The University of Texas at Austin (UT) terminated Chris Beard as head coach of its men’s basketball team on Thursday, Austin-based media outlets reported.
The move came nearly a month after Beard was arrested for and charged with alleged domestic violence.
Citing a UT-issued press release, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that Chris Del Conte, the university’s athletics director, called the matter involving Beard “a difficult situation.”
“Today I informed Mr. Beard of our decision to terminate him effective immediately,” Del Conte said in the release. “We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it most.”
Terry, who assumed leadership of the program shortly after Beard’s legal troubles began, will continue to serve as acting head coach, per Del Conte.
Austin Journal reported in December that the Austin Police Department (APD) responded to a 911 call made from a residence in the affluent Tarrytown neighborhood on the state capital’s west side on Monday, Dec. 12.
Upon arrival, investigators learned that the 49-year-old Beard allegedly strangled someone at the house.
He was subsequently taken to the Travis County Jail and booked on a felony "assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation” charge.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported that the victim in question is Beard’s fiancée.
The couple purportedly had an argument before the assault, the station reported.
Per KVUE, UT ceased making payments to Beard in accordance to the notice of termination it sent to him.
Perry Q. Minton, an attorney representing Beard, questioned the university's decision to fire his client to which UT Vice President for Legal Affairs and Business Strategies James E. Davis said Beard’s purported misconduct goes against the “great responsibility” coaching entails, the station reported.