Chris Beard is the leading candidate for the Ole Miss basketball job

Updated March 8: Chris Beard becomes the frontrunner for the Ole Miss men’s basketball head coaching job. Citing ESPN sources. Beard was fired from his position at the University of Texas following an arrest on December 12, 2022.

Chris Beard’s coaching career ends when he wants it to, not when someone else decides for him. In America, allegedly biting and strangling a woman in your home isn’t enough to keep a good coach off the sidelines—even if his former employer still stands by the dismissal decision for some reason even after that the initial charges were dropped.

According to the report from ESPN, Beard is the leading candidate for the Ole Miss men’s basketball head coaching position as both parties have reached out. Beard was fired as the University of Texas men’s basketball coach in January following his arrest in December for an incident at his fiancee’s home.

“He just snapped at me and became extremely violent” read the oath From Randi Trew – Beard’s fiancee. He choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, I have bruises on my legs, threw me and went crazy.

“Coach Beard is 100 percent innocent of these allegations,” said attorney Perry Minton. Austin is an American statesmanafter the arrest.

Weeks later, sang a different tune.

“Chris and I are deeply saddened by the negative attention we have brought to our family, friends, and the University of Texas, among others. As Chris’ fiancee and biggest supporter, I apologize for the part I played in this unfortunate event. I am aware that my frustration when I broke his glasses started a physical fight between Chris and me.” shared the statement.

“Chris did not strangle me and I told law enforcement that night. Chris stated that he acted in self-defense, and I don’t dispute that. I don’t think Chris meant to hurt me. It was never my intention to arrest or prosecute you. We appreciate everyone’s support and prayers during this difficult time,” he explained.

After the charges were dropped, Beard issued a statement:

“I am pleased to announce that the charges against me have been dismissed,” Beard said. “Although I always believed and trusted the truth and this outcome, it was extremely difficult to wait patiently and not respond publicly. I am sorry and deeply sorry to my family, friends, all of my players and recent and past players, and everyone at my alma mater, the University of Texas.”

Beard’s career is far from over

But as expected, Beard’s career is far from over. There are different rules for men like Beard, especially when it comes to coaching — especially in college basketball.

Beard burst onto the national scene when he led Texas Tech to the national championship game in 2019. In a season that many remember as highlighted by a Duke team featuring Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones, Beard’s tailback is the Red Raiders, who were a few possessions away from winning the national title in the program’s first Final Four as they lost to Virginia in overtime. Since then, Beard has been one of the hottest names in college basketball. After two more successful seasons in Lubbock, UT hired him to bring the program back to glory. It worked.

But this column isn’t about Texas basketball. It’s about how history has shown us that Beard won’t be out of a job for long.

College basketball is such a miracle that it owns the entire month of March. No other sport can hold America’s attention for so long. However, college basketball is also a sport in which head coaches have a lot of power. And if you’re good—and white—fans and athletic directors drink copious amounts of an elixir of, “Oh, that thing is totally over the top. Give the guy another chance,” which gives them a comfortable amnesia about the coach’s alleged crimes while also remembering how beneficial that same coach is to winning games.

Here’s a list of college basketball head coaches who somehow still have jobs, were able to keep theirs after a scandal, or will be rehired at some point.

🇐 Greg Gard (Wisconsin) – One year after firing an employee using the N-word (leading to one of the team’s few black players), Gard almost had one team mutiny on his hand. He followed that starts a fight with Juwan Howard and Michigan during a postgame handshake and came out as a victim. It still kept me busy.

🇐 Greg McDermott (Creighton) – The Bluejays head coach must have fallen asleep last year Django breaks loose as he did his best to reenact a slave owner. “Guys, we have to stick together. We have to put both feet in. Everyone must stay on the plantation. I can’t leave anyone off the plantation,” McDermott told his team. The school suspended him for five seconds and quickly put the situation in the back view. It still kept me busy.

🇐 Gregg Marshall (Wichita State) – In 2020, we learned that a Coach of the Shockers a maniac – as a former assistant described it – after it was he claimed he choked one of his assistants, punched a playerbody-slammed another and brought up a third athlete Native American heritage. There was a lengthy one examination, but Marshall was not fired. Instead, he just resigned and received a $7.75 million contract.

🇐 Mark Few (Gonzaga) – Last year TMZ published by video he’s been the Zags’ head coach since He was arrested for DUI. A few were drunk and annoyed and acting like the police were beneath them. The footage shows few people refusing field sobriety tests, as he claimed they are “completely subjective”. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DUI, was suspended for a few games, and things immediately turned upside down. It still kept me busy.

👇 Will Wade (LSU) – Former LSU coach caught FBI wiretapping to discuss how he paid the players. Everyone heard it and he still went to work every day. LSU suspendedthen after all fired Wade after NCAA violation confronted him and his program, a move that suggested LSU was ignoring federal evidence until the NCAA decided to punish the school. He’s not working, but don’t be surprised if he gets hired again.

👇 Sean Miller (Xavier) – Announced earlier this week Miller did not want to be sanctioned by the NCAA’s independent adjudication committee from what happened when he was in Arizona. Miller and Arizona were involved in the FBI’s investigation into the sport, and it was alleged that he paid DeAndre Ayton out of his own pocket. Miller has consistently denied paying the players. As you can see, Miller is training at Xavier like nothing happened.

👇 Rick Pitino (Iona) — Pitino accusations and violations of law have been made against him since his youth assistant coach at Hawaii in 1970s. He is still coaching.

And last but not least, Mark Adams — who replaced Beard at Texas Tech — is suspended.racially insensitive” he comments while telling one of his players how he is “always master and servant.”

There is so much more to Beard’s story that we will never know. However, a school wanted to hire him in the aftermath of the alleged events The Texas production was as predictable as a Tyler Perry production.

Chris Beard’s combination of talent and whiteness always saved his career. Why? Because, sadly, someone at Ole Miss — or somewhere else — is going to hire him because they’re more interested in protecting his choke than the fact that he allegedly tried to choke him. his bride.