Garland Washington "Jeff" Beard (August 4, 1910 – November 10, 1995) was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

from 1951 to 1972. He hired

Ralph Jordan Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

as the

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...

coach and expanded the seating capacity at

Cliff Hare Stadium In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...

from 20,000 to 63,000, and oversaw the construction of

Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The arena, which opened in 1969, is best known as the former home of the Auburn men's and women's basketball, women's ...

. He has been inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Athletic Director Hall of Fame.

Biography

Beard was born in

Hardinsburg, Kentucky Hardinsburg is a home rule-class city in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 2,343 at the 2010 census. Hardinsburg was named after Captain William Hardin. History In August 1 ...

, and grew up in

Greensboro, Alabama Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...

. In 1928, he enrolled at Auburn and became captain of the track team and Southern Conference champion in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

. He graduated from Auburn in 1932 and returned to the university in 1933 as business manager of athletics. In 1937, he also became Auburn's assistant track and field coach. Beard was promoted to athletic director in February 1951. In the three years prior to his promotion, the

team had compiled a 3–22–3, including a winless 0–10 season in 1950. Beard's first major decision as athletic director was the hiring of

as head coach of the football team. Beard was also responsible for expanding the seating capacity at

from 20,000 to 63,000 and for the construction of the Memorial Coliseum, later renamed the

. Beard stepped down as Auburn's athletic director in July 1972. He remained at Auburn with the title Director Emeritus of Athletics. All told, he spent all but one of the first 44 years of his adult life on the Plains as a student, athletics official, coach, and athletic director. In 1974, Beard was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Athletic Director Hall of Fame. Beard died in 1995 at age 85. Beard's brother

Percy Beard Percy Morris Beard (January 26, 1908 – March 27, 1990) was an American college and international track and field athlete who specialized in the high hurdles event, and won an Olympic silver medal. Beard later became a nationally prominent ...

was an Auburn alumnus who won the silver medal in the

110 metre hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

and later served as track coach at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Jeff 1910 births 1995 deaths Auburn Tigers athletic directors Auburn Tigers men's track and field athletes People from Hardinsburg, Kentucky People from Greensboro, Alabama Auburn Tigers track and field coaches