Chris Mack arrived at scandal-racked Louisville as a proven coaching commodity considered capable of both calming the chaos and restoring the prominence of a powerhouse. He leaves having added more to the tumult than the trophy case, a failure few saw coming in the optimistic days of 2018.
The school and Mack will make their parting official and immediate Wednesday. Tuesday was for hashing out the details, most notably how much of his buyout he’ll receive—it likely will be less than half of the $12 million that he could have been owed. He leaves having coached 99 games at the school, recording a winning record but becoming the tradition-steeped program’s first full-time coach since World War II to have won nothing of note.