Pat Kelsey is a jolt to the system, a human defibrillator determined to restore life to a flatlining Louisville basketball program. He is boisterous and loud where Kenny Payne was languid and low-key, a man the late Skip Prosser said “makes coffee nervous.”
Kelsey may not be the antidote to all that ails U of L hoops, but he instantly raised both its energy level and its expectations during his introductory press conference Thursday afternoon on campus. Fans frustrated by the prolonged search that preceded his hiring, and the perception Louisville had settled for a coach no higher than third or fourth on its wish list, could hardly help but be invigorated by his confidence, his candor, his charisma, his comic timing and his passion for his new position.
Louisville athletic director Josh Heird had said he wanted a coach who would have crawled to town to coach the Cardinals. Kelsey said he would have run all the way from Charleston, S.C. for what he described as “the ultimate job. . .the peak and pinnacle of my profession.”
“It doesn’t get any higher than this,” he said.
This was pandering, to be sure, remarks aimed not so much at the media in attendance but the alumni, former players and U of L staff who crowded a practice court at the Planet Fitness Kueber Center to hear from the new coach. But after a decade of detours and disappointments, of serial scandals and interminable investigations, Kelsey had read the room correctly. To the extent his presentation changed the prevailing narrative from gloomy to gleeful, some of the fans who arrived leery of his mid-major credentials departed with newfound optimism.
Kelsey hit notes that had rarely been heard around the Louisville program since Katina Powell claimed her 15 minutes of infamy in 2015. He spoke of competing for national championships, vowed that he would not let his new bosses down and twice confronted the concern he had only been hired because Scott Drew, Dusty May and possibly others had passed on the position.
“You want to know if I can recruit?” he said. “Meet my wife, Lisa. I ‘m just praying she doesn’t hit the transfer portal. The good news is I was her third choice and that worked out really well.”
A basketball game has yet to be decided by oratory, of course, and Kelsey’s immediate challenge could be a daunting one. The five leading scorers on the 2023-24 Louisville team have all entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, intent on exploring their options following a coaching change and an 8-24 season. And though it might be argued some of them would qualify as additions by subtraction, turning this program around will likely require some holdover stability as well as high-grade fresh blood.
Not to worry, Kelsey says.
"I tell our players all the time, 'No matter what's going on — preseason, injury occurs, lose a game — fellas, the one thing you don't have to worry about is us being really, really good,' ” he said. “I can’t wait to get started.”
Heird said he had told Kelsey late Tuesday that he would probably offer him the job on Wednesday, but that he wanted to sleep on it before making a final decision. Heird texted Kelsey Wednesday morning to arrange a Zoom call in which he made the offer indirectly enough that the coach asked for clarification the job was his.
Louisville’s term sheet outlines a five-year contract with a base salary of $2.3 million, more than twice what he was making at the College of Charleston but $1 million less than Payne was being paid.
“I think it was based on circumstances, as far as where Kenny was relative to where Pat was,” Heird said. “We did our due diligence just from a – call it the leap from mid-major to Power Five and what those salaries look like (for) coaches who have made that jump. I mean we had a list of probably 20-25 (coaches) and what those numbers looked like from an average yearly salary. Pat’s numbers fall right into that.”
In addition to the standard bonuses and perks, Kelsey’s early termination buyout would pay him 95% of the guaranteed compensation remaining on his contract, subject to mitigation and offsets should he take another job.
Since U of L will be paying three men’s basketball coaches through next January – Chris Mack is still drawing $133,333 per month – the university’s hope is that the 48-year-old Kelsey will be on the job for a decade or more.
“This job is big,” Heird said. “This job is hard. It demands a lot. This job will impact your family. You have to know that from the first day you take this job, there is never a day off. There is no yesterday didn't go well and no one noticed. If you're willing to embrace that and you're prepared to navigate that, this is one of the best jobs in the world. Pat is prepared to navigate and manage all that comes with this job.
“I had to have someone with an endless amount of energy, someone with a passion for what they do. Pat texted me yesterday, ‘Give me the name of three people I need to reach out to today.’ I think I gave him eight. He texted back and said, ‘Done.’ We were discussing the roster and the transfer portal last night at about midnight. I had a text waiting for me this morning at 5:30. The passion, energy, intensity box has been checked.”
Pat Kelsey may be the most overcaffeinated of coaches. Consider your coffee forewarned.
