LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Pat Kelsey wasn't a household name in Louisville before word got around Wednesday that he would become the Cardinals' new men's basketball coach. But by the end of his introductory news conference on campus Thursday, everything had changed.
Kelsey spoke for more than 50 minutes in the Kueber Center at the University of Louisville, laying bare his energy and passion for a room full of Cardinals fans, boosters and alumni.
He spoke in no uncertain terms of his desire to be the man to lead Louisville into the future.
"It's the ultimate job," Kelsey said "It's the peak and pinnacle of my profession."
The U of L Athletic Association Board approved a contract worth at least $11.5 million over five years for Kelsey, who arrived in Louisville after three years as the head coach at College of Charleston.
He's coached 12 seasons in NCAA Division I and been to the NCAA Tournament four times, most recently this season with Charleston. The 48-year-old father of three is a native of Cincinnati, where he played high school basketball for Roger Bacon and Elder high schools and in college at Xavier University for the late Skip Prosser, for whom also he was an assistant at Wake Forest University.
He also was an assistant to Dino Gaudio at Wake after Prosser's death and to former Louisville coach Chris Mack during his time at Xavier. He's coached at four different universities and been on the staff for top-10 teams. This, at Louisville, Kelsey said, is the best of the best.
"I'm standing at the podium, was just named the head coach where expectation — because history says it — is ultimately getting to Final Fours and competing for national championships," he said. "That's the pinnacle. That's the highest level. It doesn't get any higher than this."
Kelsey replaces Kenny Payne, who went 12-52 in two seasons as Louisville's coach, leading to dwindling attendance at the KFC Yum! Center and rising apathy among the fanbase. Kelsey even mentioned Payne by name, throwing him into a long list of Louisville alumni whom he said are part of the program and always welcome in it.
"I googled 'Top 50 players in the history of Louisville basketball' and I almost fell down," Kelsey said. "It's a wow. It's a who's-who. Are you kidding me? I'm gonna miss many of them, so I'm not gonna name one. You could go on and on and on and on. This is your program. This is your program. You don't ever have to call. You never have to ask. You wanna come to practice? You just show up. This is your program. You built this. You put banners up in the rafters. I'm lucky to be the steward right now and lead this thing into the next era. But this is your program."
Asked how long fans should expect to turn that around, Kelsey was succinct.
"If you don't plan on winning, don't put your shoes on," he said. "I'm just being honest. That's how I'm wired. It may not be the right thing to say at a press conference, and you're trying to build this thing, and they won 12 games over the last two years — I don't know how to play any other way."
Kelsey arrived at Clark Regional Airport just after noon Thursday to formally accept the job. Athletic director Josh Heird flew to Charleston on Thursday morning to pick up Kelsey and his family, who hope to hit the ground running.
"We're going to win," Kelsey said just after stepping off the plane. "This is one of the most tradition-rich programs in the history of college basketball. There are banners hanging up in the arena for a reason because that's the expectation here. I'm excited about the challenge. It's an honor to be here."
Heird said he first spoke with Kelsey two days before Selection Sunday but was first impressed with him years ago. In March 2021, Heird said Jay Wright, then the head coach at Villanova, told Heird how impressed he was with Kelsey and his Charleston team after the two faced off in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
Kelsey's hire came after Louisville had offered its basketball job to a couple of others, including Scott Drew of Baylor and Dusty May of Florida Atlantic.
"I know externally it seemed like it was a little hectic," Heird said Thursday. "But, quite honestly, I felt like it played out like it was going to play out. I knew that I wanted to talk to a lot of candidates. ... I stuck to what I wanted to do, which was identify coaches that I thought could succeed here and then have conversations with them."
Heird said, in the end, he hired the right person.
"One of the most important aspects of this job is who fits this job, who can identify with the fans and ... make everyone understand what Louisville basketball means, what it means to the fans," he said. "I feel very, very confident that we identified a guy that is going to do that. I'm relieved after the last 24 hours and I think today is just happy."
Kelsey's contract will pay him $2.3 million per year with incentives for making each round of the NCAA Tournament. There's a $500,000 bonus for winning a national championship.
After going 17-15 in a rebuild season at Charleston, Kelsey guided the Cougars to a 31-4 record and an NCAA Tournament berth in his second year. They finished 27-8 this year and returned to the NCAA Tournament, where they suffered a first-round loss to 109-96 loss to Alabama.
He needed only two seasons to start winning at Winthrop, which lost 37 of 62 games before he arrived and has won only half of its games in the last two seasons with Kelsey gone.
Kelsey said his teams are fast-paced and try to maximize high-percentage and efficient shots, an offensive philosophy he derives from a chance encounter with Nick Nurse, the current coach of the Philadelphia 76ers who won an NBA Championship as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Nurse watched practice one day at Winthrop and opened Kelsey's eyes to a more analytical style of basketball. And Kelsey said he recruits players who can run and shoot to fit that style.
Colleagues and former players all use the same word when talking about him: energy. He's been known to jump in to run point for his scout team. Prosser, his mentor and old college coach, said of him: "Kels makes coffee nervous." But he has directed that energy into 11 winning seasons in 12 years of coaching and four mid-major trips to the NCAA Tournament.
His teams have won five of 12 conference tournaments, three in nine seasons at Winthrop, two in the last three seasons at the College of Charleston. Heird hopes that winning tradition can come with Kelsey to Louisville, which hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 2017.
"I'm so excited to get started," Kelsey said to close his opening remarks Thursday. "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.' I can't wait to get started. So blessed to be the coach here. Ls up. Go Cards."
UofL supporters on Kelsey's introduction
The immediate reaction to Kelsey's introduction by some of UofL's biggest supporters was the same: energetic and positive.
It's a start that fans hope generates electricity at the KFC Yum! Center and across the city as a whole as Card Nation braces for a new era.
"I like him. Very impressive. He has a lot of energy and, right now, I think that's what we need,"said Sharon and Jack Friebert, longtime season ticket holderd. "The fanbase needs the energy, and I think he can transpose it to us."
Even Louisville's former mayor is excited about the energy Kelsey is already bringing to the city.
"He won the press conference, let me tell you that," Jerry Abramson said. "Very energetic."
Abramson, who now serves on the Board of Trustees, was mayor when the Yum! Center opened. He was also there in 198 and 1986. One of the players on the '86 team was Kenny Payne, the now former UofL coach.
Susan Sweeney Crum's late husband, Denny Crum, the legendary coach, were close to Payne. She said she grew tired of the outside negativity over the past season but is hoping the new coach can build a strong team while honoring the legacy of Crum's program.
“It has been a hard couple of months. It's been a hard few weeks," said Susan Sweeney Crum. "There is some bridge-building, but I think he has the bandwidth to do that.”
It's a legacy that unites the city of Louisville.
"It would be really great just to see people get back downtown," said Chris Hayes, co-owner of Parlay sports bar. "I think it's coming back a lot, and just seeing more people down, I think, would be really good for everybody."
A legacy of winning and packing the arena once again.
"The fans will come back really quick, you betcha, with Ls up," the Frieberts said.
Related Stories:
- Pat Kelsey arrives in Louisville ready to take up the challenge of leading Cardinals basketball
- CRAWFORD | 4 things you should know about Pat Kelsey, Louisville's new coach
- Former Charleston star thinks Kelsey's passion will shine to succeed at Louisville
- BOZICH | Unpacking the pros and cons of Pat Kelsey at Louisville
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