Report: Charleston expected to hire Chris Mack as next head coach, replacing Pat Kelsey

Chris Mack is back. The former Xavier and Louisville head coach is expected to replace Pat Kelsey at Charleston, The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported late Friday.

It would mark Mack’s first head coaching job since Louisville fired him midway through the 2022 season. He had a 63-36 overall record with the Cardinals, but found himself suspended for six games to start the year. In addition, the university said he violated school guidelines while handling assistant coach Dino Gaudio and extortion attempts, which led to the parting of ways.

In a twist of fate, Mack will replace someone who worked for him at Xavier. Kelsey was an associate head coach on his staff from 2009-11 before getting his first head coaching opportunity at Winthrop. He took over at Charleston in 2014.

Before Louisville, Mack had plenty of success at Xavier, amassing a 215-97 record with the Musketeers from 2013-18. He took the program to the Elite Eight in 2017, but after arriving at Louisville, only got the Cardinals to one NCAA Tournament.

Louisville announced Kelsey as its next head coach earlier this week to replace Kenny Payne after a rocky two years as Mack’s replacement. The Cardinals went just 12-52 under his watch, and moved on after the season.

Chris Mack wanted to ‘look at options’ this cycle

Mack previously indicated his intention to return to the sidelines if the opportunity presented itself less than two years removed from his departure from Louisville. He planned to “see what’s out there” before ultimately making a decision.

“For the first time since the whole Louisville time, I’m gonna sort of look at the options and see what’s out there and see if it’s a good fit,” Mack said, via Joe Danneman of FOX 19. “And if it is, then it’s probably something that I’ll end up jumping back into. But it has to be the right fit. I’ve learned a lot over the two head coaching jobs that I was fortunate enough to be a part of. So, you know, we’ll see.”

As for why the timing would be right for Mack to look at coaching again, he said now that his kids are starting to grow up – and the fact that he simply misses it – are why he wanted to get back in the game.

“It’s a lot different when both of your girls are out of the house, you know, and not that I don’t love my wife. But you know, I need a purpose,” Mack said. “You know, more than just sort of working out and hanging out with my son. And, you know, I miss it. There’s some things I really miss about the game, about being a part of the team day in and day out. 

“So I’ve really enjoyed the time away. I think I’ve learned a whole lot, studied a lot of basketball. And so, again, we’ll see. It may not happen, but we’ll see.”