* NRA Top 100
        *Tom Lemming National Top 200         
        *Max Emfinger's Top 125 National Bluechips
        *Max Emfinger's Top 200 Super Dixie Bluechips

             Top running back in the state of Tennessee as a junior.  Led Pearl-Cohn to back-to-back 4A State Championships.  Offensive MVP of '97 Clinic Bowl (State Championship) after rushing for 167 yards and a TD on 25 carries.  As a junior, rushed for 2,134 yards and 25 TDs.  Co-#1 Prospect in the state, along with Memphis Melrose DE David Paine.  Has 4.4 speed and could also play cornerback on the next level.  Being recruited by virtually all major colleges.   Currently lists Tennessee, Alabama and Florida State with no clear leader among these three.  Michigan, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Nebraska are also actively recruiting Beard.  Tennessee has made Beard a top priority for this recruiting year.  He is being recruited by Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe for the Vols.  Beard admits he will feel a lot of pressure to cast his lot with Tennessee.  His high school coach, Maurice Fitzgerald, has a son, Buck, who is a Pearl-Cohn graduate and signed with UT in '97.  Beard's Pearl-Cohn teammates from last year's championship squad, John Henderson and Reggie Ridley, signed with Tennessee in February.

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