Xavier Basketball: Where do the Musketeers turn after Mack’s departure?

Losing head coach Chris Mack to Louisville is tough for Xavier basketball. What are the options available to fill his spot and how can the Musketeers move on?

Head coach Chris Mack had a great run with Xavier basketball. After playing for the Musketeers in the mid-90s, Mack was an assistant coach with the program from 2004-09 before taking the top job for the last nine years. In his time as the head coach, Mack took Xavier to the NCAA Tournament on eight separate occasions. In addition, the Musketeers made at least the Sweet 16 in four of those appearances.

On March 27, though, the Chris Mack era at Xavier came to an end. After a relatively short negotiation period, Mack signed a seven-year contract to become the head coach for Louisville. Despite the FBI investigation hanging over the school, the Cardinals represent one of the best programs in college basketball. It will not be easy to replace a legend like Rick Pitino but that will be the task at hand for Mack.

With Mack out of the picture, Xavier has to work on filling its open head coaching position. In the past, the Musketeers have done an excellent job promoting from within. Both of Xavier’s last two head coaches, Sean Miller and Chris Mack, were previous assistants at the school who were promoted to the top job. If the athletic department wants to go in that direction once again, there are a few solid options.

Travis Steele

In my opinion, Steele should be the frontrunner to be named the new head coach.  Even though Xavier is graduating a ton of talent, including stars J.P. Macura and Trevon Bluiett, Steele’s already excellent relationships with the players on the roster have to count for something. He was the primary recruiting weapon for Coach Mack and knows everything about the program.

A simple promotion would make the job search quick and easy while avoiding any major turmoil amongst the players. In addition, an extended national job search could end up forcing the assistant coaches currently on the staff to pack their bags and follow Mack to Louisville. Inserting a stable, familiar face like Steele would go a long way in bringing stability.

Pat Kelsey

Currently the head coach at Winthrop, Kelsey has experience with Xavier as a player and as an assistant coach from 2009-12. This would be another hire that brings familiarity to the fans of the program. Kelsey might not have a ton of experience as a head coach but is more than Steele. In addition, he has already proven himself to be a quality coaching, guiding his current team to the NCAA Tournament last season with a remarkable 23-9 record.

Moving from the Big South to the Big East would be a massive upgrade for Kelsey as it would propel him up the coaching ranks. Then again, there is also that thing with UMass that could drive him off of the list of potential candidates for this job.

Other Options: Miller and Matta

Other names that come to mind are Sean Miller (Arizona) and Thad Matta. Both of these coaches have proven themselves in the NCAA Tournament and have plenty of success on their resumes. Yet, it would be hard to lure either to Xavier.

Miller is a former coach for the Musketeers and would likely only leave Arizona if sanctions were about to be laid down. Considering that does not look to be happening soon, he could also be difficult to land back in Cincinnati.

For Matta, the simple question is: why not? Matta was once the head coach at Xavier (2001-2004) and he is currently without a head coaching job. He understands how the program works and has been an extremely successful head coach in the past. Whether or not Matta is open to taking a job is a different question but he is worth making a phone call to. A hiring of Matta would bring another familiar face into the fold for Xavier basketball fans.

Matta is a long-shot for this job but his status as a proven college basketball head coach might give him a leg up over other candidates. He is more experienced than just about anyone else on the radar for this job and would be more of a short-term hiring than a long-term one.

The coaching search for Xavier will be an interesting one. If they look inward at coaches that have prior experience with the school, this decision could be made quickly. If they start an external search, though, this could be more drawn out as more and more names would appear as coaches under consideration.