- Chris Beard embraces Ole Miss, SEC ‘opportunity’ as ex-Texas coach speaks out on firing over alleged assault 247Sports
- Ole Miss’ Chris Beard sidesteps questions on domestic violence allegations at introductory press conference Fox News
- Ole Miss hire of Chris Beard proves nothing except Rebels’ unapologetic desperation | Toppmeyer Clarion Ledger
- Arkansas Has a Legit Excuse. Ole Miss, In Hiring Chris Beard, Does Not. Best of Arkansas Sports
- Lane Kiffin, Chris Beard, Mike Bianco Group Tops the SEC – Locked on Ole Miss Podcast Sports Illustrated
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Tag Archives: Beard
O’Neil: Texas made the only responsible decision by firing Chris Beard
It’s complicated.
That’s the go-to, right? That the only two people who know what happened between Chris Beard and Randi Trew are Beard and Trew, and trying to make decisions based on that gray area is tricky.
Except, no. It really isn’t. In fact, millions and millions of people in this country make the very uncomplicated decision every day to have healthy, safe, non-physical relationships with their partners. That’s not to say it’s easy. Interpersonal relationships are at the heart of this world spinning on its axis, and they are fraught with challenges. Parent-to-child, friend-to-friend, partner-to-partner, spouse-to-spouse, there isn’t one of us who hasn’t at one time fought with, been frustrated, exasperated, moved to tears by, or wanted to storm out on someone in our lives. It happens.
But we avoid the gray area because there is no gray area; there is a clear delineation between black and white. We stop at the line — maybe even teeter on the edge of it sometimes — but we stop because we remember the very simple lesson taught in toddlerhood: Do the right thing. Not the easy thing. The right thing.
Chris Beard didn’t do the right thing, and that’s why he’s no longer the coach at the University of Texas. It’s that simple. This is not about the legalese of when allegations turn into charges turn into convictions or Trew’s initial account to police and her turnabout 11 days later. Whether the district attorney chooses to continue the case is immaterial (Beard is scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 18 in district court).
The university made that abundantly clear in its explanation of its dismissal. It was not acting on the portion of its contract clause that allows Beard to be fired for being charged with a felony; it was enforcing the portion that allowed him to be dismissed for conduct unbecoming. As Texas’ vice president for legal affairs Jim Davis wrote in a letter to Beard’s attorney, “Chris Beard engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university.’’
That’s it. It’s that simple. His behavior is unacceptable. He is unfit. Something happened between a woman and the head basketball coach at Texas that was bad enough that it merited a 911 call, which resulted in a bite mark and scratches on Trew’s body, which gave the police cause to charge Beard with a third-degree felony. And that, Texas has decided, is enough. I was admittedly hard on the administration for its long road to this decision but I applaud the school for not only getting here, but getting here for the right reasons.
I take no great pleasure in any of this. I do not cheer the demise of a successful career, nor do I scream any sort of vindication. The times I’ve worked with and spoken to Beard — as recently as the week before his arrest — he’s always been considerate, professional and engaging. I respected him as a coach, and I liked what I knew of him as a person.
But that doesn’t diminish what happened, or make the inexcusable excusable, even though some would like that to be the case. It’s become, frankly, exhausting how everyone rushes to find the loophole for the accused, to protect their rights and ignore the simple rights of a person to not be assaulted. We’ve all become so numb to it all. When the news initially broke of Beard’s arrest, my Twitter mentions were filled with smart-ass jokes that were in poor taste at best, and deplorable at worst.
We have become so inured to bad behavior, that we barely seem to recognize it anymore. Rather than be horrified by the video of Dana White and his wife coming to blows during a New Year’s Eve party, we write it off as some sort of normal drunken behavior. It is not normal for a man and a woman to hit each other. It’s just not.
In its letter to Beard’s lawyer, Texas alluded to the idea that Beard himself did not grasp what he did, that he 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.’’ It is hard to fathom that he could ever envision a way back from this, that he was either that ill-informed, or that arrogant. As soon as that 911 call hit dispatch, his career at Texas was over. It’s more than bad P.R. or giving trolling opponents the layup of poster boards with Beard in prison stripes.
