$2.5 college football coach reportedly accepts new head coaching job after winning season

Coastal Carolina finished 6-6 (5-3 Sun Belt) and is bowl-eligible for the Independence Bowl on December 30, but the team closed with a three-game losing streak that included a 59-10 loss to James Madison, amplifying internal pressure for change.

Coastal dismissed Tim Beck on November 30 after three seasons (Beck went 20-18), appointing defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson as interim for the bowl.

The offense averaged 22.8 points per game while the defense surrendered 33.9, a split that became central to the athletic department’s evaluation of the program’s direction.

On Thursday, the Chanticleers named Ryan Beard its next head football coach, officially ending a swift search for Beck's successor and handing the program a youthful defensive mind who led Missouri State through a recent rise through the FBS.

BREAKING: Coastal Carolina is set to hire Missouri State’s Ryan Beard as its next head coach, @PeteNakos and @clowfb report.https://t.co/GSRj5ksj4q pic.twitter.com/7Y2cC4Wtp1
— On3 (@On3sports) December 11, 2025

Beard arrives from Missouri State, where he was elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach after the 2022 season.

Beard was hired to a long-term deal extended in 2024 through January 14, 2029, with a base salary starting around $315,000 in 2024 and rising to roughly $450,000 in 2025, for an overall reported value of about $2.5 million.

Over three seasons as MSU’s head coach, he posted a 19-16 record, capped by a 7-5 finish and an Xbox Bowl invite in 2025.

MSU officials have indicated that Beard will not coach in Springfield’s December 18 bowl, and the program will name an interim coach for that game.

Beard’s resume includes stops at Western Kentucky (DGA), Louisville (DQC), Northern Michigan (DB), and Central Michigan (ST/S).

Missouri State Bears head coach Ryan Beard. — Los Angeles, California, USA; Missouri State Bears head coach Ryan Beard watches from the sidelines in the second half against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Coastal Carolina’s program peaked under Jamey Chadwell (back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2020-21), and since then, the Chanticleers have fluctuated between promise and uneven execution.

Bringing in Beard signals a strategic pivot toward a coach who has demonstrated defensive improvement, player development, and a working knowledge of the transfer-portal era.

For a Sun Belt program with resources and fan expectations, the hire is as much about shoring up recruiting pipelines and defensive identity as it is about on-field X’s and O’s.

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