When Coach Kenny Payne was dismissed, the Louisville basketball program had to scour the nation to find a suitable replacement. The idea was to acquire someone who would make the Cardinals competitive once after landing square in the gutter in the ACC. Finally, the search is over. With the help of Charleston's approval, Pat Kelsey is officially off to make KFC Yum! Center his new home.
Louisville basketball introduced its new head honcho. As much as the Cardinals and their athletics programs were thrilled, no one was more ecstatic about the opportunity than Coach Pat Kelsey. His statements during the introductory press conference more than revealed his feelings on taking on the challenge of replacing Kenny Payne, via David Schuh of WDRB.
“It's the ultimate job. It's the peak and pinnacle of my profession. I'm standing at the podium, was just named the head coach where expectation because history says it, is ultimately getting to Final Fours and competing for national championships. That's the pinnacle. That's the highest level. It doesn't get any higher than this,” Pat Kelsey said.
Being in awe of greatness
Before parting with Charleston, he had to embark on a research spree. His initial goal was to understand the history of Louisville basketball and to get in sync with their culture. Instead, he may have just been left in awe of the program's great history.
“I googled ‘Top 50 players in the history of Louisville basketball' and I almost fell down. It's a wow. It's a who's-who. Are you kidding me? I'm gonna miss many of them, so I'm not gonna name one. You could go on and on and on and on. This is your program. This is your program. You don't ever have to call… You built this, you put banners up in the rafters. I'm lucky to be the steward right now and lead this thing into the next era. But this is your program,” the new ACC coach outlined.
Those results might have made him see legends don the Cardinals' uniform. Individuals like Wes Unseld, Pervis Ellison, Darrell Griffith, and Milt Wagner among others have carved a name for themselves with this team.
Louisville will be paying their new head honcho a whopping $2.3 million annually. This contract will last up to March of 2029. Until then, he will have all the keys and support to get the Cardinals back into competing for ACC titles and battling it out with bluebloods to win the NCAA Tournament.
Kelsey knows that he can lead this squad to success. After all, he has proven his ability to make programs like Charleston and Winthrop shine. He currently has a 68.1% winning percentage across 383 games which span from 2012 to 2024. He also led both mid-major programs to appearances in March Madness. In total, he made the big dance four times throughout his coaching career and looks to add to that list come fall.
A familiar face from Louisville
One person may have swayed Kelsey to go to Louisville more than others. Coach Chris Mack got a lot of love from the new Cardinals' head honcho during his presser.
“Chris and I go way back… He's obviously someone who stood at this podium and sat in that seat… He's innovated as heck man, read options and all this stuff. Most stuff in coaching is stolen or borrowed. We all ask, we all call, especially head coaches… I touched base with him, so it was really helpful and informative. We spoke for a long time,” he said.
Will Louisville fans see a massive improvement after the Kenny Payne era?
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