Louisville Basketball: 10 candidates to replace Chris Mack as head coach

Wes Miller

Everyone starts somewhere, which is why many of the best head coaches in the nation started (or continue) as fantastic mid-major coaches. This next candidate is very similar to Forbes in that he recently left his successful mid-major for a power conference challenge, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t consider jumping to Louisville at this point.

Miller played at North Carolina and won the national title in 2005 before embarking on his coaching career. He ascended to the head coaching job at UNC Greensboro and built the Spartans program into one of the best mid-major programs, with a 125-43 mark in his final five seasons. Miller took over as head coach at Cincinnati last season and has been successful in his first year with the Bearcats, though it’s clearly just the beginning for him.

The Louisville job would be a step up from Cincinnati, even if the Bearcats are joining the Big 12 in the near future. With that familiarity at North Carolina, it would put Miller back in the ACC, and you have to wonder if he’d rather coach long term there instead of the Big 12. Either way, he did fantastic work in Greensboro and has already done good work in fixing Cincinnati; jumping to Louisville wouldn’t be a ridiculous move for him or the Cardinals.