Tom Crean emerges as possible interim after Louisville fires Rick Pitino

With Rick Pitino out at Louisville, the Cardinals now have to scramble to find an interim head coach.

Following the news of Rick Pitino’s firing at Louisville, the Cardinals are now frantically searching for a replacement for the long-time coach. Pitino was placed on unpaid leave, along with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, due to the recent findings by the FBI into the NCAA scandal. At this point, no shortlist has been named for the Louisville job. However, former Indiana coach Tom Crean’s name has found its way into the hat.

Replacing a coach as successful as Rick Pitino is not easy. Pitino boasted an incredible 416-143 record as the head man of the Cardinals. However, the Louisville program needs cleaning up. There is no man better for the job than Crean. Crean has plenty of experience and is frankly overqualified for an interim role.

Crean was recently fired from Indiana after his team failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. And he astonishingly remains out of a job. Surely his experience as the head honcho at Indiana and Marquette would’ve landed him a job by now. But, it hasn’t. While it is unknown if Crean has an interest in the job, he would likely answer the phone if it rang.

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While Crean’s presence would clean up the program, he would also have a chance to keep the winning culture alive. Crean, despite recent struggles, knows how to win. Louisville’s program is surely going to get hit with more NCAA sanctions, in addition to its pre-existing probation.

Not many currently employed coaches would agree to walk into the mess at Louisville, but Crean has nothing to lose. Crean knows what it means to lead a program with a tradition of winning, he looks to be Louisville’s best current option.