- Texas handled the delicate situation with dignity and was slow to condemn before firing basketball coach Chris Beard following his arrest for domestic violence.
- The school didn’t so much fire Beard for being arrested, but let him go because he physically harmed a woman.
- By firing him for good reason, Texas saved over $30 million because it claims it doesn’t owe Byrd anything and suspended him without pay on December 12.
Texas did the right thing.
Slowly. So slow. Maybe even too slow, according to some.
But in the end, the university went down the only path it could – the right path – and on Thursday fired men’s basketball coach Chris Beard for tarnishing the Longhorns brand with his Dec. 12 arrest on domestic violence charges.
That’s what it led to. Beating a woman is unacceptable. Beard should know this.
And ultimately, Texas always wants to protect the brand at all costs. He couldn’t afford to look the other way and try to ignore what happened in this #MeToo era of justice, healing and women’s empowerment. But athletic director Chris Del Conte and UT president Jay Hartzell were slow to condemn, instead handling the unenviable situation with as much patience and class as they could.
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Beard’s behavior when he hit the woman was clearly inappropriate and served as grounds for a good cause dismissal. His lack of remorse only made it easier for Texas to make that decision.
Texas claims it is not offering him a dime because he violated his seven-year, $35 million contract with his unethical behavior, and the school could have saved over $30 million by parting ways with him and not paying him anything since. December 12, when he was suspended from work without pay.
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Maybe Perry Minton, Byrd’s lawyer, can rattle all the swords he wants and try to intimidate Texas into fulfilling at least part of the coach’s financial contract. But Texas has the upper hand in this case, and there’s no way Beard would want that dirty laundry paraded in front of a jury. This would only cause more damage to his career and further concerns about his character in his next potential employer.
The state’s flagship school can’t afford to ignore Byrd’s misdeeds, even if the charges are eventually dropped, which I almost expect since Beard’s fiancée probably won’t testify against him.
But the damage has been done.
Beard was not fired due to the allegations. He was fired because Texas believed he had physically harmed a woman.
Beard, who remained silent for nearly a month after a bitter row on Dec. 12, likely received an L in the court of public opinion once the Longhorn Nation had to painfully hear that Randy Trew—Bird’s six-year-old girlfriend and fiancée—told Austin police that the coach tried to strangle her. that he bit her, caused her abrasions and made her fear for her safety.
And neither he nor his lawyer gave enough explanation to save his skin. So, 24 long, agonizing days after Byrd’s arrest, the Longhorns finally and properly cut the cord. They will likely launch a national search for his successor sooner rather than later.
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Rodney Terry, the acting head coach who returned to Texas with Byrd, will continue in this position and deserves a significant raise from his current $500,000 salary. He’s probably a long way from getting a full-time job unless he takes this very talented team to, say, the Final Four, because his 10-year track record as head coach at UTEP and Fresno State leaves much to be desired.
The hope is that Texas will get the right coach for the job, someone with impeccable character and integrity for the program that has been gaining momentum under Byrd, and that Byrd and Trew will find peace and forgiveness through all this pain and heartache.
Let’s hope that the repentant Beard can restore his name and reputation, he and his fiancée will find a solution and peace together or separately and lead a calm, productive life. Beard’s coaching career is hanging in the balance, and it’s too early to say it’s over or just a lull. We all know he has a lot of work to do.
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True later toned down her original account, saying that Beard didn’t actually choke her and didn’t want to harm her. She said that his angry reaction to their argument could have been self-defense. But does it matter when a man scares the hell out of his partner, hits her in every way, makes her feel scared enough to notify the authorities, and brings similar headlines to the Texas program?
Sources inside and outside the university say Byrd offered very little to Texas in his defense that could be satisfactory. The school’s senior management discussed the immediate dismissal of Byrd with good cause the day after his arrest, but chose to remove him from office without pay and not react reflexively.
I would applaud Texas for how he handled this unfortunate situation by not reacting too quickly, not making the wrong decision, and not giving himself over to one amazing basketball coach.
However, the clock was ticking. It wasn’t very fair that the basketball team and the rest of the staff didn’t get enough information at all while the university was letting it play out. But the information was hard to find.
Texas hasn’t exactly showered itself with glory in the past for the way it treated women’s track and field coach Bev Kearney and offensive football coordinator Major Applewhite during their high school sexual disputes. And that has allowed current Longhorns rookie defenseman Arterio Morris to play all of this season during the ongoing investigation and indictment in Denton County in his own domestic violence case. This is also far from the best optics.
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But Texas took the only exit he really had on Thursday and fired arguably one of the top five coaches in all of college basketball. Beard is a hell of a trainer and hopefully he learns and grows from it.
The same goes for Texas, who behaved well in this heinous situation and, on one of the few occasions, chose to take control of the narrative. The Bird-Texas couple was a match made in heaven, but it was all too short and is now coming to a painful and premature end.
Meanwhile, with the spring semester kicking off again on Monday, Texas can take a breath, and the arguably slightly calmer Longhorns and their uptight fans can now focus on making the most of an imperfect but still promising season and doing the right thing.
