Chris Beard Fired as Texas MCBB Head Coach After December Arrest on Felony Charge

Chris Beard was fired as the men's basketball coach of the Texas Longhorns on Thursday.

The Longhorns fired Beard for cause. The 49-year-old was arrested in December on a felony charge of assault by strangulation.

Danny Davis shared the letter from the university.

The lawyer for Beard disagreed with the idea that the circumstances behind the firing gave the university cause.

Kirk Bohls @kbohls

Chris Beard's lawyer, Perry Minton, wrote to UT, "I want to be on record as emphatically stating, and herein memorializing, that Coach Beard has not done anything to violate any provision of his contract with the University of Texas."

Tyler Feldman @TylerFeldmanTV

This part of Perry Minton's letter to UT is significant.

Chris Beard's lawyer states UT "changed course on its earlier stated position" and "Chris Del Conte has repeatedly reported to our team that he is certain Chris Beard did nothing wrong and is innocent." pic.twitter.com/divWwXYgDq

Police in Austin responded to a call. When authorities arrived, they found a woman who said she had been attacked and killed by Beard.

Beard and his fiancée, Randi Trew, had been upset with each other for several days over relationship issues.

Trew said Beard snapped on him after she accidentally broke his glasses. She told police that at one point he bit her, threw her around, and went crazy.

Police said in the affidavit that they saw injuries to Trew, including a bite mark to the right forearm and a cut to the left thumb. According to police, Trew made a statement that she had been injured.

Trew recanted what she had said to police. She didn't refute Beard's claim that he was acting in self-defense when he allegedly attacked her.

Ryan Autullo @AutulloAAS

BREAKING: Chris Beard's fiancée gives first statement since the University of Texas basketball coach's arrest for family violence on Dec. 12.She says Beard did not strangle her and she does not refute Beard's statement that he acted in self defense.

Story to come @statesman. pic.twitter.com/K23tjojUQ5

Texas said the investigation was still ongoing.

All of the evidence in the case is still being looked at by prosecutors.

Beard was given a seven year contract by Texas. His salary was the sixth highest in the division.

The Longhorns made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the second year of the 21st century. They are off to a 12-2 start and are sixth in the AP Top 25 poll.