Report: Louisville could move on from Kenny Payne 'sooner rather than later'

The Kenny Payne era at Louisville got off to a rough start, to say the least, last year and it hasn’t gotten better this year. That brings about the question of if — or when — the Cardinals will move on from their second-year head coach with ACC play looming.

With some big matchups looming, starting with Sunday’s game against Pepperdine, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander said it’s beginning to look more like “when” Payne is fired. Louisville enters that matchup with a 4-6 overall record after last season’s 4-28 record, but the Cardinals have losses to UMBC and Bellarmine on their resume this year.

In fact, Norlander said it might not be long before a change happens — although it probably won’t be before Sunday.

“The question is when it winds up happening,” Norlander said on CBS Sports HQ. “My indications, in speaking to sources in recent hours here, is that Payne is unlikely to be fired before Louisville’s game on Sunday — which isn’t to say it will not happen. I’m saying my sources are indicating it’s unlikely that it would happen prior to Sunday. But we have seen all we need to see here.

“It is unfortunate. He is a favored former son there, having played on the 1986 championship winning team and it just has not worked. He has won as many games as he has lost against mid-major competition, he has lost 14 home games since becoming Louisville’s head coach just last year. So Louisville will be moving on from Kenny Payne. The expectation is that will happen sooner rather than later, and that they will not drag this out over the course of the entire season. But a final decision, as of Friday afternoon, has not been made.”

Louisville didn’t win a single game away from the KFC Yum! Center a year ago after taking over for Chris Mack. So far this year, the Cardinals are 0-2 on the road, and a big matchup against Kentucky is looming. Combine all that, and it doesn’t bode well for Payne’s future at his alma mater.

“The latest is that Louisville athletic director Josh Heird is continuing to go through a process to determine if and when he will fire Kenny Payne,” Norlander said. “My personal belief is that Kenny Payne will be fired before we get to the end of 2023. On Friday, on our latest episode of ‘Eye on College Basketball,’ my co-host and I, Gary Parrish, got into this topic heavily and we both agree it would actually be cruel to continue to have Kenny Payne coach this program moving forward. Fan apathy has reached levels that heretofore have never been.

“You are having an arena, one of the best in the entire country from a facility standpoint, being filled 15, 20, 25% at most. And that the idea that you would have Kenny Payne go out there and coach against Kentucky next Thursday and almost certainly lose in that game, I think would be malpractice.”

Why Danny Manning could take the role of interim head coach if Louisville moves on from Kenny Payne

The natural question, if Louisville makes a change, is who takes over for Payne. Norlander suggested associate head coach Danny Manning could serve as the interim head coach after the change, and he has some recent experience in such a role.

In 2021-22, Manning took over for Mark Turgeron after he stepped down at Maryland, and took the Terps to a 10-14 record before Kevin Willard took over. Manning then joined Payne’s staff as associate head coach, and he could find himself as an interim head coach once again in the near future.

“In speaking to sources, I would expect Danny Manning — who actually did this two years ago when Mark Turgeon resigned at Maryland. Danny Manning was bumped up to guide over that Terrapins program for the rest of that season. Danny Manning is in position there,” Norlander said. “I would expect he would be the guy if and when he decides to be interim.

“And then, when the job opens, I mean, that’s a whole other discussion. We’ll get to that when Kenny Payne is actually fired and no longer has a job. But, for all the struggles, Louisville maintains the status as a Top 10 all-time program and men’s college basketball history and will still be recovered in job. But currently, you can make the argument it’s never been worse for that program than it has been both this season and dating back to the Payne’s tenure last year.”