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 a Florida junior college for a year, but decided to come back home to Knoxville and attend the University of Tennessee, where he was asked to join the junior varsity team for the Volunteers his senior year. 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. Byrd then went to nearby Division III school Maryville as an assistant coach. After Maryville, Byrd moved to Tennessee Tech as an assistant for a few seasons, before becoming head coach at Division IILincoln Memorial where he stayed for three seasons and finished with a 69–28 overall record).
Career at Belmont
In 1986, Byrd was hired by Belmont as head coach. Byrd 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. Byrd is first among all active NCAA Division I men’s basketball head coaches when ranked by percentage of schools’ all-time wins; having accounted for over 59 percent of the total victories in Belmont history. Only three head coaches in the nation have been at their respective institutions longer than Byrd's 30 years of service at Belmont. He has led Belmont to eight NCAA Tournaments in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. Under Byrd's guidance, the Bruins have won 239 games and posted a remarkable 179–43 record in conference games over the past 10 years. 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 per season, joining the select company of Duke, Florida, Syracuse, VCU, and Wichita State. On April 1, 2019, Byrd announced his retirement from Belmont after 33 years at the helm of the program.
Notable players
Byrd has coached many players that have gone on to have very accomplished careers after their Belmont careers, including J.J. Mann, the Ohio Valley Conference's Player of the Year, a first-team Academic All-American and the winningest player in Belmont history. He now plays for the European professional team called Phoenix Hagen in Germany. Byrd also coached Ian Clark, NBA shooting guard. 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 Men's Basketball Player of the Year all, among many other awards, all under the direction of Byrd. 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. This seed would later be matched by the 2018-19 squad.
