Chris Beard Hit With Brutal Chant From Texas Fans in Return to Austin

Former Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard was met with some hostility during his return to the Moody Center in Austin on Saturday with the Ole Miss Rebels.

He and the Rebels were unable to answer this with a win, as Texas pulled out a 79-68 victory instead.

Beard, who was fired midseason in Jan. 2023, was arrested on third-degree felony assault charges against his fiancé at the time. As a result of this legal history, the Texas student section had some choice words for Beard during the game.

Texas Student Section Chants "Don't Hit Women" at Chris Beard

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Chris Beard reacts to a foul during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

As a result of Beard's legal history, the Texas students had some harsh material to work with during the game, electing to chant "don't hit women" right near the Ole Miss bench.

Take a look:

Crowd starting to chant ‘don’t hit women’ at Ex Texas head coach Chris Beard…#Texas | #Hookem pic.twitter.com/j11Rz3bstu
— anne-parker coleman (@anneparkercole1) February 7, 2026

The charges against Beard were eventually dropped, but his reputation was severely tarnished.

As expected, Beard didn't open up much about his emotions when speaking to the media after the game but did admit that he heard the boos from fans while walking onto the court and leaving it.

Even if he did hear the now-viral chants during the heat of the game, he likely wouldn't admit it publicly.

"Again, no coach speak. I really didn't notice it," Beard said of the boos. "Thought it was a great home crowd for basketball on a Saturday in Austin, Texas. Did hear a few things from the student section entering the floor and leaving the floor, but no different than the things you hear at other great home court advantages around the country."

"So certainly not trying to avoid the question, but I was pretty locked in," Beard continued. "But I've always been like that. Really never noticed anything with the crowd. I think it's one of my strengths."

Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard is escorted off the after being ejected for getting two technical fouls during an NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee on February 3, 2026, in Knoxville, Tennessee. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Beard added that facing Texas was "the next game on the schedule" but admitted he told the team that he and other assistants coaches were facing their former team as a way to motivate the players.

"In terms of coming back here, it's not coach speak, I promise, it is the next game on the schedule, but we talked to the guys a lot about getting emotionally attached to each game," Beard said. "We played at Kentucky. Travis Perry had been at Kentucky. We'll play LSU this year. Corey Chest was at LSU. So as a competitor, you tell the players, we try to get the guys emotionally attached to each game. We're always looking for locker room material."

"So did I explain to our players this week that several of us on this coaching staff used to coach at Texas? Well, of course I did, because we're trying to find the edge to try to get guys emotionally attached to the game."