Report: Louisville, basketball coach Chris Mack negotiating separation agreement
The University of Louisville has called a joint meeting of its Board of Trustees and Athletic Association Board for Wednesday afternoon.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m., was connected to embattled Louisville men’s basketball coach Chris Mack, but The Athletic reported Tuesday night that Mack and the school were "in the final stages of negotiations for a separation agreement."
According to the agenda, the boards will meet to “discuss proposed or pending litigation and personnel matters.”
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On Tuesday, Mack’s weekly radio show was canceled. A U spokesman did not give a reason for the cancellation but noted that it is not unusual for the show to be canceled.
Mack did not immediately return a text message seeking comment. Board of Trustees chair Mary Nixon and Mack’s agent, Jason Charney, did not immediately respond to interview requests.
Mack's job status has become a topic of local and national discussion as Louisville’s season has taken a slide. The Cardinals (11-9, 5-5 ACC) lost 64-52 at Virginia on Monday, their fifth loss in six games.
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Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, some Louisville players and staff arrived at the Kueber Center, the team’s practice facility.
At 9:25, U of L spokesman Kenny Klein said that there was no meeting set for the morning and that he did not expect Mack at the facility anytime soon.
Mack has three years remaining on a contract that pays him $4 million per year; he would be entitled to that $12 million if not fired for cause. Louisville can fire him for cause if he is found to have committed NCAA rules violations designated as Level I or Level II. Mack has three Level II allegations pending review and ruling by the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process.
The national media discourse on the Cards this week already has started to center on Mack’s job status and the big-picture state of the program, which missed last season’s NCAA Tournament and would need a dramatic turnaround against that tough second-half conference schedule to have any shot at an at-large bid this season.
“I think it’s the beginning of the end (for Mack),” Jeff Goodman, basketball analyst at Stadium, said Sunday on the Field of 68 YouTube channel. “I don’t know if he makes it beyond this season. I think when you’re at Louisville and you don’t go to the NCAA Tournament two years in a row, the fan base obviously is gonna come out after you. And then you throw out all the other things that have happened.”
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Much of the national discussion about the Cardinals this week followed a cryptic quote after last Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame from center Malik Williams, who — when asked if Louisville players were still responding to the coaching staff or had tuned it out — took a long pause before saying, “I don’t have a comment for that.”
Mack downplayed that postgame moment after the Cards’ loss to Virginia, saying he’d talked to Williams and that his center was “asked a tough question the other day and wasn’t really sure how to respond.”
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Chris Mack, University of Louisville may be negotiating split: Report
