Kevin Leon Beard (born January 20, 1981) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s coach for

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

for

Larry Coker Larry Edward Coker (born June 23, 1948) is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2006 and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) from 2011 to 201 ...

, and afterward played professionally in the

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

from 2005 to 2006, and in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

in 2007. In 2015, Beard returned to Miami as the wide receivers coach.

Early life

Beard attended

Plantation High School Plantation High School (commonly referred to as PHS) is a high school located in Plantation, Florida, part of the Broward County Public Schools district. As of 2023, the school serves 1,834 students in grades 9 through 12. It was originally lo ...

Plantation, Florida Plantation is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the South Florida metropolitan area. The city's name comes from the previous part-owner of the land, the Everglades Plantation Company, and their unsuccessful attem ...

and was a student and a standout in

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In football, as a junior, he made 50 receptions for 850 yards (17.00 yards per reception) and 15 touchdowns. As a senior, he was a first team All-

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

selection, a second team All-State selection, and was named by the ''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'' as a Broward County co-Offensive Player of the Year. In basketball, as a senior, he was a second team All-State selection. Beard graduated from Plantation High School in 1999.

College career

Beard attended the

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

from 1999 to 2003. After redshirting in 1999, he played mostly on special teams and as a reserve in 2000. During Miami's national championship season in 2001, he caught 25 passes for 409 yards, adding four catches for 41 yards in Miami's Rose Bowl win over Nebraska at the end of the season. He caught 23 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns in 2002 before suffering a season ending knee injury. Beard was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Miami's 11–2 2003 squad, contributing 19 catches for 249 yards and a touchdown. Beard's teammates at Miami included future Pro Bowl wide receivers

Andre Johnson Andre Lamont Johnson (born July 11, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Houston Texans. He played college football for the Mi ...

Santana Moss Santana Terrell Moss (born June 1, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning consensus All- ...

, and

Reggie Wayne Reginald Wayne (born November 17, 1978) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football f ...

Coaching career

Beard began his coaching career as the wide receivers coach at the University School in

Davie, Florida Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately north of Miami. The town's population was 110,320 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Florida by population. Davie is a principal town of the Miami metropol ...

, where he remained from 2010 to 2013. He was named assistant director of Football Operations at the University of Miami in August 2014. In 2015, he became Miami's wide receivers coach, though he was not retained by Miami's new head coach

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is an American former college football coach, player, and current television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mate ...

in 2016. Beard worked as a quality control assistant at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

during the 2016 season before accepting a job as wide receivers coach at Florida International in December of that year. In February 2017, Beard was hired as the wide receivers coach at the University of Tennessee, reuniting with fellow former Miami staffer and interim coach Larry Scott, who had been hired as the Vols' offensive coordinator following the 2016 season.Luke Slabaugh,
Beard Set To Be Vols' Next Wide Receivers Coach
" WBIR.com, February 28, 2017. Since 2022, Kevin Beard has coached WR’s at the University of Miami. Under his guidance he has produced an AP 1st team All American, Xavier Restrepo. His WR room in 2024 produced was the only group in the country to have 4 WR’s over 500 yards receiving. (Syracuse had 5 players have 500+ receiving)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Kevin 1981 births Living people American football wide receivers Miami Hurricanes football players Kansas City Brigade players Chicago Rush players South Georgia Wildcats players Spokane Shock players Miami Hurricanes football coaches FIU Panthers football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida High school football coaches in Florida Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Toledo Rockets football coaches