NCAA Coach Of The Year Chris Beard Fired!

It wasn't that long ago basketball coach Chris Beard was the hottest commodity on the market. In 2019 he was named NCAA Coach of the Year after leading the Texas Tech men's basketball team to the Final Four, finishing in second place. Beard left Texas Tech to be the head coach at his alma mater, the University of Texas.  Coach Beard was currently in his second season of a 7-year contract that was paying him $5 million a year, with incentives the contract totaled $35 million.

In the early morning of December 12th, police responded to distress from Beard's fiancee, Randi Trew. According to the Austin Statesman, Trew told officers that, 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.” Beard was booked into jail at 4:18 a.m. Monday, according to the Travis County sheriff's office jail records. Beard faces a third-degree felony charge of assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation.

Beard was released from jail Monday afternoon after posting bail, which was set at $10,000.

She then later retracted her statement claiming Beard acted in self-defense and that he never strangled her and she wanted the charges dropped.

After the incident, Chris Beard was put on administrative leave without pay, and Thursday the decision was announced that Coach Beard would be fired.

The decision to fire Coach Beard was made by the Univerity on Wednesday:

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." "Additionally," Davis wrote, "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."

According to the Austin Statesman: 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."

As for now Chris Beard is left without a job and a disgraced name and could face charges if Travis County officials decide to continue with the case.