It’s what a coach is supposed to represent — a leader, a role model, an adviser, a mentor. How could Beard sit across from a parent or guardian and promise to protect, guide and mold their son after that?
Sadly, plenty of people read that last sentence and rolled their eyes, amused at the concept of coaches as good people. We’ve gotten lazy there, too. The bad apple thing and all. The truth is, there are plenty of coaches — more than not — who fit that bill. Who develop lifelong relationships with players and guide them long after their eligibility runs out; who keep their office doors open and their phones on if someone needs to talk; who help kids overcome hardships or succeed where everyone else thought they would fail; who offer opportunity over obligation; who do not put their university in the uncomfortable position of defending them or waiting for a felony charge to be dropped so they can get back to coaching a game.
Who, just like millions and millions of ordinary folk, wake up every day and decide to do the right thing.
Chris Beard didn’t, and that’s why he’s no longer the head coach at Texas.
(Top photo: John E. Moore III / Getty Images)
Texas basketball coach Chris Beard fired following December arrest
Texas basketball coach Chris Beard welcomes expectations
Chris Beard welcomed expectations when introduced as Texas men’s basketball’s head coach on April 2, 2021.
Nate Chute, Wochit
The University of Texas fired Longhorns men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard on Thursday, less than a month after his Dec. 12 arrest on a third-degree felony domestic violence charge after an altercation with his fiancée.
Beard was offered the chance to resign, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act, but he chose not to and still doesn’t understand what he did wrong, a UT vice president said.
Perry Minton, Beard’s lawyer, wrote UT on Thursday morning, saying, “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.”
However, James Davis, vice president for UT legal affairs, responded in a terse letter: “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.”
Beard, 49, was in his second season as head basketball coach. He had been suspended without pay by the university since Dec. 12 after his fiancée, Randi Trew, called Austin police and told them Beard had strangled her, bitten her and caused her abrasions. He was booked into the Travis County Jail and released later that day after posting $10,000 bail.
Davis closed his strong letter Thursday with a damning comment about Beard’s involvement in the situation and lack of perspective.
“Additionally,” Davis wrote, “your letter this morning reveals that Mr. Beard does not understand thesignificance of the behavior he knows he engaged in, or the ensuing events that impair his abilityto 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.”
The decision to fire Beard was made by the university on Wednesday, and he and Minton were notified Thursday. The news came as a surprise to Minton.
“Your update to me this morning came as a shock,” Minton wrote to Davis, “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.’ 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.”
UT athletic director Chris Del Conte informed Beard of the school’s decision to terminate him Thursday and in a statement released later said: “This has been a difficult situation that we’ve been diligently working through. We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it the most. We are grateful he will remain the acting head coach for the remainder of the season.”
Del Conte declined to comment about a possible search for Beard’s successor.
Beard, who was the 2019 Associated Press national coach of the year, signed a seven-year contract with UT in April 2021 for a flat salary of $5 million a year. His $35 million contract, which would have expired March 31, 2028, included the use of two dealership cars, 20 hours of personal use of a UT jet, a $250,000 one-time payment for his moving expenses from Lubbock and incentives up to $850,000 for winning the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament games. UT paid Texas Tech $4 million to buy out Beard’s Red Raiders contract.
Beard’s UT record was 29-13, including the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 last season.
More: Who is Chris Beard? What we know about the coach’s arrest
Terry, who was UT’s associate head coach, has served as the acting head coach for the past six games, in which the Longhorns have gone 5-1. They are 12-2 overall and ranked No. 6 in this week’s Top 25 poll. Terry is paid $500,000 a year. He was the head coach at UT-El Paso and then at Fresno State in the 10 years before he join Beard’s staff.
What led to the Chris Beard’s arrest?
Police said they were dispatched to Beard’s house in his Tarrytown neighborhood around 2 a.m. Dec. 12 after Trew called 911 to say the coach had attacked her.
According to the arrest affidavit, Trew said the couple had been arguing about their relationship for several days. She told police she approached Beard in a guest bedroom and, after Beard ignored her, she became frustrated and took his eyeglasses from his hand and broke them. She also told police that she “did not feel safe.”
