Rodney Terry fired as Texas Longhorns head coach after three seasons

The Texas Longhorns have decided to part ways with head men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry after two-plus seasons at the helm, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. Terry’s ouster comes after the Longhorns’ (19-16, 6-12 SEC) second-half collapse against Xavier in the 11-seeded First Four play-in game, falling 86-80 on Thursday night in Dayton.

The one-and-done appearance in the 2025 NCAA Tournament simply wasn’t enough for Terry to remain at the helm. Texas backed into the 68-team field following a surprising run to last week’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal.

And while making his third-straight March Madness appearance was welcomed, it ultimately wasn’t nearly enough for the powers-that-be at Texas to save Terry’s job. Terry went 62-37 (.626 winning percentage) over what amounts to roughly two and 2/3rds seasons as the Texas’ headman after serving as interim coach for most of the 2022-23 season following the early-season departure of then-head coach Chris Beard after his since-dismissed domestic violence arrest in mid-December 2022.

While Thursday night’s early March Madness exit ultimately proved to be Terry’s ultimate downfall, it was a surprising Elite Eight appearance later that first season that helped Terry shed his interim title in late March 2023.

Terry and Texas went dancing despite some unfavorable metrics that included having the 52nd-ranked WAB (wins above bubble) that calculates the expected winning percentage for an average bubble team against the Longhorns’ schedule. Fellow “First Four Out” bubble teams North Carolina and Ohio State ranked ahead of Texas.

That SEC Tournament run — which included a convincing win over 12th-seeded Vanderbilt in Round 1 and a double-overtime upset of rival and No. 14-ranked Texas A&M on Thursday — boosted the Longhorns’ Tournament odds despite many bracketologists counting out Texas ahead of Selection.

But outside of a significant NCAA Tournament run, it was clear the writing was on the wall in Terry’s second full season given Texas’ overall struggles with consistency, including going 6-12 in SEC play.

Now, Texas turns its focus to hiring its fourth head men’s basketball coach since Rick Barnes left in 2015 after 17 seasons at the helm.