Louisville owes fired Kenny Payne $8 million buyout, which would've been reduced April 1

Kenny Payne might now be the former Louisville head men’s basketball coach, but he’s at least taking home a pretty penny to no longer lead his alma mater on the floor. With the move to officially fire him today, Louisville will now owe Payne $8 million in buyout money, according to USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz.

Payne, who went 12-52 at Louisville in two seasons, was under contract through the end of March 2028. And choosing to fire him now, as opposed to in a few weeks, was apparently a matter of time being more valuable than money.

Had Louisville waited until April 1, 2024 — less than three weeks after his actual firing — to jettison Payne, it would’ve saved the school $2 million, as Payne’s buyout dropped to just $6 million.

However, with the program continuing to spin its wheels at the bottom of the ACC, it was worth it to the decision makers at Louisville to pull the ripcord sooner, rather than later.

And depending on how the coaching market shakes out across men’s college hoops, Louisville could have a new coach in place by April as one of the more attractive and resourced openings this cycle.

The buyout is also subject to a duty to mitigate, meaning that if Payne gets another job in coaching, whatever salary he draws at his new job will offset the buyout some.

Louisville announced the firing on Wednesday

Here was the announcement via the Louisville athletics website:

“The University of Louisville has informed Kenny Payne he will not return next season as men’s basketball head coach, Director of Athletics Josh Heird announced Wednesday.”

The release noted that athletic director Josh Heird will speak with media Wednesday afternoon. However, he did provide a statement along with the news of the school’s decision to part with Payne. It read:

”Kenny has given a great deal to this university over a span of nearly 40 years, and he will always be a valued member of our Louisville family. When we brought Kenny home in 2022, no one had a stronger belief than me in his potential success, but it’s become clear that a change is needed to help this program achieve what is expected and attainable,” Heird said in the release. “While it is always difficult to make a coaching transition, this is the right one for our program. On behalf of myself and everyone involved with our men’s basketball program, I want to thank Kenny for his dedication to UofL. I wish him and his family the very best in their future.”