Texas basketball coach Chris Beard welcomes the expectations
Chris Beard welcomed expectations when he was introduced as Texas men’s basketball head coach on April 2, 2021.
Nate Chute, Chit
The University of Texas fired Longhorns head basketball coach Chris Beard on Thursday, less than a month after his Dec. 12 arrest on a third-degree felony charge of domestic violence following an altercation with the his promise
Beard was offered the chance to resign, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act, but chose not to and still doesn’t understand what he did wrong, said a UT vice president.
Perry Minton, Beard’s attorney, wrote to UT Thursday morning, saying, “I want it to go on the record as stating emphatically, and recalling here, that Coach Beard has done nothing to violate any provision of his contract with the University of Texas.”
However, James Davis, UT’s vice president for legal affairs, responded in a terse letter: “Chris Beard engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as a head coach at our university. Instead to fire Mr. Beard immediately, the university exercised thoughtful restraint to allow time for additional material facts to emerge.”
Beard, 49, was in his second season as head basketball coach. He had been suspended without pay by the university since Dec. 12 after his fiancee, Randi Trew, called Austin police and said Beard had strangled, bitten and bruised her. He was booked into the Travis County Jail and released later that day after posting $10,000 bond.
Davis closed his scathing letter Thursday with a damning comment about Beard’s involvement in the situation and lack of perspective.
“Furthermore,” Davis wrote, “your letter this morning reveals that Mr. Beard does not understand the significance of the behavior in which he knows he engaged, nor the subsequent events that impair his ability to lead our program effectively. This lack of self-awareness is Another failure of judgment that makes Mr. Beard unfit to serve as a head coach at our university.”
The university made the decision to fire Beard on Wednesday, and he and Minton were notified Thursday. The news shocked Minton.
“Your update this morning came as a shock,” Minton wrote to Davis, “coming this far in this process and following positive developments that strongly support Coach Beard’s statement that he is innocent of any felony and has done nothing that “(a) is not a head coach and reflects poorly on the University or (b) has resulted in felony criminal charges.” He was arrested, then his fiance retracted the his previously reported statement, and I expect the Travis County District Attorney to drop all charges in the matter shortly.”
UT athletic director Chris Del Conte informed Beard of the school’s decision to fire him Thursday and said in a statement released afterward, “This has been a difficult situation that we’ve been working through diligently. We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court when our team needed it most. We are grateful that he remains the interim head coach for the remainder of the season “.
Del Conte declined to comment on a possible search for Beard’s successor.
Beard, who was the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year, signed a seven-year contract with UT in April 2021 for a fixed salary of $5 million per year. His $35 million contract, which would have expired on March 31, 2028, included the use of two dealership cars, 20 hours of personal use of a UT jet, a one-time payment of $250,000 for his moving expenses from Lubbock and incentives of up to $850,000 for winning Big 12 and NCAA Tournament games. UT paid Texas Tech $4 million to buy out Beard’s Red Raiders contract.
Beard’s UT record was 29-13, including the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 last season.
More: Who is Chris Beard? What we know about the coach’s arrest
Terry, who was UT’s associate head coach, has been the acting head coach for the past six games, in which the Longhorns have gone 5-1. They are 12-2 overall and ranked sixth in this week’s Top 25 poll. Terry makes $500,000 a year. He was the head coach at UT-El Paso and then Fresno State for the 10 years before joining Beard’s staff.
What led to Chris Beard’s arrest?
Police said they were dispatched to Beard’s home in his Tarrytown neighborhood around 2 a.m. on Dec. 12 after Trew called 911 to say the trainer had attacked him.
According to the arrest affidavit, Trew said the couple had been arguing about their relationship for several days. She told police that she approached Beard in a guest room, and after Beard ignored her, she became frustrated and grabbed his glasses from his hand and broke them. She also told police she “didn’t feel safe.”
Although Trew later clarified that Beard may have acted in self-defense and said he never strangled her, Beard has never spoken publicly about the episode. His statement was made to the Statista and The Associated Press.
Minton issued a statement after the arrest saying Beard is innocent and the woman wanted all charges dismissed.
The university said it was reviewing Trew’s statement as part of its internal investigation into the matter. Beard faced a hearing on January 18. And the Travis County District Attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing the case to determine whether to proceed.
Chris Beard’s story with Texas basketball
Beard, a UT graduate, returned to school 21 months ago after leading Big 12 rival Texas Tech to historic success, including a national runner-up finish in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with a loss to overtime against Virginia in the championship game.
After a promising first season at UT under Beard, when the program snapped an eight-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament with a win over Virginia Tech before suffering a narrow loss to Purdue in the second round, the Longhorns they have been very well ranked throughout the season. and have come off highlight-reel wins over No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 7 Creighton.
The Longhorns suffered their first loss under Terry this week, a 116-103 setback at home to Kansas State. The Wildcats were picked to finish last in the Big 12, a league expected to send as many as nine if not all 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament in March.
Beard last coached a game on Dec. 10, a home win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
In the days after the arrest, UT officials invited Beard and his representatives to present a case why he should not be fired, according to multiple sources familiar with those conversations.
The school is already dealing with the fallout from a pending family violence case against men’s basketball player Arterio Morris, a freshman guard from Dallas who was arrested last summer after an incident with a former girlfriend. Morris, who is scheduled to appear in court next month in Denton County, has played in all 13 games this season.