Louisville To Make Decision With Kenny Payne "Fairly Soon"
By Caleb Hall
After Louisville had lost back-to-back games to a 1-win DePaul team and Arkansas State, most thought that would be the end of Kenny Payne at Louisville. However, most thought it would be an end-of-season move due to Payne's buyout and other circumstances.
New information and the state of the fanbase proves otherwise.
Louisville AD Josh Heird met with multiple Louisville players today to get their thoughts on Kenny Payne and entire situation with the program before making decision, sources told @TheMessenger.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 15, 2023
Source said Heird leaning towards making a move with Payne “fairly soon.”
jeff Goodman is a trustworthy enough source to take this information seriously, and the information lines up with everything that has been happening inside the program recently. Athletic director Josh Heird "talking to players about Kenny Payne and the state of the program" sounds exactly like something he would do. What is shocking is the quote by Heird "fairly soon".
Does that mean a decision will be made today, tomorrow, next week, next month, or within the next hour? It is hard to say but I can imagine it will be made within the next week.
I can imagine Heird either coming out and saying "We are moving on from Kenny Payne" or "We are finishing out the season with Kenny Payne".
Kenny Payne is currently 8-34 as the Louisville head coach, and that stat alone should justify firing Payne midseason during year 2. This experiment has failed on every possible level, and Payne does not deserve to finish out this season.
Josh Heird knows what has to happen, it is just a matter of when, not if Louisville will fire Kenny Payne.