Chris Beard fired as Texas head basketball coach, school announces

Chris Beard is officially out as Texas basketball’s head coach.

UT Austin announced the news Thursday, posting a statement from athletic director Chris Del Conte to the Longhorns website:

The University of Texas has parted ways with Chris Beard. This has been a difficult situation that we’ve been diligently working through. Today I informed Mr. Beard of our decision to terminate him effective immediately.

We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it most. We are grateful he will remain the acting head coach for the remainder of the season.

We are proud of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, who throughout this difficult time have continued to make us proud to be Longhorns.

Beard’s firing is for cause after his December arrest for domestic violence. Texas legal affairs considers Beard unfit to be the program’s head coach, regardless of any further developments in the legal case.

He adds:

“Our evaluation of Mr. Beard’s fitness for service is not contingent on whether he is also convicted of a particular crime or whether those charges are dismissed at some point.”

— Bob Ballou (@BobBallouSports) January 5, 2023

The University of Texas announces that it has fired men’s basketball coach Chris Beard. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/b3Od6kxfIU

— Danny Davis (@_dannydavis) January 5, 2023

Beard, 49, was the 2019 Associated Press national coach of the year at Texas Tech. He took the Texas job in 2021 and guided the Longhorns to last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.