Mack meets with Louisville

[gym from delhi]

Add Al McGuire to the list of those who never left their school.

[mumuskie87]

The only coach that stayed with a team/school for a long time and did not leave his teams or his employer was Wooden of UCLA. He did not leave for monies or anything. The rest have. I do not blame any coach for changing for more money and guarantees, because most schools would fire their coach or coaches in a heartbeat for almost any cause.

Coach K
Jim Boeheim
Izzo
Just to name a few...oh yea Mark Few too

[mumuskie87]

let's look at it from the numbers. Lets say UofL's offer is 7 mill for 7 years guaranteed. 49 mill. X's offer is 3 mill for same period 21 mill. Chris would be leaving 28 Mill on the table.


WHAT WOULD ANYONE HERE DO???
Let's say you have a job and someone other business offers to MORE than double your salary. What would you do?
And if you don't take it what would your spouse say to leaving that money on the table.

And Skyhops is right it is dam serious

I know if I had an opportunity to more than double my salary to the same work and move to my wife's hometown ( which also happens to be Louisville), it would be very difficult to turn down.
As mentioned, Louisville basketball is The Game in town although the UK shadow looms over the entire state.
And the ACC is arguably the top conference in the country but there are going to be changes at some point in the future with the current top dogs - Coach K, Boeheim, ol Roy will all retire at some point - maybe 3 to 5 years. And like UConn did when Calhoun retired, their programs might take a step backwards.

[muskieman]

Why do guys like Few, Wright and a handful of others not take the cash then?????

there are always exceptions....and we all hope Mack is an exception. Let's hope Mack is satisfied with the money and to the ego side if he stays he will become a legend like few and others.

wright makes $2,290,346 in 2017 which is in the top 25 of coaches and the highest of the non state schools. On the other hand Mark Few makes $1,629,083 salary Chris made $1,668,930

Few’s loyalty to Gonzaga could have a lot to do with his father. Mark has always had a very close relationship with his dad and Norm Few has been a Presbyterian minister for over 50 years and still pastors the same church in Creswell, Oregon. Mark has been the head coach for 18 seasons but with the program for 28 seasons counting his time as an assistant coach. Few has said that he believes the secret to maintaining a successful basketball program is fly fishing. They say when he is not at practice or watching film, he may be in the water. In an interview with ESPN he said; "It [fishing] just brings it down. I walk out the next day at practice in a much better place. Even come home in a much better place. My wife will tell you, [I’m] a much better parent, a much better husband. Everything. These seasons and the job can become all-encompassing sometimes. And so it’s good. It’s a great time to think and think about your team and plan and do things in that area because you have a lot of time just standing there in the river. I think [fly-fishing] is probably the biggest thing that I’ve always tried to do."

UNTIL Chris or Louisville announces he is the head coach then he is a Musketeer...now lets hope X wants him here as much as most fans.

[oldhoopster2]

$3 million a year vs $6 million a year. No big difference since how could you spend that amount of money anyway? Family is probably a bigger decision for Chris and his family. Do they want to stay in Cincy near his family or head to Louisville and be near hers. 2 hours is not a long drive, so maybe that doesn't come into play. The fact that realistically at Louisville he can get better recruits and have a better chance at a final four may be part of his decision (ala Sean Miller). It a storied program with many successes (and expectations). Hope he considers the pressure that will be at Louisville. There is pressure at all schools, but the bigger name schools will have more pressure on their coach. Matta's health went down at OSU. Was it related to the pressures to succeed at his job? How many other coaches have had health issues due to stress? At least at XU, relative success relieves a lot of the stress whereas at Louisville and others the stress would magnify, IMO.

[Sonoma Muskie]

At a certain point the government is taking half of every dollar you are p@id. Kind of like treading water.
The real issue for a guy like Chris Mack & his family is what will make them happy. Only they know that after a family talk.
No matter I wish them the best.

[X-Expert]

I absolutely would not blame Mack for chasing the money here but i honestly don't think that is the reason if he leaves. If it were money, he would have taken GT, OSU or IND. I always heard that Louisville and ND are the only jobs he would consider leaving X for. Having said that, if he leaves, it really does expose X for what it is. Clearly, not the same program as the old MCC or A-10 days but at the same time, not quite a top tier job. When coaches like Danny Hurley and others can demand the salaries they are getting, X simply cannot compete with those schools financially. I realize they are trying to make an exception for Mack but it is quite an exception. The good thing is that it will take a blue blood type team to attract a coach away from X (unless they are struggling as Mack was when he looked at Cal and Tenn). I will however say of the last few coaches dating back to Gillen, Mack is the one i thought would retire here given his history-lets hope that still happens. If he doesn't stay, i would say this will be always be a common theme at X. Finally, keep in mind that while i really like Mack as the coach, he has been good for X but not great. 3 S-16s and an Elite 8 are very good and a similar trajectory that Miller was taking them. While he definitely had some success in the A-10 regular season, he finished 1st or second in BE one time each. other than that, his teams finished just above average and went to one conference championship tourney game. Don't get me wrong, i like Mack and hope he stays but there are a lot of good coaches out there. I would hope Steele is considered if he goes.

[Xavier2005]

John Wooden was paid $6000 to start and about $40,000 near his end of coaching UCLA....when he won his 10th National NCAA Men's Basketball Title.....even in today's dollars his highest pay would have been about $175,000 a year.

[longliveskip]

the fact that Mack was not announced yesterday, i think, is a GOOD thing. if he was their first choice and they knew they weren't going to retain Padgett, then they would've had Mack announced immediately if he was going there. that being said, maybe they have tried to contact Mack and he's blown them off, saying "i'm focused on my team and i won't discuss anything until my season is over".

either way, i think that the AD saying we would like to have something in the next 7-10 days is a good thing for Xavier and Mack staying.

just my take.

[X-Expert]

the fact that Mack was not announced yesterday, i think, is a GOOD thing. if he was their first choice and they knew they weren't going to retain Padgett, then they would've had Mack announced immediately if he was going there. that being said, maybe they have tried to contact Mack and he's blown them off, saying "i'm focused on my team and i won't discuss anything until my season is over".

either way, i think that the AD saying we would like to have something in the next 7-10 days is a good thing for Xavier and Mack staying.

just my take.

With all the rumors swirling, the fact that Mack has not come out to say he is staying at X is not a good thing. He was quick to squelch the OSU and IND rumors the last couple of year. I think it would be short-sided to think that assuming Mack was interested, his agent had not been connected to Louisville during the season. I'm sure X is trying to put together whatever contract they can for Mack and that is the wait. The Louisville deal is on the table and likely has been for some time and now both sides can hammer out the specifics-same for the X side for Mack to consider. Finally, Steele backing out of the Evansville job may be a coincidence but certainly seems suspicious to those outside of Xavier nation. Honestly, Louisville just let go of Padgett yesterday. I would think out of respect to all involved, nothing would be announced this quickly. It had long been announced back in December that if everything goes well, they would like to announce their new coach the weekend of the Final Four. Looks like they are meeting their timeline. Time will tell.