Even though Trew later clarified that Beard might have acted in self-defense and said he had never strangled her, Beard has never spoken publicly about the episode. Her statement was given to the Statesman and The Associated Press.
Minton issued a statement after the arrest saying that Beard is innocent and that the woman wanted all charges dismissed.
The university said it was reviewing Trew’s statement as part of its internal investigation into the matter. Beard faced a hearing Jan. 18. And the Travis County district attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing the case to determine whether to proceed with it.
Chris Beard’s history with Texas basketball
Beard, a UT graduate, returned to the school 21 months ago after leading Big 12 rival Texas Tech to historic success, including a national runner-up finish in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with an overtime loss to Virginia in the championship game.
After a promising first season at UT under Beard, when the program snapped an eight-game losing streak in NCAA Tournament play with a win over Virginia Tech before suffering a close loss to Purdue in the second round, the Longhorns have been highly ranked all season and have posted marquee wins over No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 7 Creighton.
The Longhorns suffered their first loss under Terry this week, a 116-103 home setback to Kansas State. The Wildcats were picked to finish last in the Big 12, a league expected to send as many as nine if not all 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament in March.
Beard last coached a game Dec. 10, a win at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
In the days after the arrest, UT officials invited Beard and his representatives to lay out a case for why they should not fire him, according to multiple sources familiar with those conversations.
The school is already dealing with the fallout of a pending family violence case against men’s basketball player Arterio Morris, a freshman guard from Dallas who was arrested last summer after an incident with a former girlfriend. Morris, who has a court appearance scheduled next month in Denton County, has appeared in all 13 games this season.
Texas fires Chris Beard amid domestic family violence charge
Texas head men’s basketball coach Chris Beard was fired Thursday, less than one month 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 acting head coach since Beard’s suspension, will remain in charge 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.”
The university’s vice president of legal affairs, Jim Davis, wrote in a letter to Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, that Beard engaged in “unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university.” Whether prosecutors continue with the case does not determine whether Beard engaged in conduct unbecoming of the school, Davis wrote.
Beard was arrested on the morning of Dec. 12 after his fiancée, Randi Trew, told officers he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got in an argument. Trew released a statement on Dec. 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 address why she made the emergency call or other details in the police report, such as bite marks and abrasions on her face and telling officers that she couldn’t breathe for about 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.”
Minton said in a statement that Beard is “crushed” by the news and claimed that the university went ahead with the firing without asking Beard or Trew any questions.
“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. “The University has violated their agreement with the coach and we are devastated.”
Minton has said the coach is innocent and pointed to Trew’s statement in a letter sent early Thursday to the university, in which Minton pressed the school to keep Beard.
“Coach Beard has not done anything to violate any provision of his contract with the University of Texas,” Minton wrote, adding he expects the charges to be dropped.
Minton’s letter also said Del Conte “has repeatedly reported to our team that he is certain that Chris Beard did nothing wrong — and is innocent.” It also said that Texas officials told Beard to resign or be fired.
The university said Del Conte supported a “pause” of suspending Beard before firing him to see what facts may come out. That should not have been taken as a determination of the coach’s conduct, Davis said.
“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,” Davis wrote in the school’s termination letter.
“This lack of self-awareness is yet another failure of judgement that makes Mr. Beard unfit to serve as a head coach at our university,” Davis wrote.
Beard had been the head coach at Texas since 2021 after spending five seasons at Big 12 rival Texas Tech. In his lone full season in Austin, Beard went 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 guided the Longhorns to five straight wins before a home loss to Kansas State on Tuesday.
Beard was in the second season of a fully guaranteed, seven-year contract. His contract includes a provision under which he can be fired for cause for conduct that includes being charged with a felony.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas fires Chris Beard amid domestic family violence charge
Texas head coach Chris Beard was fired Thursday, less than one month 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 acting head coach since Beard’s suspension, will remain in charge 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 on the morning of Dec. 12 after his fiancée, Randi Trew, told officers he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got in an argument. Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, said at the time that Beard “is 100% innocent of these charges” and Trew released a statement on Dec. 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 address why she made the emergency call or other details in the police report, such as bite marks and abrasions on her face and telling officers that she couldn’t breathe for about 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. 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. In his lone full season in Austin, Beard went 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 guided them to five straight wins before a home loss to Kansas State on Tuesday.
