Austin Claunch

Introduction

Austin Claunch lost his job as head coach of the University of Texas at San Antonio men’s basketball program on November 13, 2026, when the university announced that it and Claunch had “mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately” — three games into his third season and just over two weeks after his October 27 arrest in Corpus Christi, Texas, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The New York Post characterized the split as a firing. Claunch had been suspended since October 28, the day after the arrest, and assistant coach Nick Bowman, who ran the team as acting head coach through a 2-1 start, was named interim coach for the remainder of the 2026-27 season. Claunch built his head-coaching career at Nicholls and served as an Alabama assistant under Nate Oats before UTSA hired him in 2024; he leaves the Roadrunners with a 17-44 record.

Background Information

Claunch began his head-coaching career at Nicholls, where he coached from 2018 to 2023, before joining Nate Oats’ staff at Alabama as an assistant coach in 2023. UTSA hired him in April 2024 on a five-year contract that ran through the 2028-29 season at an annual guaranteed compensation of $550,000. His two completed seasons in San Antonio produced a 17-44 record, including a 5-25 campaign (1-17 in the American Athletic Conference) in 2025-26. Bowman joined UTSA as an assistant on Claunch’s initial staff in April 2024 after a year as lead assistant and recruiting coordinator at New Orleans, and was elevated to acting head coach when the season began without Claunch.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Out as UTSA head coach — Claunch and the university mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately on November 13, 2026, about two and a half weeks after his arrest on suspicion of DWI in Corpus Christi. He was booked on a DWI charge and released on bond; the case is pending, no conviction has been reported, and he acknowledged “a grave error in judgment.”

Per the Corpus Christi police report cited in local coverage, officers responded to a 911 call just before 2 a.m. on October 27 about a man “stumbling around” inside a gas station. They found Claunch unconscious in the driver’s seat of his Mercedes-Benz 350 Series in a Stripes convenience-store parking lot, wearing his seatbelt with the vehicle still running and the driver’s door open. When officers woke him, he responded in thick, slurred speech, admitted he had been drinking and said he had driven himself to the store, per the arrest report. He performed poorly on field sobriety tests, refused blood and breath tests, and was transported to an area hospital before being booked into the Nueces County Jail on a driving-while-intoxicated charge; he was later released after posting a $1,500 bond.

UTSA suspended him the following day. In the statement announcing that suspension, Claunch said: “I made a grave error in judgment, and I deeply regret my actions and the disappointment I have caused,” adding a direct apology to “the young men I have the privilege of coaching, my fellow coaches and colleagues, president (Taylor) Eighmy, Dr. Lisa Campos and the entire Roadrunner community.”

The Roadrunners opened the season under Bowman on November 2 and won two of their first three games, including an 86-59 win over Seattle on the Wednesday before the parting was announced. On Friday, November 13, athletic director Lisa Campos — the university’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics — said in the school’s release: “After thoughtful discussions about the future of the program, we mutually agreed that this was the right time for a transition,” and thanked Claunch for his efforts over the last two years. Because the exit was structured as a mutual agreement rather than a without-cause firing, neither side owes the other money: a UTSA spokesperson said no buyout or financial compensation is owed, though Claunch would have been entitled to 65 percent of his remaining guaranteed compensation had UTSA dismissed him without cause.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Claunch thanked the program in his own statement in the school’s release: “I want to thank our players, staff, administration, and fans for the support they’ve shown me during my time at UTSA,” he said, adding that he and Campos “agreed that it was best for both sides to move in a different direction” and that he would “always be rooting for UTSA and the young men in this program.” Coverage framed the move as an arrest-driven exit rather than a performance decision: the Post’s headline stated flatly that UTSA had fired Claunch following the DWI arrest, while the school’s own announcement avoided the word, calling it “a leadership change” and “the right time for a transition” after a two-season stretch in which the Roadrunners went 17-44.

Current Status

Claunch is out of coaching with no report of a new role as of the announcement. The DWI charge against him remained pending — he was booked in October and released on bond, and no plea or conviction has been reported, so the accusation against him is unadjudicated. Bowman, the assistant Claunch brought to San Antonio in 2024, leads the Roadrunners on an interim basis for the rest of the 2026-27 season, inheriting a 2-1 team; UTSA said it looks forward to the season “with Nick Bowman at the helm.”

Impact on Their Career/Life

The arrest cost Claunch a job he had held for less than two full seasons — and, because the exit was mutual, the 65-percent buyout of his remaining guaranteed compensation (a contract that ran through 2028-29 at $550,000 per year) that he would have been owed in a without-cause firing. He went from a Division I head coach with power-conference assistant credentials to an unemployed coach answering for a 2 a.m. arrest in which, per the police report, he was found passed out behind the wheel of a running car outside a gas station — details likely to follow him to any future interview. The episode became the defining storyline of UTSA’s otherwise winning start and handed the program to Bowman for the rest of the season.

Sources

“Austin Claunch fired from UTSA following DWI arrest” — New York Post, November 2026: source
“UTSA, men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch part ways after DWI arrest” — KSAT, November 2026: source
“UTSA, basketball coach Austin Claunch part ways following DWI arrest” — San Antonio Express-News via Yahoo, November 2026: source
“UTSA parts ways with head basketball coach after DWI arrest” — mySA via Yahoo, November 2026: source
“UTSA Athletics announces leadership change in men’s basketball program” — UTSA Athletics, November 2026: source
“UTSA and coach Austin Claunch mutually agree to parts ways following arrest on suspicion of DWI” — CBS Sports, November 2026: source