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January 26 update: Mack is officially out as Louisville’s head coach and has released the following statement. Mike Pegues is the interim head coach.
— Louisville Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) January 26, 2022
Here are details of Mack’s final payout from Louisville.
The Board of Trustees just approved the separation agreement between Chris Mack and the school. His buyout, which was originally set ar $12 million in his contract, was agreed at $4.8 million, sources told ESPN. https://t.co/4V19nKSr7K
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) January 26, 2022
The Louisville Cardinals are reportedly nearing a separation agreement with head men’s basketball coach Chris Mack, according to Seth Davis. The Cardinals are 11-9 and sit at 5-5 in the conference, which is way under the expectations for the program.
Mack has made one NCAA tournament in his time at Louisville, but the real problem this season was his disconnect with the players. Forward Malik Williams refused to comment on whether Mack had the attention of the locker room after a loss to Notre Dame, which basically was the final nail in Mack’s coffin. He’ll finish his career at Louisville with a 68-37 record.
This was obviously not the expected outcome for the Cardinals when Mack signed a seven-year contract with the school after a successful run at Xavier. There was speculation over whether Mack would ever leave Xavier, his alma mater, but Louisville proved to be too big a program to turn down. After the tenures of Rick Pitino and Mack ending the way they did, Louisville badly needs to get the next hire right.