List of Louisville Cardinals men's basketball head coaches

Denny Crum, the winningest head coach in Cardinals men's basketball history.

The following is a list of Louisville Cardinals men's basketball head coaches. There have been 23 head coaches of the Cardinals in their 110-season history. ^[1]

Louisville's current head coach is Pat Kelsey. He was hired as the Cardinals' head coach in March 2024, ^[2] replacing Kenny Payne, who was fired two weeks prior. ^[3]

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1	1911–1912	William Gardiner	1	0–3	.000
–	1912–1915	No coach	3	8–14	.364
2	1915–1918 [a] [b]	Ed Bowman	3	11–7	.611
3	1918–1919	Earl Ford	1	7–4	.636
4	1919–1920	Tuley Brucker	1	6–5	.545
5	1920–1921	Jimmie Powers	1	3–8	.273
6	1921–1922	John O'Rourke	1	1–13	.071
7	1923–1925	Fred Enke	2	14–20	.412
8	1925–1930	Tom King	5	44–31	.587
9	1930–1932	Edward Weber	2	20–18	.526
10	1932–1936	C. V. Money	4	46–40	.535
11	1936–1940	Laurie Apitz	4	10–52	.161
12	1940–1942	John Heldman	2	9–24	.273
13	1943–1944	Harold Church and Walter Casey	1	10–10	.500
14	1944–1967	Bernard Hickman	23	443–183	.708
15	1967–1971 [c]	John Dromo	4	68–23	.747
16	1971*	Howard Stacey	1	12–8	.600
17	1971–2001	Denny Crum	30	675–295	.696
18	2001–2017 [d] [e]	Rick Pitino	16	293–140	.677
19	2017–2018*	David Padgett	1	22–14	.611
20	2018–2022 [f] [g]	Chris Mack	4	63–36	.636
21	2021* [h] 2022*	Mike Pegues	1	7–11	.389
22	2022–2024	Kenny Payne	2	12–52	.188
23	2024–present	Pat Kelsey	1	27–8	.771
Totals		23 coaches	110 seasons	1,801–1,018	.639
Records updated through end of 2024–25 season * - Denotes interim head coach. Source [1]

1. Louisville did not field a team for the 1916–17 season.
2. Bowman coached the first game of the 1918–19 season, a loss, before turning head coaching duties over to Earl Ford.
3. Dromo suffered a heart attack after a game on January 2, 1971. Howard Stacey was named interim head coach for the remainder of the 1970–71 season. ^[4]
4. Louisville vacated 126 games from 2011 through 2015. Pitino's on-court record is 416–143 (.744).
5. Pitino was placed on administrative leave in September 2017. David Padgett served as interim head coach for the 2017–18 season. ^[5]
6. Mack was suspended for the first six games of the 2021–22 season. Mike Pegues served as interim head coach for these six games. ^[6]
7. Mack was fired in January 2022. Mike Pegues served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. ^[7]
8. Pegues served as interim head coach for two separate, non-consecutive periods during the 2021–22 season.

References

1. "2022-23 Louisville Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Louisville Athletics. pp. 162–163. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
2. "Sources: Louisville, Pat Kelsey reach 5-year contract" . ESPN.com . March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
3. "Louisville fires men's hoops coach Kenny Payne, starts search" . ESPN.com . March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
4. "John Dromo Basketball Coach, 76". The New York Times . Associated Press. October 2, 1992. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
5. Medcalf, Myron (September 29, 2017). "David Padgett to take on acting head-coaching duties for Cardinals". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 18, 2023.
6. "Louisville head coach Chris Mack returns after 6-game suspension". WDRB . November 29, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
7. Borzello, Jeff (January 26, 2022). "Chris Mack out as Louisville Cardinals men's basketball coach". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 18, 2023.