Chris Beard, head coach of the University of Texas men’s basketball team, was arrested in Austin, Texas, early Monday morning on felony domestic violence charges. Authorities said he attacked a family member by trying to stop a family member from breathing.
The Austin Police Department said in a statement that officers received a call about a disturbance at a residence in Austin around 12:15 a.m. The caller said the riot was over and a member of the family had left. When police arrived at the house, a woman told them that Beard had beaten and strangled her.
Beard, 49, was arrested and charged with assaulting a family member by obstructing his breathing cycle, a third-degree felony, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
Beard’s bond is set at $10,000. On Monday, he appeared before a judge who told Beard he would be issued a two-month emergency protective order. The order would prohibit Beard from carrying a firearm or ammunition; being within 200 yards of the woman he is accused of assaulting; or being within 200 yards of a home where the reported disturbance occurred. The order will also prevent Beard from speaking with the woman in a threatening manner.
Beard is expected to post bail and will be released from the Travis County Jail later Monday.
Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, said in a statement Monday that the coach is “100 percent innocent of these charges.”
“He shouldn’t have been arrested,” Minton said. “The complainant wants him to be released immediately and all charges dismissed. It’s incredible.”
Details about whom Beard is accused of assaulting and the condition of that individual were not immediately released on Monday. Beard has three daughters and is engaged, according to his official biography on the University of Texas at Austin sports website.
The university said in a statement Monday that it was “aware of Chris Beard’s situation.”
“We are continuing to gather information and monitor the legal process,” the university said.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Beard was named coach of the Texas Longhorns in April 2021 after five seasons as the men’s basketball head coach at Texas Tech University, leading the team to the 2019 NBA Finals. NCAA National Championship Game.
Prior to that, Beard served as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas; McMurray University in Abilene, Texas; Seminole State College in Ford; and Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas. Beard graduated from the University of Texas in 1995 with a BA in Kinesiology.
The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team will face Rice University in Austin on Monday night. The team took a break Sunday after beating the University of Arkansas 88-43 at Pine Bluff in Austin on Saturday.