What Chris Beard Said After Loss to Texas in Return to Austin

Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard made his return to the Moody Center on Saturday to face his alma mater, the Texas Longhorns, after being fired midway through the 2022-23 season following third-degree domestic violence charges.

Texas blew an 18-point first-half lead before recovering late for a 79-68 win against the Rebels. Beard nearly had a revenge win but came up short.

Here is everything he had to say to the media after the game:

Opening Statement

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

"Want to congratulate Sean, his team on a good home win in SEC play, a win that, in my opinion, they had to have with their NCAA Tournament aspirations. We shared the same equal urgency and commitment today. We put ourselves in that same situation. So obviously, a tale of two halves. Dug too big a hole in the first half, but a lot of respect for our players the way we played in the second half, especially this guy to my left (Eduardo Klafke) just played like an absolute warrior."

"Congratulate Sean and Texas on a good home win. We had no answer for their big guy inside. Good player. Sean's doing a really good job with him. I think he's improved from November to now we're in February. He had our attention in the game plan. We just didn't make enough plays. But it was more, I thought, what he was doing than what we weren't doing. Really, he was the difference in the game, his ability to play in the paint. I thought was a good college basketball game. Really proud of Klafke here, still a young player in college basketball, sophomore, one of the only freshmen in the SEC last year that was in the rotation and played in every game. I was really, just really proud of Eduardo."

On Texas guard Jordan Pope:

"Pope's a veteran player, scoring point guard, kind of picks and chooses his time, and Sean's asking him to do something. He's doing it well, but we all know he has the burst in him where it's a 30-point game on the horizon."

On his return to Texas:

Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard reacts as he coaches against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

"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. 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. Somebody disrespects us. ... 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."

On potentially facing Texas again in the SEC Tournament:

"If the basketball gods put us against Texas again in Nashville, I'm sure we'll kind of use that, but the point being like we try to get emotionally attached to each game."

On the boos from Texas fans:

"Again, no coach speak. I really didn't notice it. 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. But I've always been like that. Really never noticed anything with the crowd. I think it's one of my strengths."

Chris Beard said that he “really didn’t notice” the boos from the Texas fans.

“I did hear a few things from the student section entering the floor and leaving the floor.” pic.twitter.com/u2e27N291N
— Zach Dimmitt (@ZachDimmitt7) February 7, 2026

On Texas' 14-0 run to close the game:

"We were fatigued late, but so were they, and so I thought we did a good job managing our timeouts. I thought we had the media timeout come at some convenient times for out fatigue, shortening the rotation, playing less players in the second half. Did that impact the game? No, not in my opinion. Because Texas shrinks their rotation a little bit too, just a couple plays. Now you can't foul a three-point shooter in the corner. From my vantage point, I thought there was a goaltending call by Texas grabbing the rim late in the game, but the refs aren't going to make every call correct, just like none of us in this room are correct in everything. So then down the stretch, we got some decent shots. Late fortune didn't go our way again. All the credit to Texas."

"I don't think the narrative tonight is that we ran out of gas or we didn't play well in the second half. I thought they made a couple more plays than us. To me, they were playing with a lot of desperation today. You don't have to be an analyst or an expert in basketball to look at their remaining schedule understand what it takes to get an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. It's a must-win for Texas. But what I would tell you it's a must win for us too, because we still believe that we have a lot of chances and opportunities this season to kind of write our own story."