A Comfort Inn and McDonald’s breakfast in Plainview.
Skulking around the cemetery in Snook.
When Texas Longhorns athletics director Chris Del Conte hired former basketball coach Chris Beard, the two met 45 minutes north of Lubbock in Plainview and had sealed Beard’s departure from the Texas Tech Red Raiders over breakfast at McDonald’s.
When Del Conte brought longtime friend Jim Schlossnagle back from College Station to take over as the new baseball coach, the athletics director waited near the cemetery for Schlossnagle to finish his final obligations at Texas A&M in the hours after losing in the College World Series finals.
When Del Conte hires the replacement for head men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry, fired after two seasons as the head coach and two years after leading the Longhorns to their first Elite Eight appearance since 2008, there may not be an instantly iconic story behind it, but after seven-plus years in the role, one thing that’s clear about Del Conte is that he will move quickly now after informing Terry of his decision.
The name initially receiving the most buzz was Xavier head coach Sean Miller, who ended the Texas season and Terry’s tenure as the head coach in Austin on Wednesday in the First Four.
According to basketball analyst Jeff Goodman, Del Conte vetted Miller two years ago before Terry helped orchestrate that magical run to the Elite Eight as the interim coach, and Miller’s name quickly emerged as a top candidate in this search, including from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, one of the first to break the news of Terry’s termination.
Sources: Rodney Terry will not return as Texas’ head coach next season.
Xavier’s Sean Miller is expected to be among Chris Del Conte’s top candidates to be the Longhorns’ next head coach.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 23, 2025
Sorry to see that Rodney Terry has reportedly been fired at Texas. Rodney took over under tough circumstances. He is a capable coach and a man of high character who I’m sure will land on his feet.
Lots of good candidates but I expect Sean Miller will be the next coach in Austin.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 23, 2025
Before Del Conte’s decision on Terry on Sunday, the Longhorns were in communication with Miller’s representation, Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle reported, after initial overtures to other candidates fizzled.
Texas still talking to Sean Miller’s people about the basketball job but nothing’s done. Chris Del Conte leaves “no stone unturned,” source tells Houston Chronicle, even considered St. John’s Rick Pitino, Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Alabama’s Nate Oats, those didn’t go anywhere.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) March 23, 2025
And on Sunday afternoon, Cedric Golden of the Austin American-Statesman was the first to report that Miller will be the replacement for Terry.
Sean Miller will be hired as the new head basketball coach at the University of Texas, a high ranking official told the Austin American-Statesman Sunday.
— Cedric Golden (@CedGolden) March 23, 2025
Other outlets confirmed the news, including Horns247 and CBS Sports.
Bohls reported the contract details, which includes compensation of $2 million more per year than Terry’s contract of $3 million per season.
Xavier’s Sean Miller has signed a contract with Texas to replace Rodney Terry for an estimated $5 million a year. Terry was making $3 million a year.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) March 23, 2025
With Terry’s buyout representing a relatively significant expenditure, several names of NBA coaches were circulated as potential replacements for Terry because of their lack of buyouts. Miller reportedly has a “relatively small buyout,” according to Bohls — although the exact number is not public because Xavier is a private institution — and a higher floor than Terry thanks to his proven success in two stints at Xavier and his 12-year tenure at Arizona, which ended with three average seasons and Miller’s termination as a result of the wide-ranging college basketball corruption scandal.
A Pennsylvania native whose father was a high school basketball coach, Miller went on to start at point guard for four years at Pitt, still ranking as the program’s most accurate free-throw shooter and second-most accurate three-point shooter.
After a year as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin, Miller landed at Miami (Ohio) as an assistant under Herb Sendek, spending two years there before returning to his alma mater for a year. When Sendek took the NC State job, he hired Miller for a second time, retaining him for five seasons until Thad Matta gave Miller a promotion to associate head coach at Xavier, where Miller received his first head coaching opportunity when Matta left for Ohio State.
In five seasons as the head coach of the Musketeers, Miller led Xavier to four NCAA Tournament appearances and finished in first place or tied for first place in the Atlantic 10 three times. In 2008, Miller led the Musketeers to the Elite Eight before making a Sweet 16 appearance the following year.
The success in Cincinnati earned Miller the opportunity from Arizona to fully move on from the Lute Olson era after two years of interim coaches. The Wildcats missed the postseason in Miller’s first season before going on an impressive run over the next eight years, finishing first or tied for first in the Pac-10/Pac-12 five times and making three appearances in the Elite Eight and two appearances in the Sweet 16.
But Miller was also caught up in the wide-ranging college basketball corruption scandal and eventually forced to vacate his victories over two seasons as the Wildcats produced three mediocre seasons, missing the postseason in each.
Miller returned to Xavier, leading the Musketeers to the Sweet 16, where they lost to Terry’s Longhorns two years ago, but then finished tied for ninth in the Big East and lost in the first round of the NIT before tying for fourth this season and landing in the First Four. After beating Texas, Xavier lost to No. 6 seed Illinois 86-73 on Friday.
Miller is known as a tough-nosed head coach who focuses on the details and has a high-level coaching ability offensively.
“A coach that you want to run through a brick wall for and a coach that will, in turn, run through a brick wall for his guys, you’re talking about Sean Miller,” former Xavier forward Brandon Cole said of Miller. “He garners the ultimate respect, he gives the ultimate respect.”
