‘You are a legend.’ Former UK assistant, Lexington United founder Chris Beerman dies.
Chris Beerman, a successful coach at multiple colleges and a pillar of Lexington’s volleyball community, died Sunday. He was 53.
Beerman came to Lexington to join Craig Skinner’s staff at the University of Kentucky in 2008. He spent three seasons with the Wildcats before leaving the collegiate ranks to found Lexington United Volleyball, a club program in the city that has produced more than 100 college players, among them dozens who’ve gone on to play at the Division I level. He was the director at Lexington United, a role that entailed organizing tournaments, teams and travel, and navigating the recruitment of players within the program.
Beerman, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this month, is survived by his wife, Mary-Beth, and two children, daughter Kendall and son Jackson. A crowdfunding effort started to raise money for his family had raised $62,000 as of 11 a.m. Monday.
“We have no control over life and this virus,” said Jennifer Morgan, the head coach at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. “That’s the hardest part. Everybody knows him as a true competitor and you just knew that he was gonna beat this thing, because he will beat everyone and everything that steps in his way.”
Morgan and Beerman grew up together in Indiana. His dad coached her in high school, and her dad was one of his teachers. She has coached under his leadership at LUV.
“He has done so much for the city of Lexington, and growing volleyball and taking these girls to the next level and meeting their dreams and their goals,” Morgan said. “He went above and beyond for any of them. I just sit here and listen to all of these former players that have called and they’re like, ‘I didn’t even get to say thank you.’ I keep just trying to tell them, ‘You didn’t have to say thank you.’ You went and played at the highest level you could possibly play and that’s all he ever wanted for anyone, is to continue to play the game. It is his passion and his desire. He would do anything for anyone to get them to that next level. …
“He loves his family. He loves dogs. He’s the best friend to anyone. He is a great mentor. He’s just an all-around great guy.”
Before coming to Kentucky, Beerman was the head coach at Pittsburgh, with whom he compiled a 154-89 record in eight years and whom he guided to NCAA Tournament berths in 2003 and 2004 and a Big East Tournament victory in 2003.
He was the head coach at James Madison from 1996-1999. He was 90-36 with the Dukes and led them to two Colonial Athletic Association titles and an NCAA Tournament berth. Prior to that, he served as an assistant at Louisville, South Florida and Ball State, his alma mater. As a player, Beerman was part of three straight NCAA Tournament teams that reached the men’s Final Four.
His passion for competing extended well beyond his playing and coaching days. Kevin Laseau, an assistant at Yale and a former college teammate of Beerman’s, wrote on Twitter that he “was the closest thing to an honest-go-god viking that I’ll ever meet in my life.”
Skinner was a sophomore at Ball State during Beerman’s senior season.
“He’s just the ultimate competitor,” Skinner said. “He would do anything to win and compete until it was dark or they turned the lights off in the gym until he won. That’s the way he played. That’s the way he coached. That’s just the type of person he was. He was relentless.”
Competitiveness, and excelling in competition, runs in the family. Chris met Mary-Beth at Ball State, where she was a volleyball star. Both of his children earned Division I scholarships, Jackson to Eastern Kentucky’s football team and Kendall to Indiana’s volleyball team. They were standouts at Tates Creek High School.
“When it came to Tates Creek sports, he was a dad,” Tates Creek athletics director John Dixon said. “He never questioned our coaches. That is what I admired most. He was the volleyball guru but let his kids play and enjoyed being the parent. Chris was a tremendous person and wanted everyone to succeed.”
Leah Edmond played at Dunbar and for LUV before attending UK, where she had a decorated career. Edmond was among many who shared memories about Beerman on social media.
“You knew my potential even when others didn’t,” Edmond wrote as part of an Instagram post. “You taught me to be unapologetically myself on the court and I will forever be grateful. … You are a legend and your legacy will live on forever, I’m so happy I got to be apart of it.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 11:32 AM.
