Lambert promoted Marc Beach to head football coach on Tuesday, ending a coaching search that began last month when Tommy Watson stepped down.

Beach arrived at Lambert with Watson ahead of the 2020 season, serving as the Longhorns' offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

"He brought a culture of hard work and the kids really bought into what he brought," Beach said. "We're going to continue that philosophy in weight room, in the classroom and on the field. I'm pretty excited with what we have coming back. We have some seniors with some good leadership and some good young players as well who we're counting on."

Lambert finished 7-4 and reached the first round of the Class 7A playoffs in 2022. The Longhorns averaged 27.7 points per game, which is the second highest in school history behind 2016's mark of 31 points per game.

The Longhorns will return a chunk of their offensive nucleus from last season, including quarterback James Tyre [99-for-154 passing, 1,364 yards, 15 TDs, 1 INT], tight end Luke Logan [13 catches, 214 yards, 4 TDs] and running back Ethan Terry [86 carries, 384 yards, 5 TDs].

"I think kids bought into the system, and we were lucky enough to have some good players in good positions. We had a pretty good offensive line up front with Grayson Mains, and ultimately with Kojo [Antwi], we saw a lot of different defenses against him. Then Tyre, who's going to be a returner, did an excellent job protecting the football for us ... then on defense, we had some good seniors over there in Jake Johnson. But we've got some good ones coming back, like Jake Racki and Finn Braeuer and Bradley Gabriel and Tommy Morris."

Beach was the offensive coordinator at Tift County from 2015-20 and served as head coach at Seabreeze High School [Fla.] from 2001-15.

"I was a head coach for 14 years in Florida at the same high school, so there's some things different here. Ultimately, there's a difference when you go to OC to head coach," Beach said. "There's a lot more that goes into it — you've got fundraising, parents and all those things. Like I said, I did it for 14 years in Florida, so it's not new to me. Some of the program stuff that they have is new, but as far as being the head coach and dealing with those sort of things, it's not new."

Lambert's playoff appearance last season marked the Longhorns' first foray into the postseason since 2016, while earning their first winning season in five seasons.

Additionally, Lambert's freshman team won a region championship last season, and a couple of freshmen — Cam Bland, Tommy Lafayette — also saw varsity snaps.

"There are some good, young, talented kids, but they are going to be young," Beach said. "I think there's a bunch of them that can help us, and we're going to need some guys to step up and fill some roles. As far as short-term goals, I want to get to that first game and get it going. We're going to continue to work hard. The first thing I've got to do is find coaches. That's my biggest goal right now."

Defensive coordinator Dustin Heard, defensive backs coach Micah Keels and assistant coach Josh Sullivan. However, offensive line coach Jacob Boldin took the same position at Grayson and Beach's promotion leaves the Longhorns without an offensive coordinator at the moment.

"On the offensive side, it's me," Beach said. "I'm trying to hire an OC and O-line coach. Those are my first two hires."

This story has been updated.