John Romano: With hiring of Chris Mack, USF no longer looks like a stepping stone

TAMPA, Fla. — First, let’s acknowledge, and applaud, the obvious:

Hiring Chris Mack as the men’s basketball coach at USF is a potential game-changer.

And it’s not just because he arrives with as many NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach — that would be nine — as the previous seven USF basketball hires had combined.

(Although, that’s huge.)

It’s not just because he has been the head coach at three programs — Louisville, Xavier, College of Charleston — that are among the top 50 for all-time winning percentage, according to sports-reference.com.

(Although, that’s impressive.)

You want to know what really separates Mack from his predecessors at South Florida?

He’s 56 years old.

In recent years, USF has been a destination for up-and-coming coaches. Bryan Hodgson and Amir Abdur-Rahim in basketball. Alex Golesh and Brian Hartline in football. All talented. All bright. All driven.

And all still climbing the coaching ladder.

None would ever say it at the time of their hiring, but it was generally assumed if they succeeded at USF they would eventually move on to programs with bigger budgets, crowds and scrapbooks.

The greatest difference in hiring Mack is not that he has a more extensive background, but that he is not looking at USF as a stepping stone. He’s already played that game. He was intrigued by USF’s growth and potential — and particularly the enthusiasm of CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins — but it would be stunning if he leveraged this job the way Golesh and Hodgson did after short tenures.

The tragic death of Abdur-Rahim played a role in this, but USF will be the rare program to employ a different basketball coach in five consecutive seasons. And, presumably, that revolving door of coaches is going to be slammed shut with Mack’s hire.

“As much as the five coaches in five years has been talked about? For me and my family, my son has been to four grade schools in five years,” Mack said. “Knowing where we’re going to be, a place where we can put down roots so that in his formative years he can have friendships that last a long, long time, was insanely important.

“So we’re committed to being here, period.”

In no way is this meant as a slap to previous coaches. In fact, were it not for the success of Abdur-Rahim and Hodgson, the Bulls probably would not have been able to woo a coach with Mack’s list of accomplishments.

The key, Higgins said, is to view every coaching hire in every sport as a unique moment in time. Teams are continually in different stages of development, and it’s USF’s job to find the right partnership between coach and program.

“I think it was two things,” Higgins said. “First, we wanted to identify which candidate would be able to help us win next season. We do not have time here to stub our toe and have a setback. So we started with that as 1A, and then 1B was to find somebody who would not only be able to help increase and elevate the success, but then be able to sustain it. But you can’t get to 1B without 1A, right? And Chris checked both of those boxes in a unique way.”

There’s more to the story, of course. Mack was available only because he had his own career setback at Louisville.

After nine highly successful seasons at Xavier, Mack landed one of the highest-profile jobs in the country with the Cardinals. And things started wonderfully with a 44-21 record in his first two years, including a two-week tenure as the No. 1 team in the nation.

But the combination of COVID and an NCAA investigation from the Rick Pitino era threw a wrench into Mack’s plans.

When he decided to replace two coaches on his staff, one of his longtime assistants threatened to blow the whistle on alleged NCAA violations if his salary was not paid for an additional 18 months. Mack taped their conversation and the assistant was later convicted of attempted extortion. Louisville officials, however, were wary of the previous, and still unresolved, NCAA investigation and suspended Mack six games for not following unspecified university guidelines.

Louisville went 6-8 upon Mack’s return to the sidelines, and the university offered him a $4.8 million buyout in January of 2022. As it turned out, the Independent Accountability Resolution Process committee dismissed the assistant’s claims as “isolated and inadvertent” and the panel determined Mack committed no violations.

Nonetheless, the episode tarnished Mack’s reputation and he took two years off before his brief stay at Charleston.

On the other hand, the troubles at Louisville also led him to Fowler Avenue.

“The spotlight has shined on this place because the last couple of coaches have done it at a really, really high level,” Mack said. “When I started to do my research about Rob and the fact that he, probably more than any athletic director in the country, understands how the amateur stuff is being converted into professional stuff, where his background is. And then his passion and the fact that he’s an alum and loves the place, it made it the perfect situation.

“I think this place is built to last, which is why we’re here.”

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