Louisville parts ways with basketball coach Chris Mack

Louisville is looking for a new head men’s basketball coach.

After three-and-a-half seasons as the head coach of the Cardinals’ program, Chris Mack has been let go by the school, he announced to reporters on Wednesday afternoon. Mack, who was hired by Louisville ahead of the 2018-19 season, compiled a 68-37 overall record during his tenure and took the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament in his first year.

Some of Louisville’s players and staff members were seen walking into the team’s practice facility on Wednesday morning, and Mack later arrived in the afternoon. According to Hayes Gardner of the Louisville Courier Journal, someone retrieved plastic boxes from the trunk of Mack’s vehicle and brought them inside.

Shortly after, Mack walked outside of the practice facility and spoke with reporters on-site, confirming that he was out as Louisville’s head coach.

Chris Mack is out as Head Coach at the University of Louisville.

We just spoke to him outside the athletic facility. Here are his comments. pic.twitter.com/XbPX7W0FiM

— Dalton Godbey (@DaltonTVNews) January 26, 2022

Although the school hasn’t yet released the official news, it’s been reported that assistant coach Mike Pegues will serve as Louisville’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season, beginning with Saturday’s game against Duke.

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Mack and Louisville were finalizing a separation agreement and in the “final stages of negotiations.” A major factor in the discussions between the coach and school was Mack’s buyout number, which was reported to be in the range of $12 million.

As ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello noted on Tuesday, a joint meeting between the University of Louisville’s Board of Trustees and the Athletic Association was suddenly called for Wednesday afternoon “to discuss proposed or pending litigation and personnel matters.”

The former Xavier head coach who went 215-97 during a nine-year stint, Mack’s 2021-22 Louisville team has significantly struggled. The Cardinals are 11-9 overall, 5-5 in ACC play and have lost five of their last six games – with four of those being double-digit defeats.

Louisville’s down season comes after another offseason that was highlighted by drama in the program, which featured a falling out between Mack and former Cardinals’ assistant coach Dino Gaudio that led to Mack being hit with a six-game suspension without pay to open the 2021-22 campaign.

In addition to Mack’s dealing with his former assistant coach, he has openly voiced his frustrations with his team during the season – saying that he hasn’t been able to find a way to motivate them. In Louisville’s last outing, a 64-52 loss to Virginia on Monday, the Cardinals trailed 22-5 just over eight minutes into the game.

With the Cardinals currently sitting at just 11-9 overall, they are in danger of missing a second consecutive NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time the program’s did that since it was in Conference USA during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.