Rodney Terry hot seat: Conflicting report emerges on Texas head coach's status

The 2024-25 season ended with the Texas Longhorns leaving the NCAA Tournament early, getting bumped in the First Four by Xavier. With that, have come rumors about the future of head coach Rodney Terry in Austin.

Shortly following the loss, it was reported by The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman that the Longhorns were “likely to make a move” on from Terry. However, that move hasn’t happened yet and now there is a conflicting report emerging about what Texas plans to do with its men’s basketball coach.

Kirk Bohls, a reporter for The Houston Chronicle is pushing back on Goodman’s initial report. On Twitter/X, he’s posted, “Nothing is even close to imminent in the Texas basketball coaching situation.”

While no decision has been made to this point, Bohls added that Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte is still going to meet with Terry upon returning to Austin. The team spent the night after the loss to Xavier in Dayton. So, the Longhorns are not yet back in Austin to meet in person. Bohls also shared that the thought is that if Texas is unable to land an elite coach, there is a “slight” chance that he can keep his job.

“Terry needs to sell himself and his vision for the program,” Bohls wrote. “And tell Texas it needs to spend serious money on basketball if it really wants to be elite.”

The conflicting reports offer an interesting distinction. In Goodman’s report, Texas is likely going to make the move. For Bohls, the move isn’t necessarily going to be made. However, there is still the chance that Terry will keep his job.

This comes following Terry’s third season as the head coach at Texas and the program’s first in the SEC. It was also his worst with the program in terms of record. At 19-16 overall and 6-12 in SEC play, the Longhorns spent most of the season on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. That’s what landed them in Dayton for the First Four game.

Terry took over as the head coach at Texas in 2022, initially as the interim head coach replacing Chris Beard following his arrest. In 2023, he’d become the full-time head coach. At 62-37 overall and 27-27 in conference play between two Big 12 and one SEC season, Terry has found some success. That includes an Elite Eight run in 2023. However, there has been a sense of restlessness this season around the program.