College basketball media reacts to Chris Mack being out at Louisville

Jan 12, 2022; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Chris Mack gives instructions during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at KFC Yum! Center. N.C. State defeated Louisville 79-63. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2022; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Chris Mack gives instructions during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at KFC Yum! Center. N.C. State defeated Louisville 79-63. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

In the middle of his fourth season, Louisville basketball and head coach Chris Mack are parting ways, which brought about strong reactions from the media.

Whenever Louisville basketball hired Chris Mack from Xavier in the wake of the Rick Pitino scandal, the general consensus around the country seemed to be that the Cardinals had knocked it out of the park with their new head coach. Less than four years into his time with the program, though, Mack is now out.

After rumors had been swirling for several days, the Louisville athletic department and Mack reached an agreement on Wednesday to part ways in relatively amicable fashion, most notably with the the now-former head coach getting $4.8 million paid over three years instead of the $12 million buyout that was part of his contract.

Now, Mike Pegues will move up to being the interim head coach from his assistant role while the Cardinals will search for a new head coach to try and get the program back to prominence.

Louisville basketball fires Chris Mack: College basketball media reactions

In the wake of the news, the college basketball media weighed in on the decision, the surprise of how things transpired and more.

It is, admittedly, a bit shocking to see Mack gone given his reputation when he took the job but there’s also no denying that Louisville basketball has been struggling a bit.

Prior to Mack and the university parting ways, the Cardinals had lost five of their last six games in addition to missing the NCAA Tournament last year.

With that said, Mack’s time at Xavier proves that he is a quality college basketball coach and he should have his pick of jobs this offseason if he wants to dive right back into the grind. As for the Cardinals, we’ll see where they plan to go from here, but likely not until the end of this season as they try to regroup.

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