Texas has fired men’s basketball coach Chris Beard, who faces a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fiancée, with the school telling his attorney on Thursday that Beard is “unfit” for the position.
Beard had five years left on a seven-year guaranteed contract that included a provision he could be fired for cause if he was charged with a felony or committed other behavior unbecoming of his position or that reflected poorly on the university.
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 had said there was internal investigation.
The university’s vice president of legal affairs, Jim Davis, wrote in a letter to Beard’s attorney that Beard engaged in “unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university.” Whether prosecutors continue with the case does not determine whether Beard engaged in conduct unbecoming of the school, Davis wrote.
Police responded to an emergency call at Beard’s house after midnight on Dec. 12 and arrested him after Beard’s fiancée, Randi Trew, told officers he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got in an argument.
The Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of extreme violence, but Trew issued a public statement on Dec. 23 in which she denied telling police Beard choked her. She also said she never intended for him to be arrested or prosecuted.
“Chris did not strangle me, and I told that to law enforcement that evening,” Trew said in her statement. “Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that. I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way.”
[Related: What’s next for Texas basketball?]
Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, has said the coach is innocent and pointed to Trew’s statement in a letter sent early Thursday to the university in which he pressed the school to keep Beard on the job.
“Coach Beard has not done anything to violate any provision of his contract with the University of Texas,” Minton wrote, adding he expects the charges to be dropped.
But Trew’s statement did not address why she made the emergency call or other details in the police report, such as bite marks and abrasions on her face and…
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