University of Texas Suspends Coach Beard over Domestic Violence Allegations

When officers arrived, they located a woman who stated she had been assaulted and strangled by Christopher Michael Beard.  According to an arrest affidavit, the woman said to officers that she is Beard’s fiancé and has been in the relationship for six years. The woman claims that she and Beard had gotten into an argument where she broke his glasses and Beard “just snapped on me and became super violent”.

The woman said he, Beard, “choked me, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts.”

Now, Beard has been suspended without pay until further notice.

A statement released by the schools says, “The University takes matters of interpersonal violence involving members of its community seriously. Given the information available, The University has suspended Chris Beard from his position as head coach of Men’s Basketball and will withhold his pay until further notice.”

Beard coached at Angelo State University for two seasons where he went 47-15 overall before leaving for Arkansas-Little Rock for one season then on to Texas Tech in 2016. He had success at Texas Tech where in 2018, he took the Red Raiders to their first-ever Elite Eight berth and in 2019, their first-ever National Championship berth where they’d lose 85-77 to Virginia in overtime.

On April 29, 2019, Beard signed a six-year extension but in April 2021, he was hired as Longhorns Men’s Basketball coach.