Chris Beard exited the Travis County Jail in Austin on Monday afternoon, released after posting bond on a felony domestic violence charge.
Accompanied by attorney Perry Minton and wearing a face mask, the Texas men’s basketball coach looked like he wanted to be anywhere else after an arrest left his personal and professional life in limbo. Without answering questions from a swarm of media members, he ducked into the backseat of a silver Chevrolet Tahoe and departed quickly.
A few hours later, assistant coach Rodney Terry walked into the Moody Center as Texas’ acting head coach for a nonconference game against Rice.
“The university takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously,” Texas said in a statement released about 90 minutes before tipoff. “Given the information available, the university has suspended Chris Beard from his position as head coach of men’s basketball and will withhold his pay until further notice. Associate head coach Rodney Terry will serve as acting head coach for tonight’s game against Rice.”
Texas really had no choice, especially after Austin police released a disturbing arrest affidavit. Beard faces a charge of assault on a family/household member impeding breath circulation, a third-degree felony. If he’s found guilty, he could face two to 10 years in prison.
Police were called to an Austin residence shortly after midnight Monday following reports of a disturbance.
A woman who identified herself as Beard’s fiancée said the coach assaulted her after a dispute over reading glasses escalated.
The woman told police “he just snapped on me and became super violent,” according to the affidavit, which was shared online. She said Beard “choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts.” The woman said Beard also choked her with his arm on her neck.
The affidavit said the women received several visible injuries to her forearm, eyebrow, left leg and left thumb. Beard disputed the account to police and said he possessed but would not share audio recordings proving he wasn’t the “primary aggressor,” according to the affidavit.
In a statement to several media outlets, Minton said: “Coach Beard is 100% innocent of these charges. He should never have been arrested. The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”
Beard’s seven-year, $35 million contract includes a standard clause from Texas contracts that says the coach could be fired or suspended for “Any conduct (a) that the University administration reasonably determines is clearly unbecoming to a Head Coach and reflects poorly on the University, the Program, or The University of Texas System; or (b) resulting in a criminal charge being brought against Head Coach involving a felony, or any crime involving theft, dishonesty, or moral turpitude.”
In the coming days and weeks, Texas officials, including President Jay Hartzell and athletic director Chris Del Conte, face a major decision on one of the most visible employees in the athletic department.
March Madness dreams deferred?
Starting his second season at Texas, the 49-year-old Beard seemed to have all the pieces in place, including talent and experience.
He had built a team that seemed to fit his coaching style and vision that begins with tenacious, unyielding defense. A long NCAA Tournament run seemed entirely possible.
Instead of the dated, drab Erwin Center, the $375 million Moody Center had livened the campus mood with Beard begging fans to fill the building.
The support from the Texas administration was unquestioned after they convinced Beard to abandon Texas Tech, where he was a coaching demigod, and return to Austin. Remember how Del Conte supposedly sealed the deal with Beard over breakfast at a McDonald’s in Plainview?
It was applauded as a masterstroke pretty much everywhere but Lubbock, where dismay quickly turned to bitterness and anger. Beard had taken Tech basketball farther than it ever been, losing to Virginia in overtime at the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Now he was going back to Texas, where he had served as a student manager under Tom Penders.
While his first year wasn’t overwhelming, the Longhorns went 22-12 and won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Texas was looking much improved this year, with a veteran lineup led by senior Marcus Carr and transfer Tyrese Hunter, and was ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 before an overtime loss to Illinois last week.
Fast forward to Monday, with Beard facing major uncertainty at what he once called his “dream job.” In the span of one day, the program he built to go on an extended March Madness run became Terry’s team, at least for the time being. After Rice, Texas is scheduled to play Stanford on Sunday at American Airlines Center in Dallas as part of the Pac-12 U.S. LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
Terry, a former assistant under Rick Barnes when Texas established an NBA pipeline with Kevin Durant, T.J. Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge and others, is no novice. The 54-year-old compiled a record of 163-156 in 10 years at Fresno State and UTEP. His 2015-16 Fresno State team went 25-10 and made the NCAA Tournament.
In his second year under Beard, Terry knows the system well. And while interim coaches have a mixed record, interim Michigan coach Steve Fisher led the Wolverines to the 1989 NCAA title.
