Less than a month after Chris Beard’s arrest on felony assault charges, Texas announced Thursday it has fired its men’s basketball coach. Beard was indefinitely suspended following the domestic violence charge, which occurred midway through his second season with the Longhorns, who currently sit at No. 6 in the AP poll. The move completes a precipitous fall from grace for Beard, one of the industry’s fastest risers in the last decade from non–Division I coach to Texas’s $5 million man.
It also opens one of the nation’s most well-resourced jobs, at a place that can command some of the sport’s biggest names thanks to its financial might—despite the fact that the program last reached the NCAA tournament’s second weekend in 2008. Here’s a look at who could be in the mix for the Longhorns’ job this time around.
Eric Musselman, Arkansas
Musselman has revitalized the Arkansas program to heights not seen since Nolan Richardson was roaming the sidelines, taking the Razorbacks to consecutive Elite Eights in 2021 and ’22 and building an SEC contender again this season. He’s an accomplished recruiter, landing three McDonald’s All-Americans in the ’22 class and several top transfers over the years dating back to his time at Nevada. Plus, his relentless energy in marketing his programs would fit well at Texas, where Beard was extremely active in trying to engage the fan base to turn out at the team’s beautiful new arena.
It’s certainly not a guarantee Musselman would leave Fayetteville, where he has built an impressive program at a place well positioned to win (particularly in the era of name, image and likeness). As SEC schools go, Arkansas is as close to a “basketball school” as you’ll find outside of Kentucky. He’s also well compensated at $4 million per year.
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
At 67 years old, Sampson isn’t an overly long-term solution, but he’s among the sport’s finest coaches and already in the state. If Texas doesn’t at least come calling, it would be a mistake. The Cougars are 14–1 this season and No. 1 in KenPom after making a trip to the Elite Eight in 2022 and a run to the Final Four in ’21. The program Sampson has built at a place that had been to just one NCAA tournament in the previous 22 years before his arrival is one of the great rebuilding jobs in the sport, and there’s no doubt he’d win big.
But is restarting really in the cards for an older coach who has his program rolling and on its way to the Big 12? Plus, Sampson’s son, Kellen, is on staff at Houston as his top assistant and head-coach-in-waiting.
Royal Ivey, Brooklyn Nets
Ivey got some traction before the Longhorns hired Beard two years ago, interviewing for the job after earning former Longhorn Kevin Durant’s endorsement. Ivey is currently an assistant coach for the Nets, coaching Durant and Kyrie Irving, after playing for the Longhorns from 2000 to ’04.
The downside with Ivey is his lack of head coaching experience (outside of his time with the South Sudan national team) and the fact that he has never coached in college. Recruiting in the SEC (where Texas is headed) is a monster, and going in with no experience and little name recognition with recruits would be a challenge.
Nate Oats, Alabama
Oats has built an impressive program at Alabama, continuing his meteoric rise from high school coach in Michigan to one of the sport’s most prominent names. He led Alabama to an SEC title in 2020–21 and, after a down ’21–22, has the Tide back in conference-contender status this season behind elite recruit Brandon Miller. His teams play an appealing style, and he’s familiar with the challenges of a football-first job.
One roadblock is Oats’s contract, which includes a buyout of nearly $10 million should he leave after this season. Texas’s firing Beard for cause does leave the Longhorns with a bit more money to spend, but that’s still a major number—especially considering the type of financial package that would be required to pull Oats from Tuscaloosa.
Jerome Tang, Kansas State
It seems rather unlikely that Texas could pull Scott Drew from Baylor, but Tang, Drew’s longtime right-hand man, is the next best thing. Tang was an essential part of building Baylor into a national-title-winning program before taking the head job at Kansas State last offseason. So far, he’s done yeoman’s work with the Wildcats, including his team dropping 116 points in a road win in Austin earlier this week. It would be a rather rapid rise from Big 12 assistant to head coach at Texas, but Tommy Lloyd’s success so far at Arizona after his long run on staff at Gonzaga should assuage fears there.
Brad Underwood, Illinois
Underwood’s first head job came at Stephen F. Austin in Texas, and he also spent time at Oklahoma State in the Big 12 before coming to Illinois. He’s coming off back-to-back Big Ten titles with the Illini, but the timing might not be ideal with the Illini currently struggling to an 0–3 mark in Big Ten play. Plus, he has never gotten past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament in his head coaching career.
Rodney Terry, acting head coach, Texas
It seems unlikely the Longhorns would turn to an internal hire, but Terry is currently overseeing a team that still has Final Four upside. As an assistant under Rick Barnes with the Longhorns, he helped recruit the likes of Tristan Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge and Durant before going on to head coaching stops at Fresno State and UTEP. His tenure at UTEP was trending poorly before he departed for an assistant’s post with Beard in Austin, but his familiarity with the program means he’d likely get consideration should Texas make a deep run in March.
Rick Pitino, Iona
I doubt this is the job for Pitino this spring, but you can guarantee he’ll be mentioned for every high-major vacancy this cycle with the NCAA investigation that ended his time at Louisville finally in the rearview mirror. When one of the best coaches in college basketball history is available at the same time one of the best jobs in the country is open, it’s worth mentioning.
John Calipari, Kentucky
Again, I’d file this one under the “unlikely” category, but it’s not worth completely ruling out. Despite the fact that Kentucky would owe him more than $50 million if it fires him, Calipari is starting to feel the heat from the Wildcats faithful after a 9–16 season two years ago, losing to Saint Peter’s in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year and a slow start to this season. If he’s hunting for a potential soft landing spot and fresh start, Texas has the deep pockets to hire him. Calipari has done this before, flirting with UCLA in 2019 before signing a “lifetime” contract with Kentucky.
