Just a list of thoughts concerning RT up to this point.
1) RT has shown he can keep things on track and moving forward even when things get screwy.
2) I wish he had more of the Beard showmaster/carnival barker in him that went so far to reignite the fire in UT basketball with promotions and ideas like Greg Gym night. Maybe he has those skills but hasn't been given a green light, or maybe he's just been too busy.
3) He has a good staff around him, one that Beard assembled, and I am sure they assisted in putting this group of players together. Can they keep doing that, or was Beard somehow the master configurer? And from what I hear just a few are joining Beard.
4) Like Hermanator said, Austin offers him a whole lot of recruiting advantages he didn't have at UTEP or Fresno. And certainly his rapport with the current team will work to his advantage. Apparently his staying wouldn't run off any recruits already committed.
5) He seems like a pretty solid non-slimy fellow and a good ambassador for UT. But then we are entering a conference that pays little respect to how slimy a coach is as long as he has a winning record.
6) Maybe he hasn't brought the two freshmen along as quickly as he could have, but they haven't really regressed either. Mitchell and Morris both have shown flashes, just not consistently. At the same time they have bought into being part of a team, and not individuals like Tre Mitchell and others in the recent past.
I can see the arguments not to keep him, but at the same time I can see some pretty good upside to keeping him too. This team has a great chemistry, and bringing in a new staff and players would put us back at square 1, much less with the smears that would come from not keeping a successful guy at the helm.
The question is is this RT's team, or is it Beard's team since he was at the helm when it was assembled? Has it morphed into RT's team or is there too much of Beard's imprint still on it?