By SAM LANCE
Former Louisville and Xavier head coach Chris Mack is eying a return to coaching, per Joe Danneman of Fox. Mack hasn’t coached since he was let go by Louisville on Jan. 26, 2022.
“For the first time since the whole Louisville time, I’m going to sort of look at the options and see what’s out there,” Mack said. “See if it’s a good fit. 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 we’ll see.”
Mack posted a 63-36 overall record at Louisville and led the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19. He’s also just one of 19 coaches in college basketball history to take his team to the No. 1 ranking of the AP Poll just two years into his tenure, per Louisville Athletics.
At Xavier, Mack found similar success, posting a 217-97 record overall and taking the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament every year but one from the 2009-10 season to 2017-18. In 2016-17, Mack led Xavier all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to Gonzaga, 83-59. Mack also tallied two Atlantic 10 titles and one Big East title with the Musketeers.
Overall, in Mack’s coaching career, he’s reached the NCAA Tournament in nine out of 13 seasons, with one of those seasons having no postseason due to COVID-19.
The question for Mack is, though, why now?
“It’s a lot different when both your girls are out of the house,” Mack said. “Not that I don’t love my wife, but you know, I need a purpose, more than sort of just working out and hanging out with my son.”
Mack continued.
“And I miss it. There’s some things I really miss about the game, about being a part of a team day in and day out. I’ve really enjoyed the time away. I think I’ve learned a whole lot, studied a lot of basketball. So again, we’ll see. It may not happen, but we’ll see.”
A few jobs are already open in DePaul, who recently parted ways with Tony Stubblefield, and West Virginia, who currently has interim head coach Josh Eilert leading the charge. There will likely be a few other openings this offseason.
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