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Chris Mack Brings a New Culture To Louisville

By Thomas Grasch

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With the addition of Chris Mack as the head basketball coach, there appears to be a potential change in culture as well.

In the short time he has been a Cardinal, the differences between Chris Mack and former coach Rick Pitino are evident. Mack is turning over a new leaf for a university who has struggled with image issues. Let’s take a look at what kind of changes Mack will bring to the program.

The Pitino Era

Before assessing what kind of changes Mack is implementing, one must remember where the program is coming from. Rick Pitino came to the University of Louisville with an excellent pedigree already. Add in 3 more final fours and a national championship and he became a hall of fame coach. All of these accolades were well-deserved, but Rick Pitino had his own way of doing things.

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He never really embraced any of the folks from the Denny Crum era, including Denny Crum himself. Rick Pitino focused his time on making his own impact at the university. This also came with a bit of confidence, bordering on arrogance. He was known for having to have everything his way and it better be perfect.

His suit on the sidelines? Better be expensive and looking good. His choice for dinner? I bet he’s never stepped foot in Rooster’s. The fans and the media saw him as the king and he lived like a king. I was fine with that because with that came success. It also came with some things we didn’t like, but accepted. For example, his strict social media policy. Come on coach, the players can’t have a little bit of fun?

Sure his players loved him, let’s not let that go forgotten. And his ability to bring in talented raw players, and turn them into professionals, was second to none.

Francisco Garcia, Taquan Dean, Larry O’Bannon, Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan, Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, Russ Smith, David Padgett, Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier, and of course who could forget Donovan Mitchell.

I think it is interesting that one reason that led to his downfall was that he changed. Something happened after that championship team. Something happened after coaching Russ Smith for four years. Rick started to loosen up. He started not to be so strict. He started to trust more people besides himself and that came back to bite him with Andre McGee.

The Future

Coach Mack has a totally different approach, and the change might be refreshing given what we’ve been through as a fan base over the past few years. He has already reached out to Crum era guys and Pitino era players to let them know they are all Cardinals and are all welcomed. Vince Tyra started this effort, but Chris Mack is now championing it.

He doesn’t appear to want to be the king… unless its at Burger King. He’s a man of the people. His wife is from the south end of Louisville. He looks like he fits right in to every derby party, tailgate, PTA meeting, etc. that we all are a part of. And, overall, he just seems like a nice guy.

This isn’t just some act, he’s always been this way. You don’t have to look very far back to his days at Xavier to see this. Just look at his twitter feed to see why his players and fans loved him:

Or this story about Mack coaching his daughter’s grade school team in the middle of Xavier’s season.

What sets him apart from our past is he’s a coach that’s not afraid to have some fun. Especially with his adorable family.

This fan base will embrace this change after being embarrassed by some of the past. That is, as long as it works. We love and know basketball well. If it isn’t working, there is no amount of culture that will make up for failure.

Next: Ray Spalding Receives Draft Combine Invite After All

However, I have faith that won’t be the case.

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