BREAKING: Texas has officially fired Chris Beard

Texas AD Chris Del Conte announced in a statement on Thursday that Chris Beard has been terminated as head men’s basketball coach. The full release is below:

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.

Rodney Terry has been leading the program since December 12, when news broke of Beard’s arrest for domestic assault. Beard has been on leave since then, but as he continues to face felony charges in that case, the official firing seemed inevitable.

Beard created a power shift in the Big 12 when he was hired in 2021, leaving Texas Tech after a successful five-year tenure that included leading the Red Raiders to National Championship game in 2019 for the first time in program history. The move was not unexpected, as Beard is a UT alum who coveted the job despite taking over at rival Texas Tech in 2016. That hiring was controversial, as well, as Beard had accepted the head coaching job at UNLV just a couple weeks prior.

UT has the right to position this as a “for cause” firing to avoid the millions of dollars in buyout fees that Beard would be otherwise owed.

Texas is 12-2 (1-1 Big 12) and currently ranked #6 in the AP Poll. Terry had to jump into action the same night that he was named acting head coach and has gone 6-1 so far. As noted, he will stay acting head coach through the remainder of this season.

credit to USA TODAY for the photo