EXERT & EXHALE
AFTER A YEAR filled with terrible news , national embarrassment and scandal , you can ’ t blame Louisville fans if they ’ ve been a little giddy these last few weeks .
Not only did the Board of Trustees hire fanfavorite Vince Tyra as Louisville ’ s athletic director , but Tyra then turned around and hired the next Hall of Fame coach to run Louisville basketball , Chris Mack .
We ’ ll get back to Tyra in a second , but the big news is Mack .
Amidst scandal and turmoil , Louisville landed one of the top young coaches in basketball .
Mack was the 2017-18 Big East Coach of the Year . He led Xavier to three conference titles , and his team landed a Top 5 national ranking and a No . 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season .
He already has 11 NCAA Tournament wins , and he ’ s only 48 years old . He has four Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight to his credit . And yes , the Final Four has eluded him thus far , but he has built a consistent winner at Xavier , and Louisville fans can ’ t wait to see what he can do with Louisville ’ s resources .
Mack is so well-respected in the coaching ranks that he has been a candidate for several other Top 10 programs before . In fact , Mack was reportedly pursued by Indiana , Georgetown and Ohio State just within the last two years .
Which brings us to why Louisville fans are giddy . Hiring Chris Mack answers a massive question for Louisville fans : Are we still elite ?
Given all the scandal and the likely future punishment from the Brian Bowen recruitment , there are some nationally who tried to paint the Louisville job as a scrap heap . And there were some loud voices locally who tried to portray the job as a complete rebuild that would necessitate a former player or first-time head coach to take the job .
Meanwhile others , like me , continued to point out the incredible advantages Louisville has as a program . Not only is it one of the Top 10 programs of all time , the Cardinals are one of the mostprofitable programs in the nation . UofL plays in the most incredible college-only arena in the world , and the facilities and fan support here at Louisville are among the Top 5 in the nation .
Hiring Mack proves that Louisville is still elite . Louisville is on another level than the jobs at Ohio State or Indiana ( jobs Mack turned down ). And
THAT should make Louisville fans happy . Hiring Mack is also an indication of the power of Louisville ’ s status as elite .
Mack wasn ’ t just Xavier ’ s coach . Mack was a Xavier lifer . He played there until 2000 . He came back to be an assistant coach at Xavier in 2004 . And he ’ s been Xavier ’ s head coach since 2009 .
But the Louisville job just had too much allure . Hear him tell it .
HIRING CHRIS MACK ANSWERS A MASSIVE QUESTION FOR LOUISVILLE FANS : ARE WE STILL ELITE ?
In a thank you note to Xavier just before he was announced as Louisville ’ s coach , Mack wrote : “ For over 18 years I called Victory Parkway home . From the day I walked on campus as a studentathlete in 1990 – to returning as an assistant coach in 2004 – to that life-changing moment when I was named your head coach in 2009 . ... THIS
PLACE has always had my heart . That feeling has made it so easy for me and my family to let opportunities outside of Xavier come and go . No other opportunity has ever felt ‘ right ,’ until now . Ultimately , I felt like this situation offered a new and unique challenge that I could not turn down .” Louisville was too good to turn down . After nearly three years of scandal , most Louisville fans I know have this battered and weary expression when talking about their men ’ s basketball program . “ Scandal fatigue ” was one of the many reasons listed why attendance was down the last two seasons .
It was a messy divorce with Rick Pitino . And the last six months have been spent hearing jokes and snide remarks from friends in Kentucky or Indiana gear . Louisville fans desperately needed to hear someone outside the program tell them they ’ re still attractive .
Mack did that in spades . One of the hottest coaches in America just broke away from his lifetime program to come coach at Louisville , likely at one of the lowest points in program history .
And beyond that , when we heard for months that no recruit would want to come to Louisville , Mack turned that on its head . Even before he officially landed the job he offered some of the top talent in the country and made contacts with several elite recruits still left in the 2018 class .
Speaking of good recruiting , let ’ s get back to Tyra . Not only was Tyra extremely impressive during his six-month stint as interim athletic director , but he landed Chris Mack on the second day of his term as the official AD .
Does Tyra still have more to learn about collegiate athletics and running a department ? Sure . He ’ d tell you that as well . But his business background and seemingly no-nonsense communication style has made for good , positive conversations around the athletic department .
The day he got the job as Louisville ’ s AD , Tyra thanked previous Athletic Director Tom Jurich for collecting such an incredible group of coaches in all of Louisville ’ s sports . Tyra noted that day he was ready to add another thoroughbred to Louisville ’ s stable of coaches , and he did just that when he hired Mack .
So even though Mack hasn ’ t won a game yet for Louisville , it ’ s easy to see why Louisville fans are giddy about the future of their program .
APRIL / MAY 2018 : EXTOL 51