Chris Mack is the new coach at Louisville. That is pretty much accepted fact by everyone… except for, publicly at least, the University of Louisville.
This afternoon, a number of reports emerged that the now-former Xavier coach Chris Mack had taken the job. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman even has the contract details: seven years, $4 million per year.
Shortly after the reports emerged, Mack issued his goodbye to Xavier fans. He doesn’t name Louisville in it, as it hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we’re all pretty sure that Chris Mack isn’t leaving to take over Bryant or Marist.
Mack has also been out offering big recruits as the new Cards head coach. He’s been extremely busy already.
It is understandable that Louisville wants to control the timeline here and introduce its new coach the way it sees fit. However, to deny that there is a new coach hours after its been widely reported that he’s agreed to a deal and is already recruiting seems a tad unnecessary.
And yet, Louisville did just that when spokesperson John Karman III responded to the Chris Mack reports.
Just passing along… @uofl spokesperson John Karman III sent me the following statement this evening: pic.twitter.com/InyCqlPQd1
— Andrew Chernoff – WISH-TV (@ADChernoff) March 28, 2018
This obviously isn’t a big deal. Still, it seems unnecessary, considering Mack will almost definitely be introduced tomorrow.
Once Louisville cops to its new hire, it will be met quite positively. Mack picked right up where his Xavier predecessor Sean Miller left off, and turned the Musketeers into a power in the Big East.
He went 212-96 at Xavier, making the NCAA Tournament in eight of nine seasons. Last year, he crashed the Elite Eight as an 11-seed, and the Musketeers earned their first ever No. 1 seed this season.
So don’t fret, Louisville fans, it seems pretty certain that Chris Mack is on the way. You’re just going to have to wait a little longer for it to become “official official.”