When Texas suspended Chris Beard without pay following his Dec. 12 arrest on a felony family violence charge, it appeared to be the first step toward an eventual parting of ways. That came Thursday, when Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced the school was firing Beard and that associate head coach Rodney Terry, who has been the acting head coach since Beard was suspended, will remain in charge for the rest of the season.
ESPN's Myron Medcalf reported in mid-December that the legal process for Beard could take more than a year to reach its conclusion, but Texas has chosen to act quickly and begin the process to find its next head coach.
When Beard was hired just 21 months ago, he was the clear top candidate for the Longhorns. He graduated from Texas and was a student manager under Tom Penders. He also achieved tremendous success at conference rival Texas Tech, going to the Elite Eight in 2018 and reaching the national championship game in 2019.
Here's what you need to know about what might be next in Austin:
Will Texas be the best job on the market this spring? How does the position stack up nationally?
Given the expected hot seat jobs and potential openings, it's hard to imagine a better job being available at any point over the next couple of months. Texas has one of the biggest athletic department budgets in the country, recently opened a new state-of-the-art home arena and is the flagship school of arguably the most talent-rich state in the country.