ESPN.com · Jan 5, 2023
Texas fires men's basketball coach Chris Beard
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas fired basketball coach Chris Beard on Thursday while he faces a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fiancée.
Beard had five years left on a seven-year guaranteed contract that includes a provision he could be fired for cause if he was charged with a felony. The charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation family violence carries a possible prison sentence of two to 10 years if convicted; the woman told police he strangled and bit her, but later denied Beard choked her.
Beard had been suspended without pay since he was arrested, and school officials have said there is an ongoing internal investigation.