Chris Mack spent nine seasons at Xavier, leading the Musketeers to the NCAAs eight times while never finishing below .500 in league play once. While there’s no doubting that Xavier is a good job, it was hardly the gig propping Mack up all those years—the dude is an outstanding coach.
Mack and Louisville are as congruent a fit as you’ll find in college basketball—Louisville is barely 90 minutes down the road from Cincinnati, where Xavier is located, and Mack doesn’t know anything but coaching at a basketball-first school. The Cardinals were fortunate to have such an obvious—and willing—choice a short drive away.