Chris Beard says it was not hard to cheer for Texas after separation

Chris Beard had something special brewing with Texas this season. He and his staff had built up a roster many thought would be able to contend for a national championship. Things were off to a good start before an arrest saw athletic director Chris Del Conte relieve Beard of his job and leave Rodney Terry as the head coach.

Texas was then able to go on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, making it to the program’s first Elite Eight since the Rick Barnes era. Beard was forced to watch from home even after accepting the Ole Miss job.

When asked if it was difficult to cheer for the Longhorns, Beard pushed back. He still cared about the players wearing burnt orange, coaching them as recently as four months ago. Beard felt like he was a part of building up the team, no matter how the relationship ended.

“No, not hard,” Beard said when appearing on the College Hoops Today podcast with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. “Because I just pull for those guys. I love those players. We put that team together to compete for a national championship and that’s what those guys did… I felt really proud of that team and how it came together.”

Texas was just one game away from making the Final Four. A loss to Miami in Kansas City ended what was a near-dream tournament run, blowing a second-half lead. Terry had to roll his guys out there without a key player though, as Dylan Disu was forced to the bench due to injury.

Beard believes Disu not being on the court was a major factor. Texas was only able to grab 23 rebounds on the night and ended up even with Miami. Had Disu been there to protect the rim and grab a couple of more boards, Beard believes the Longhorns would have moved onto Houston.

“March always comes down to a little fortune,” Beard said. “In my opinion, if Disu doesn’t get hurt, they’re playing in Houston. I can say that as a guy standing in the background watching it.”

Due to the run, Texas wound up dropping the interim tag from Terry and hired him full-time. Beard had brought him onto his initial staff before the 2021-2022 season, previously being the head coach at UTEP.

Beard might have been fired but there were still people he cared about in Austin. While there could have been bad blood with how things transpired, he decided to still pull for his guys on the sport’s biggest stage.