Texas fired men’s basketball coach Chris Beard for cause Thursday, but not before offering him a chance to make the call himself.
That was made public by the school Thursday afternoon when it released a letter sent to Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, per Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News. In the letter, the school implied that Beard expected to return to his position if he was not convicted on a felony assault charge related to a Dec. 12 incident with his fiancé.
The school said in the letter that such an assumption on the part of Beard shows that he “does not understand the significance of the behavior he knows he engaged in.”
Beard signed a seven-year contract reportedly worth $35 million in 2021. He had the sixth-highest salary in the nation among men’s college basketball coaches last season, according to USA Today. Because he was fired for cause, the university doesn’t intend to pay out the balance of the pact.
Beard maintains his innocence in the matter, and his fiancé, Randi Trew, made a similar public statement. Minton released a statement Thursday afternoon saying that Beard was “crushed” in regard to the firing, and the attorney reiterated the claim of Beard’s innocence. Minton also alleged that the school promised to conduct an independent investigation of the situation but didn’t interview Beard or Trew about the matter.
“I am concerned that the University of Texas has made a terrible decision against the interest of the University based on Twitter feeds and editorials—and not the facts concerning a truly innocent man,” Minton said in the statement. “The University has violated their agreement with the coach and we are devastated.”
The school announced that interim head coach Rodney Terry will continue to coach the Longhorns for the remainder of the 2022–23 season.
