Account
Chris Mack Confirms Departure from Louisville: 'I'm Not Bitter in Any Way'
January 26, 2022
Chris Mack has confirmed he is no longer the head coach for the Louisville men's basketball team.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mack said he's "not bitter in any way" about the end of his tenure with the Cardinals.
ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel reported on Tuesday that Mack's job status was "in peril" and the school was "engaged in discussions to separate with the fourth-year head coach."
Mack has had a tumultuous 2021-22 season that left his status with the Cardinals up in the air.
In August, Louisville announced Mack was being suspended for the first six games of the season for failing to follow proper guidelines related to an extortion attempt by former assistant coach Dino Gaudio.
Gaudio pleaded guilty to a federal charge of attempted extortion for threatening to go public with alleged NCAA violations committed by the men's basketball program during a meeting with Louisville officials after it was decided his contract would not be renewed.
According to Borzello and Thamel, the NCAA amended a previous notice of allegations against the men's basketball program related to Gaudio's firing to include three new alleged violations:
"The alleged violations stem from last spring's firing of Gaudio, which resulted in Gaudio attempting to extort Mack. In a recording, Gaudio told Mack he would expose violations if not paid the remainder of his salary.
"The NCAA alleged that Mack 'either participated in, condoned, or negligently disregarded violations involving graduate assistants and others participation in practice as well as the creation and use of personalized recruiting videos and aids.'"
The notice included one Level I allegation and three Level II allegations.
Mack was hired in March 2018, five months after Rick Pitino was fired for his role in the bribery and corruption scandal involving a total of seven schools. Louisville vacated all of its wins from 2011-15, including its national title from the 2012-13 season.
Louisville went 68-37 in 105 games with one NCAA tournament appearance with Mack as head coach. The Cardinals have lost five of their last six games since starting this season 10-4.