On Thursday afternoon, Pat Kelsey, 48, a native of Cincinnati, was chosen the 24th head coach in the history of Louisville basketball. The terms of the five-year contract that the former head coach of Charleston will now be paid to lead the University of Louisville have been made public, as has the compensation breakdown. The salient features of Kelsey’s two-season contract—signed while supervising a miserable on-court performance—are listed below.
LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL COACH PAT KELSEY’S CONTRACT DETAILS Kelsey’s contract with Louisville states that he will receive $2.3 million for the 2024–2025, 2025–2026, 2026–2027, 2027–2028, and 2028–2029 seasons. In addition to this yearly salary, Kelsey, who has previously guided Winthrop and Charleston to two NCAA Tournament appearances apiece, is eligible for multiple one-time bonuses. Kelly’s record in NCAA Tournament games is 0–4.
The $1 million buyout to depart Charleston was reported by the Charleston Post and Courier.) Obtaining the title of conference coach of the year ($25,000) is one of these one-time prizes. ▪ Winning the $50,000 National Association of Basketball Coaches, Associated Press, or Naismith National Coach of the Year award. ▪ Winning or sharing the ACC regular-season championship ($50,000). ▪ Taking home the $50,000 ACC Tournament championship. Additionally, Kelsey’s term sheet mentions multiple one-time bonuses associated with the NCAA Tournament.
These March Madness bonuses are noncumulative. ▪ Reaching the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection ($50,000). ▪ Reaching the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament ($100,000). ▪ Reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament ($150,000). ▪ Reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament ($200,000). ▪ Reaching the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament ($250,000). ▪ Winning the national championship ($500,000). According to the term sheet, if the Cardinals appear in any of the 2025, 2026 or 2027 NCAA Tournaments under Kelsey, then his contract will automatically extend through the 2029-30 season at the same rate of pay ($2.3 million). Other additional benefits for Kelsey listed in the term sheet include up to $50,000 in moving expenses, a family membership at the University of Louisville Golf Club (although Kelsey joked Thursday that he isn’t good at golf), use of a suite at the KFC Yum Center for all men’s basketball games and eight season tickets to all Louisville men’s and women’s basketball games and football games. Also included in the term sheet are details about a potential future separation between Kelsey and the school. If Louisville terminates Kelsey’s contract without cause — such as NCAA violations or some other act beyond wins and losses — then U of L would owe Kelsey 95% of the “remaining guaranteed compensation subject to mitigation and offsets.” This amount would be payable over the remainder of Kelsey’s contract term. On the other side, Kelsey’s buyout to leave Louisville for another position is 95% of his remaining guaranteed compensation, payable within 90 days to the school. Louisville Basketball coach Pat Kelsey speaks as he is introduced as the new head coach of UofL Mens’s Basketball on Thursday, March 28, 2024 Michael Clevenger USA TODAY NETWORK HOW DOES PAT KELSEY’S LOUISVILLE CONTRACT COMPARE TO KENNY PAYNE’S? By just about any measure, Kelsey’s contract with Louisville is a significantly smaller deal than that of his predecessor at U of L. Payne signed an incentive-filled, six-year contract to coach the Cardinals in March 2022 with a salary of $3.35 million per year. That contract called for Payne to receive $8 million if Louisville terminated his contract without cause in Year 2, which is what occurred. Payne was paid $558,333 overall for each of his 12 wins at Louisville. Payne’s contract was slated to run through March 2028 and was structured in a way that his annual pay could have only increased by on-court success. Payne’s base salary would have increased only if the Cardinals made the NCAA Tournament. Kelsey’s contract has one-time bonuses associated with trips to March Madness and advancing in that tournament. Louisville-based sportswriter Tim Sullivan asked Louisville AD Josh Heird about this salary discrepancy on Thursday: “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.” According to the Courier Journal, when Louisville parted ways with former coach Chris Mack in January 2022, the school agreed to a $4.8 million severance package that is still being paid in monthly increments of $133,333.33. Those payments to Mack — whom Kelsey was previously an associate head coach for at Xavier — will continue until Jan. 31, 2025.
