That’s one way to win a press conference.
The head coaching job at the University of Louisville is a massive job, and it’s even bigger now thank to the past decade of turmoil that the program has found itself in. Kenny Payne, a former Louisville player and decorated assistant coach, tried (?) to restore the basketball program, but he ultimately failed and was fired two years into his tenure.
So then it was back to drawing board, and according to reports, the University of Louisville kept swinging and missing with their coaching search. No coach wanted to leave where they were to sign themselves up for all of the pressure that comes with coaching a top program (at least a former top program) and brand in all of college sports.
FAU’s Dusty Maye was offered the job, and he opted to go to Michigan instead. Louisville tried to lure away Scott Drew from Baylor, but Drew decided to stay put. So that really just left one option.
College of Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey.
He’s had an incredible amount of success at the mid-major level, bringing programs like Winthrop and the College of Charleston into relevancy with his energetic coaching style. He’s a winner, though some Louisville fans still weren’t convinced, and many thought the job might be “too big” for him.
But Kelsey took the job, flew into Louisville and immediately rallied the troops with his opening press conference. Honestly, it was more of a stand up set than it was introductory time with the media. He first addressed any concerns with recruiting by saying to look at his wife:
“You want to know if I can recruit? Meet my wife, Lisa. I just hope she doesn’t hit the transfer portal.”
Golden.
Kelsey then doubled down on that joke, and said that much like how the University of Louisville’s coaching search went, he was his wife’s third choice:
“The good news, I was her third choice, and that worked out really well, so I feel really good.”
Someone get this man to the local open mic night. He knows how to work a room.
Kelsey really brought it home with a long story that he presented as dream that he’s had multiple times in his life. The newly appointed Louisville head coach said that he just so happened to have the same dream last night when he found out he’d be the next coach of the Cardinals:
“I have this recurring dream. In a couple of the speeches I’ve given in my life, I’ve talked about this. But it happened again last night…
When I fell asleep, that dream came back. Good news, I was at the pearly gates. That’s a good deal. I walk in and St. Peter meets me and says, ‘Welcome… let me show you around.’ And we walk down the street.”
It was a strange premise, but Kelsey had the entire media gathering hanging on his every word. No one really knew where he was going with it, especially when he started mentioning other college coaches, and hilariously worked in another self-deprecating joke:
“He starts showing me a few neighborhoods and there’s a house out in the distance and it has kind of a red and a navy blue tint. There’s a Jayhawk down there on the door. He says, ‘Man, that’s where Bill Self lives.’
Walk down a little further and there’s a cul de sac with two houses on the end of it. There’s a maize and blue one and a dark navy one and he says, ‘Yep, that’s Scott Drew and Dusty Maye, they live there.’ I say, ‘That’s ironic, but that’s cool. That’s cool.'”
I’ve got to say, mentioning the other coaches that Louisville tried to hire before you not once, but twice, is a rather ballsy move.
Kelsey continued, mentioning a rival school down the road from Louisville, and finally bringing it home and bringing the house down:
“So, we walk down further and further and further and we come to this big deal. I’m talking impressive. Big, big crib, manicured, Bentley. It’s blue. It’s got a ‘UK’ on it. He says, ‘That’s where Coach Cal lives.’
We go farther down and I’m talking… the biggest deal you’ve ever seen. It is a stinking wow, and there’s red all over that deal. And there’s a big cardinal on it. I’m like, ‘St. Peter, that’s me? Denny Crum? Rick Pitino?’ He said, ‘Son, that’s where God lives.'”
Winning the press conference doesn’t count towards your overall win-loss record, though it certainly doesn’t hurt. Pat Kelsey is the new head coach at Louisville, and the good news is that though a lot of pressure comes with that job, the bar has never been set lower.
After this opening presser though, I’d say a lot of people will be rooting for him.
