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Former Texas basketball HC signs the contract of a lifetime, literally

It has been a long time since the Longhorns called this man their head coach, but he just signed a well-deserved contract with another "orange" blood team.
BySam Fariss|
Nov 16, 2006; New York, NY, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes talks with guard (35) Kevin Durant during the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic game against the Michigan State Spartans.
Nov 16, 2006; New York, NY, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes talks with guard (35) Kevin Durant during the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic game against the Michigan State Spartans. | Pouya Dianat-Imagn Images

It's official, Rick Barnes is going to be a college basketball coach for the rest of his life... Kind of.

The former Texas men's basketball coach just put ink to paper and signed a lifetime contract with the Tennessee Volunteers, the team he has coached since 2015, when he and the Longhorns parted ways.

This essentially means that until Barnes decides to officially hang up the clipboard, the Vols are going to keep him on the sidelines, and that contract is more than deserved.

When the Volunteers announced the latest deal they had struck with their head coach, the social media team kept it incredibly simple, which made the message that much more powerful:

"Rick Barnes forever."

Since taking over in Knoxville, Barnes has led Tennessee to a 232–109 overall record, including a 111–66 record in SEC play (winning nearly 63 percent of his games against conference opponents). He has taken them to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and had previously appeared in the Sweet 16 twice.

Most recently, Barnes brought in the No. 8 recruiting class of 2025 in the country, including five-star power forward Nate Ament, four-star shooting guard Amari Evans, four-star center DeWayne Brown, four-star combo guard Clarence Massamba, and three-star point guard Troy Henderson.

Barnes also landed three four-star transfers this offseason: point guard Amaree Abram from Louisiana Tech, center Jaylen Carey from Vanderbilt, and point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie from Maryland.

When the Volunteers tip off their upcoming season, it will bring Barnes to the decade mark of leading the Tennessee men's basketball program, after spending nearly two decades with the Longhorns.

While in Austin, Barnes led the Horns to 402 wins and just 180 losses, securing a 69.1 percent win rate. He helped Texas win over 66 percent of its Big 12 matchups and brought Texas to its third-ever Final Four appearance in 2003.

This year, Barnes and the Vols will start their season with a game against the Syracuse Orange on Tuesday, Dec. 2. They won't face the Longhorns until the beginning of January 2026.

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