It's not that unfathomable for a few reasons.
1. The few contracts I've read up on have some sort of time line for the coach to present their "case" to the decision makers before they can be fired for cause. Pitino had a specific number of days at Louisville. He actually went back & sued Louisville because they suspended him before that time was up & they eventually settled out of court. Beard's previous contract at TTU was more vague & essentially just allowed for an unspecified period of time. Either way, it's likely his contract at UT has it in writing, find that (I've half-assed tried but couldn't find his actual contract) & you may find a timeline if they've already made up their minds to fire him.
2. Assuming the very small group of people that will ultimately decide Beard's employment status at UT haven't already made up their minds, there's a lot that could, potentially, go into this decision. Most of those reasons have been discussed ad nauseum in this thread so there's no need to rehash it all, but the "he's going to be fired no matter what" crowd seems to underestimate the power that a proven winner at a money-making sport can wield if they have the right donors in their corner. Add to that the fact that he's an alum & the roots run even deeper. If his future is still in doubt it will likely all come down to "what information will come out & what information could potentially come out in the future?". Now, with how many journalists hate Texas, including the ones that cover Texas, it seems unlikely that anything will be left covered up for very long so, if they decide to keep him, they better make sure there aren't any bad pictures of the injuries & the alleged audio really does help Beard & not hurt him, because those things will 100% be leaked.