Texas to Offer Rodney Terry Head Coaching Position: Report
The Texas Longhorns have made their decision and would like to make Rodney Terry the permanent head coach of the basketball program, according to a report by Horns247’s Chip Brown.
This comes just hours after Terry and the Longhorns were bounced in the Elite Eight by the Miami Hurricanes, the first time Texas had reached this round of the NCAA Tournament since 2008.
After the loss, Terry was promptly asked about the prospect of becoming the head coach in the postgame.
“I haven’t really had a lot of time to give a lot of thought to that, to be honest,” Terry said. “I’ve been so wrapped up and invested in my team. Again, I love these guys. Not only will I just love these guys for the time I got to coach them, I’ll love them for the rest of their lives. I’ll be at their weddings. I’ll be talking to those guys when they have their first born.
“It was all about this team, man, and I enjoyed every single day of this journey with this group. I’m going to really miss — I’m going to really miss working with this group. (Crying). It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”
On Sunday night, it seemed like Terry and the second-seeded Longhorns were well in control and on the way towards becoming the fourth different Big 12 team in the last four tournaments to cut down the nets in a regional semifinal, and perhaps the third straight to cut down all the nets. But the final few minutes arrived and their 67-55 lead with just more than 10 minutes to play evaporated, ultimately turning into a heart-wrenching 88-81 defeat.
That had Terry incredibly emotional afterwards, as an incredible season came to a close.
“I love these guys,” Terry said. “Not only will I just love these guys for the time I got to coach them, I’ll love them for the rest of their lives. I’ll be at their weddings. I’ll be talking to those guys when they have their first born.
“It was all about this team, man, and I enjoyed every single day of this journey with this group. I’m going to really miss — I’m going to really miss working with this group,” said Terry, as he was choking up. “It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”
Terry took over for Chris Beard, who was fired on January 5th following allegations of domestic abuse. Those charges have since been dropped. Beard was recently hired to be the head coach at Ole Miss.