Beard was in the second season of a fully guaranteed, seven-year contract. His contract includes a provision under which he can be fired for cause for conduct that includes b
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Chris Beard: University of Texas men’s basketball head coach arrested and charged with felony assault
CNN
—
University of Texas at Austin men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard was arrested and charged with a third-degree felony assault on Monday.
Officers responded to a “disturbance” on the 1900 block of Vista Lane at 12:15 a.m. local time and Beard was arrested, according to Austin Police Department.
Beard was charged with an assault on a family or household member by impeding breath circulation and booked in Travis County Jail at 5:18 a.m., according to the county sheriff’s office’s website.
CNN has reached out to Beard’s legal representation for comment.
“The University is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process,” Texas Athletics said in a statement to CNN.
The university announced Monday night that Beard was suspended following his arrest.
“The University takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously,” the statement read. “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.”
The 7-1 Longhorns, ranked No. 7, play the Rice University Owls Monday night in Austin.
Beard is in his second season at the helm at Texas. Last season, he led the team to a 22-12 record and an NCAA tournament berth.
Texas suspends coach Chris Beard after arrest on assault charge
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard, who led Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA championship game and was hired away by the Longhorns with expectations he’d elevate his alma mater to the same elite level, was arrested early Monday on a felony family violence charge after a woman told police he strangled and bit her.
The school suspended Beard without pay “until further notice.” Associate head coach Rodney Terry served as the acting head coach as the No. 7 Longhorns needed overtime to beat Rice on Monday night, 87-81.
Beard was arrested by Austin police and booked at the Travis County jail at 4:18 a.m. CT on Monday on a charge of assault on a family or household member in which their breath was impeded. The charge is a third-degree felony in Texas, with a possible punishment of two to 10 years in prison.
According to the arrest affidavit first reported by the Austin American-Statesman, the woman told police she is his fiancée and they have been in a relationship for six years. She said they had been in an argument during which she broke his glasses before he “just snapped on me and became super violent.”
According to the affidavit, the woman told police, “He choked me, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts.”
She told police Beard choked her from behind with his arm around her neck and she couldn’t breathe for about five seconds. Police say she had a bite mark on her right arm and an abrasion to her right temple among other visible injuries.
When questioned by police, Beard said he had audio recordings of the incident that would show he was not the primary aggressor. But he refused to share them with officers, police said.
Beard went before a magistrate judge for his bond hearing, wearing jailhouse black-and-gray stripes and his hands cuffed in front at his waist. Beard was told he could communicate with the woman but not in a threatening manner, was ordered to stay 200 yards away from the residence where police were called and was told he is barred from possessing a firearm.
Beard nodded his head and answered “yes, sir” several times when addressing the judge. Jail records show Beard posted $10,000 bond. He didn’t answer questions when he left the jail with his attorney Perry Minton.
Minton declined comment but earlier told the American-Statesman the coach is innocent.
“He should never have been arrested,” Minton told the newspaper. “The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”
It wasn’t immediately known if the woman has an attorney. She was identified in the affidavit, but The Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of extreme violence without their consent.
“The university takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously,” the school said in announcing Beard’s suspension.
Terry was a head coach at UTEP (2018-21) and Fresno State (2011-18). He said after Monday night’s win against Rice that he has not talked to Texas officials about his future as acting head coach. He also commended the Longhorns for their play against Rice on what he called one of the most “difficult days” of his long coaching career.
“We have a very experienced staff that has done a great job to this point right now, preparing our guys for this game [Monday],” Terry said. “And our whole mission today was to control what we could control. I thought our guys did a great job of showing a lot of grit and a lot of perseverance through a lot of adversity.
“They’ve earned a day off to try to mentally and physically, try to regroup and recharge a little bit. We will let those guys get away a little bit [Tuesday].”
Terry said he had not talked with Beard after he was released from jail Monday. Terry also said he had not read the police affidavit that detailed the allegations against the now-suspended coach.
“I’ve really been focused on our guys today, really trying to rally them,” he said. “Knowing that we were going to have to come in tonight and play for 40 minutes. It wasn’t going to be an easy game for us.”
