Chris Beard, Texas basketball coach, arrested on felony assault charges

Content warning: This story contains details of domestic violence

Texas Longhorns basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested early Monday morning and charged with third-degree felony assault.

Beard’s arrest comes after allegedly assaulting a ‘family/household member’ in a way that ‘impeded breath circulation’.

According to Austin Police:

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.

The booking occurred just after 4 a.m. Monday morning.

Beard’s bond hearing was held in the early afternoon.

Less than a hour later, the Texas head coach was released.

The University is aware of the situation regarding Beard.

“We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process,” per a statement from the University released this morning shortly after news of the arrest broke nationally.

Below is language from the termination and suspension clause in Beard’s contract.

Texas plays Rice tonight at the Moody Center — tipoff at 7 p.m. While it is unclear who will coach Texas, the clear interim option is assistant head coach Rodney Terry. Terry has almost a decade of head coaching experience, with stops at both Fresno State and UTEP.