Texas Tech under Chris Beard is just getting started.

Beard has signed a new six-year contract that keeps him at Texas Tech through the 2024-25 season, the school announced Monday morning. The 46-year-old Beard will earn an average of $4.575 million annually throughout the deal, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.

The deal, which starts at $4.2 million, features a buyout after the first year that's worth $3 million -- double that for a Big 12 school -- sources told SportsDay's Chuck Carlton.

Just how competitive is this salary? Beard is set to make more money than any coach in college basketball not named John Calipari or Mike Krzyzewski, according to USA Today's database of NCAA salaries. (Note: The database has yet to be updated with Rick Barnes' new deal with Tennessee, one where he will be paid $4.7 million in 2019, according to KnoxNews.com).

"Thank you to President Schovanec,

,

, Chancellor Mitchell and the Board of Regents for making this strong commitment to both me and our men's basketball program," Beard said in a news release. "Thank you to our players and staff, both former and current, for your commitment to winning. Special thanks to our fans and our students for your incredible support and passion. Together we have accomplished some great things in the past three years but we are not satisfied and will continue working tirelessly to build one of the best college basketball programs in the nation."

The announcement comes three weeks after Beard guided the Red Raiders to the culmination of a program-first Final Four run: an 85-77 overtime loss to Virginia in the national championship game.

Beard is 76-31 in three seasons at Texas Tech, having guided the Red Raiders to their first Elite Eight (2018) and Big 12 regular-season championship (2019) in addition to this year's Final Four run, which capped the winningest season in program history at a record of 31-7.

Beard is the reigning Associated Press National Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach of the Year.