Beard, the AP coach of the year in 2019 while at Texas Tech, is in his second season of a seven-year guaranteed contract at Texas that pays him more than $5 million per year. His contract includes a provision under which he can be fired for cause for conduct the administration reasonably determines reflects poorly on the coach, program, school or university system. That includes being charged with a felony.
University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife did not return a message seeking comment.
Texas freshman guard Arterio Morris faces a misdemeanor family violence charge stemming from a June arrest after an incident with a former girlfriend. He faces a Wednesday court hearing in Denton County near Dallas.
Morris, a top national recruit, has been allowed to play this season despite the charge, and averages 17 minutes and 6.5 points per game. Morris’ attorney, Justin Moore, has said Morris is innocent of the assault charge.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas suspends coach Chris Beard after arrest on assault charge for alleged strangulation of family member
Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard, 49 was arrested early Monday morning after allegedly strangling a person at a home. Beard was booked at 4:18 a.m. CT with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office seeking a felony third-degree assault charge, according to police records.
Police responded to a “disturbance hot shot” 9-1-1 call, defined as “incidents which are in progress and are an immediate threat to life and/or public safety (i.e. shootings, stabbings, rapes, riots). These calls are dispatched immediately.”
The Austin Police Department issued this release Monday afternoon regarding Beard’s arrest: “On December 12, 2022, at approximately 12:15 a.m., the Austin Police Department (APD) received a 9-1-1 call for a disturbance in the 1900 block of Vista Lane. The caller reported the disturbance was no longer ongoing and one of the individuals had left the house. APD officers responded and located a woman who stated she had been assaulted and strangled by Christopher Michael Beard. Beard was booked into Travis County Jail. He is charged with Assault by Strangulation/Suffocation – Family Violence, a third degree felony.”
On Monday evening, Texas suspended Beard indefinitely and without pay.
“The University takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously,” the school said in a statement. “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.”
Beard, who is out of police custody, went before a magistrate judge in Austin Municipal Court on Monday afternoon and had his bail set at $10,000, according to official court records. There is a protective order active until at least Feb. 10, 2023, the terms of which prevent Beard from being within 200 yards of the alleged victim or the residence at which the 9-1-1 call was made. Beard is also not allowed to carry a firearm at this time. Additionally, while Beard is permitted to communicate with the complainant in the case, he’s strictly prohibited from doing so in any type of threatening or intimidating manner.
Late Monday, multiple media outlets acquired the affidavit for Beard’s arrest. In the arrest report, the alleged victim told police that Beard “choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around, and going nuts.”
The victim also told police they “just did not feel safe.”
Beard’s lawyer issued the following statement to local media Monday morning. In it, the lawyer claims the complainant wants the charge against Beard dropped.
Texas poached Beard from Big 12 rival Texas Tech in 2021. With the Red Raiders, and during his short stint with Little Rock, Beard rocketed himself into the upper echelon of the coaching ranks as one of the sport’s rising stars. Beard went 30-5 in one season at Little Rock, advancing to the NCAA Tournament, before spending five seasons at Texas Tech where he went 112-55 and competed for the national championship in 2019.
A former Longhorns team manager under Tom Penders, Beard has gotten off to a fast start at his alma mater. Texas reached the NCAA Tournament and won 22 games in his first season. Texas is 7-1 to start the 2022-23 campaign, having reached as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25.
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Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard released, protective order issued in assault case
Texas men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard was issued a protective order and is facing felony assault charges after a woman said he strangled her early Monday morning, Austin police said.
Beard, 49, is accused of assaulting a family member at a home in the 1900 block of Vista Lane, according to police. He faces a third-degree felony charge of assault on a family/household member — impede breath circulation. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Officers responded about 12:15 a.m. Monday to a 911 call about a disturbance that was no longer ongoing at a home in the Tarrytown neighborhood of West Austin, police said. The caller reported that one of the individuals involved had left the house, where officers located a woman who said Beard assaulted and strangled her, police said.
Beard was booked into Travis County Jail at 4:18 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office. He made his first appearance in court Monday and was released after posting a $10,000 bond.
