri State to 15 wins in the past two seasons and successfully navigated that program's transition from Football Championship Subdivision play to the top-tier Football Bowls Subdivision, is the top target at Coastal Carolina.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Coastal Carolina officials have now finalized a deal with Beard, the former Western Kentucky defensive back who's coached at his alma mater and two different stints at Louisville, among other steps along his career.
He's been the Missouri State head coach for the past three seasons and quickly elevated his coaching background.
While Beard has always coached on the defensive side of the ball, he's mixed in some special teams work in his career development and also shown his Missouri State program can implement intriguing offensive concepts.
Coastal is seeking a leader to restore the program's record-setting success from earlier this decade under Jamey Chadwell, now the head coach at Liberty.
Tim Beck failed to maintain Chadwell's level of winning in his three years and saw the program direction trending downward across his final two seasons when the team lost a combined 13 games. Beck debuted with an 8-5 season in 2023.
The Chanticleers are trying to avoid slipping further down the pecking order in the Sun Belt Conference, particularly as the league's champion, James Madison, is in the 12-team College Football Playoff field and set to travel to No. 5 seed Oregon.
Coastal Carolina was paying Beck approximately $1.15 million and owed Beck $1.75 million after he was terminated.
In 2026, the Chanticleers under their new coach will travel to Rich Rodriguez's