Suspended Texas basketball coach Chris Beard was fired on Thursday, with a university charging that he is “unfit” to lead the Longhorns.
Assistant coach Rodney Terry will continue to working in the capacity of Longhorns head coach for the rest of the 2022-23 season.
Chris Del Conte, Texas’ vice president and athletic director, announced the decision in a statement.
“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 was suspended Dec. 12, the same day he was arrested in the early morning hours after police responded to his home to investigate an “emergency threat to life” domestic call.
The 49-year-old Beard was arrested and booked on felony domestic violence charges and police revealed the call came from Beard’s live-in fiancee.
Beard was suspended without pay and, per a clause in the $35 million deal he signed before last season, Beard’s firing “with cause” fully absolves Texas of financial obligation, the university contends.
The university made public its letter of termination to Beard, a response from his attorney, Perry Q. Minton, and another responding to Minton’s concerns.
There is a decided gulf between the two sides, and every indication there will be litigation involved in deciding where the money ultimately lands.
Minton’s letter contends Beard has done nothing wrong and, given statements later made by Beard’s fiancee that he meant no harm to her and was only defending himself from her aggression, Minton underlines in his letter “no charges” will be upheld. Minton said he didn’t expect termination by the university, which gave Beard a brief chance to resign before termination.
“Your update to me this morning came as a shock, coming so far into this process and after positive developments that firmly support Coach Beard’s declaration that he is innocent of any crime and has not done anything that ‘(a) is unbecoming a head coach and reflects poorly on the University or (b) resulted in felony criminal charges.'” the letter reads. “He was arrested, then his fiancé retracted her previously reported statement, and I expect that the Travis County District Attorney is very shortly going to decline any and all charges in the matter.
“Additionally, it should be noted by the University that in the State of Texas, felony charges are brought by indictment and not by arrest. To be clear, as an officer of the court, I represent to the University of Texas that in my professional and well-informed opinion, no charges will ever be brought against Chris Beard. With this, I want to be on record as emphatically stating, and herein memorializing, that Coach Beard has not done anything to violate any provision of his contract with the University of Texas.”
Minton said his client deserves compensation, and contends termination by Texas was without cause.
James E. Davis, the university’s vice president for legal affairs, strongly responded, writing the following:
“Chris Beard engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university. Instead of immediately terminating Mr. Beard, the university exercised thoughtful restraint to allow time for additional material facts to emerge. Mr. Del Conte supported Mr. Beard and the program by supporting this pause before action and by presuming his innocence while the facts unfolded. But that support was not a determination regarding Mr. Beard’s conduct — such a decision would have been premature. It is a mistake to view a manager’s support for an employee as a statement of belief in criminal guilt or innocence. We
understand that some but not all of the reports of Mr. Beard’s behavior were retracted. It is his actual behavior that we consider, not whether some acts also constitute a crime. Whether or not the District Attorney ultimately charges Mr. Beard is not determinative of whether he engaged in conduct unbecoming a head coach at our university.”
Davis concluded his letter by saying Beard didn’t possess the qualities to continue as coach.
“Additionally, your letter this morning reveals that Mr. Beard does not understand the significance of the behavior he knows he engaged in, or the ensuing events that impair his ability to effectively lead our program. This lack of self-awareness is yet another failure of judgment that makes Mr. Beard unfit to serve as a head coach at our university. For these reasons, the university proceeds to terminate Mr. Beard.”
Events unfolded on Dec. 12, when per the police report, the woman told police that Beard “choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around, and going nuts.”
In a statement issued 11 days later, she said that she told law enforcement that Beard had not attempted to strangle her.
“Chris and I are deeply saddened that we have brought negative attention upon our family, friends and the University of Texas, among others,” the statement said. “As Chris’ fiancee and biggest supporter, I apologize for the role I played in this unfortunate event. I realize that my frustration, when breaking his glasses, initiated a physical struggle between Chris and myself.
“Chris did not strangle me, and I told that to law enforcement that evening. 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. It was never my intent to have him arrested or prosecuted. We appreciate everyone’s support and prayers during this difficult time.”
Beard told police he had audio recordings of the incident that showed he wasn’t the “primary aggressor,” according to court documents. But when asked if he would share those recordings, he declined.
About 14 hours after Beard was booked in Austin last month, Texas beat Rice in overtime under Terry’s direction. Terry said he learned less than 90 minutes before tipoff that he would fill Beard’s role as head coach.
Exactly one week prior to their coach being jailed, Texas was ranked No. 2 in the Top 25.
Terry said his message to the team has been, “There’s going to be things like this the rest of your life. It’s how you deal with them, adapt and adjust. At the end of the day, we have a job to do.”
The Longhorns are 12-2 (1-1 Big 12) and next play Saturday at Oklahoma State.
–Field Level Media