A judge also issued protective orders in the case. Beard is not allowed to be within 200 yards of the woman he is accused of assaulting while the case is pending, and under an emergency order set to expire Feb. 10, he is not allowed to be within 200 yards of his home, possess a firearm, or communicate in a threatening way with the woman.
After leaving the jail, Beard did not respond to questions from reporters. His attorney, Perry Minton, had told Austin television station KEYE-TV on Monday morning that Beard is “100 percent innocent of these charges.”
“He should have never been arrested,” Minton said in a prepared statement. “The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”
A University of Texas spokesperson released a statement Monday that did not offer any information about Beard’s status with the team.
“The University is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process.”
After five seasons at Texas Tech, Beard became the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, his alma mater, in 2021. He has a 29-13 record in two seasons and has led the Longhorns to 7-1 with wins over three ranked teams — Gonzaga, Arkansas and Creighton. Texas was ranked No. 2 in the country before dropping to seventh after the team fell to Illinois last week, its first loss of the season.
Texas is set to play Rice at 7 p.m. Monday at the Moody Center in Austin, followed by a trip to Dallas on Sunday to face Stanford at American Airlines Center.
Who is Chris Beard?
Beard started his coaching journey as a graduate assistant for the Longhorns in 1991. The road that led him back to his alma mater was long and winding, to say the least.
After leaving Texas in 1995, Beard spent time as an assistant at Abilene Christian and North Texas. He was the head coach at two different junior college programs. He even spent a year coaching the South Carolina Warriors, a semiprofessional team. Stints as the head coach at McMurry University in Abilene and Angelo State in San Angelo came next, before Beard started his Division I head coaching career at Arkansas-Little Rock.
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By the time he reached Texas Tech in 2016, he had built a reputation as a defensive mastermind, with teams at each stop embodying his philosophy.
“They are really good at reaching, poking and digging things outta there,’’ Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of the Red Raiders in 2019. “So it’s real. That defense is real.’’
As was Beard’s coaching rise. He described himself and his teams as underdogs, but that title lost some relevancy after Beard took Tech to the national title game in 2019.
Despite losing to Virginia 85-77 in overtime, Beard had certified himself as one of the nation’s most talked-about coaches. When Texas and former coach Shaka Smart parted ways in 2021, Beard was the clear target.
He was adored at Texas Tech, but that changed when Beard signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with Texas — a Big 12 conference rival.
“Chris did so much for this community, for this program,” Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said last year. “Had he gone to any other university, he’d be celebrated.
“But there’s just certain things you cannot do, and one of them is you can’t leave Texas Tech for Texas.”
A hostile crowd and plenty of boos awaited Beard when he made his first trip to Lubbock with the Longhorns last season. The Red Raiders and new head coach Mark Adams won that game, and eventually made it to the Sweet 16 — one step further than the Longhorns and Beard, who lost to Purdue in the second round.
But it was the Longhorns’ first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 under Rick Barnes, and Beard finished his first season at 22-12. After the Longhorns secured a top-six recruiting class and multiple transfers, expectations were high for this season.
So far, Texas had lived up to it.
Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Texas basketball coach Chris Beard arrested on assault charge
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Myron Medcalf
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Jeff Borzello
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- Basketball recruiting insider.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.
Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested Monday morning on a felony domestic violence charge.
Beard, 49, is currently going through the booking process at the Travis County jail, according to Kristen Dark, senior public information officer for Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
“He is in our custody,” Dark told ESPN. “I can confirm he is the person who is in our booking process.”
Beard was arrested by police in Austin, Texas, and has been booked on a third-degree charge of “assault of a family/household member impede breath circulation,” or strangulation.
Austin police told ESPN they received a “disturbance hotshot” call, and officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Vista Lane shortly after midnight Monday. The Austin Police Department’s website defines a “hotshot” call as “incidents which are in progress are an immediate threat to life and/or public safety. … These calls are dispatched immediately.”
Said the school in a statement: “The University is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process.”
Texas, ranked second overall in the Associated Press poll, is 7-1 and off to its best start in years. The Longhorns are scheduled to host Rice on Monday night.
Beard, in his second season with the Longhorns, left Texas Tech to take what he called his “dream job” at Texas in 2021.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.