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Texas announces hiring of Rodney Terry as next head coach

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•03/27/23•

BarkleyTruax

rodney terry
(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After leading Texas to an Elite Eight this season, the Longhorns have removed the interim tag for Rodney Terry’s title and has officially named him the Longhorns’ 26th head coach.

Terry and the Longhorns have agreed to a five-year contract for the job, Jon Rothstein, reported on Monday. The deal will pay Terry $3 million annually.

He took over as Texas’ interim head coach after beginning the season 7-1 under former head coach Chris Beard. He went on to lead Texas to a 23-8 overall and 12-6 in the Big 12. The Longhorns then went on to win three games in the NCAA Tournament and take the Big 12 Tournament crown.

Terry is the first coach in 30 years to lead his team to an Elite Eight without starting the season as head coach. The Texas fanbase and Terry’s players have completely bought into Terry’s philosophy, and everyone inside the Longhorns’ program will tell you how excited they are to see him as the program’s next head coach.

“For the past two years for me, since day one, meeting [Rodney Terry], he’s been nothing but an amazing coach, a guy that’s pushed me to get better,” Texas star guard Marcus Carr said after defeating Xavier 83-71 in the Sweet 16. “He is my head coach.”

While Texas came up just short of its first Final Four in 20 years, Terry now has at least five more years to navigate his squad back through the NCAA Tournament and into the same position that his team was in this season.

He might not be a household name and have a great head coaching history that Texas would have otherwise gone after. Instead, Terry, who has a 185–164 head coaching record throughout his career, has caught lightning in a bottle at Texas and the support was overwhelming to the point where it almost forced Texas’ hand.

“It was all about this team, man, and I enjoyed every single day of this journey with this group,” Terry said after Texas’ loss to Miami. “I’m going to really miss — I’m going to really miss working with this group. It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”

Prior to announced as the head coach at Texas, Terry had 10 seasons of head coaching experience. Terry was the head coach of Fresno State from 2011-18, posting a 126-108 record. The Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament once and the NIT once.

Following his stretch at Fresno State, Terry spent three seasons coaching at UTEP. Terry went 37-48 in three seasons with the miners before then accepting the job on Chris Beard’s staff.