Update: Chris Mack just put out a letter to the Xavier fans, thanking them for his many years in Cincinnati.
Thank You Xavier! pic.twitter.com/qXjvfko6UN
— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) March 27, 2018
Original: The long awaited Chris Mack hire appears to be done. He will be the next Louisville head coach.
Mack has been identified as the leading candidate for the Cardinals job since the season ended. Louisville fans have been talking about Mack for much longer, probably back to when Rick Pitino was fired.
He’s been one of the most consistent coaches in the country since taking over Xavier. He inherited the job after serving as an assistant to Sean Miller, who left for Arizona.
Mack has gone 212-96 at Xavier, making the NCAA Tournament in eight of nine seasons. He topped out with last season’s unexpected Elite Eight run.
Now, Chris Mack is cashing in big time with Louisville.
He reportedly signed a seven-year deal with the school. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman broke the news on the contract:
Louisville has agreed to a 7-year deal with Xavier’s Chris Mack worth about $4 million per season, sources told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 27, 2018
According to USA Today, Chris Mack made $1,668,930 at Xavier this season. His salary was ranked 55th among those listed in the database.
He will nearly triple his salary with this move. Louisville is one of the most profitable college basketball programs out there, and shows it with this move.
Per that USA Today database, only six coaches made more than $4 million per year in total pay this season: Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann, Kansas’s Bill Self, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, and Arizona’s Sean Miller. Based on 2017-18 figures, Mack will slide in ahead of West Virginia’s Bob Huggins.
This season, Mack led Xavier to its first No. 1 seed in program history. The Musketeers were 29-6 with a 15-3 mark in Big East play.