Texas promotes Rodney Terry to head coach after deep NCAA tournament run

After leading Texas to the verge of the Final Four, Rodney Terry will remain in place as the Longhorns’ head coach.

The school announced Monday that Terry has been promoted to full-time head coach. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Terry's contract is worth $15.3 million over five years, meaning he'll make just over $3 million per season.

Terry has been the interim coach for the Longhorns since Chris Beard was suspended in December following a domestic violence arrest. With Terry leading the program, Texas won the Big 12 tournament and then made a deep run in the NCAA tournament. UT won its first three tournament games before falling to Miami in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Overall, the Longhorns went 22-8 with Terry as head coach this season.

Terry, 55, was brought on to Beard’s staff last season following a three-year run as head coach at UTEP and seven seasons as the head coach at Fresno State. Before he got the head-coaching job at Fresno State, Terry was a Texas assistant from 2002-11 on the staff of Rick Barnes. He also had stints as an assistant at Baylor and UNC Wilmington.

Beard was fired in January, had charges in the case dropped in February and then was hired as the head coach at Ole Miss earlier this month. Beard’s dismissal opened the door for Terry to have a three-month audition to be the Texas head coach.

Texas finished second in the Big 12 regular-season standings, a game back of Kansas. UT later blasted Kansas in the Big 12 tournament championship game. In the Elite Eight matchup with Miami, Texas led by as many as 13 points in the second half before the Hurricanes went on a furious comeback to win 88-81.

After the loss, Terry was asked how badly he wants to be the full-time head coach at Texas. In an emotional answer, he said he hadn’t given it too much thought and that he wanted the focus to be on his players.

“I haven't really had a lot of time to give a lot of thought to that, to be honest. 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,” Terry said.

“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 working with this group. It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”

Including this year at Texas, Terry has a 185-164 overall record as a Division I head coach.