Texas Longhorns head basketball coach Chris Beard was fired Thursday, 23 days after the school suspended him, without pay, following his arrest on a domestic family violence charge.
Associate head coach Rodney Terry, who has been the interim head coach since Beard’s suspension, will remain at the helm for the rest of the season.
Longhorns’ athletic director Chris Del Conte released a statement Thursday afternoon announcing the decision.
“The University of Texas has parted ways with Chris Beard,” he said. “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 was arrested in the early morning hours of December 12 after his fiancée, Randi Trew, informed officers he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got into an argument. Beard’s legal representation, Perry Minton, said at the time that Beard “is 100% innocent of these charges,” and Trew released a statement on December 23 in which she denied telling police Beard choked her.
“Chris did not strangle me, and I told that to law enforcement that evening,” Trew said in her statement. “Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that. I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way.”
Trew’s statement did not go into why she made the emergency call or other findings in the police report, such as bite marks and abrasions on her face and telling officers that she could not breathe for approximately five seconds.
The Travis County District Attorney’s office released a statement to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf on Thursday morning, hours before Beard was fired.
“The matter is still under review, and our prosecutors are evaluating all of the evidence, including recent statements and all evidence collected by law enforcement,” the statement said. “Our office takes all allegations of domestic violence seriously; in each case, we are committed to working through the unique challenges presented.”
Beard had been the head coach at Texas since 2021 after spending five seasons at Big 12 rival Texas Tech Red Raiders. In his only full season in Austin, Beard posted a record of 22-12 before losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Texas was off to a 7-1 start before Beard’s arrest. Terry led the Longhorns to five consecutive victories before a home loss to Kansas State on Tuesday.
Beard was in the second year of a fully guaranteed, seven-year deal. His contract includes a provision under which he can be fired for cause for conduct that includes being charged with a felony.
