Jeff Goodman wouldn't be surprised if Chris Mack never coaches again by his own choice

Louisville basketball Chris Mack talks with reporters outside the Kueber Center on Wednesday afternoon. Jan. 26, 2022
Louisville basketball Chris Mack talks with reporters outside the Kueber Center on Wednesday afternoon. Jan. 26, 2022

Chris Mack, the former St. Xavier High School standout who played and coached at Xavier University, turned 52 less than a month ago.

But Stadium's Jeff Goodman wrote that it wouldn't surprise him "if Mack never coaches again (by his own choice)" after Mack and Louisville parted ways Wednesday.

Mack coached at the high-school level at McAuley and Mount Notre Dame before becoming a Xavier assistant from 1999 to 2001. He returned to XU as an assistant from 2004 to 2009, when he was promoted to head coach. He became XU's all-time winningest head coach in 2018. He left XU for UofL after the 2017-18 season.

Goodman added that former Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin, UCLA's head coach since 2019, is among potential candidates to replace Mack for the Cardinals.

From Goodman on Cronin's candidacy:

Mick Cronin has it rolling out in UCLA, but he’s a Midwest guy - even spending some time with Pitino at Louisville. It’s unclear whether he’d leave the beach and plush campus in Westwood to go back and inherit a major rebuilding job when he’s got it going right now in a putrid Pac-12.

More via Twitter from the C-J's Hayes Gardner:

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What's next for Chris Mack? Jeff Goodman says Mack may not coach again