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Kenny Payne has been fired as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals after just two seasons. ESPN reported that Louisville will fire Payne following the Cardinals losing to NC State in the ACC Tournament.
As the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, Payne went 12-52 with just one road win in two seasons.
Kenny Payne contract
With Louisville opting to fire Kenny Payne after just two seasons, the Cardinals will owe him around $8 million, according to ESPN.
Payne has a six-year contract that runs through 2028 and has $8 million buyout by April 1. He was paid a $3.35 million annual salary, plus incentives during his time with the Cardinals.
Before coaching Louisville, served as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks in the NBA. He also was an assistant at Kentucky and Oregon, as the Cardinals job was his first head coaching job in his career.
Kenny Payne reiterates his program rebuild timeline
Following the loss in the ACC Tournament, Payne was asked if he deserved a third year which he thought should happen.
"For me, I go back to day one. When I walked into the program as the new head coach, I talked about, I needed everybody on the same page. We sort of forgot that. I talked about how I'm not going to let you blame me. I'm not standing up here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that. I talked about, it's going to take time, and I'm going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic," Payne said to ESPN.
"We sort of forgot that. I gave a specific time. I said three or four years. And I'm good with that. That's what I believed at that time, and that's what I still believe it takes to fix this program. With guys like this, you have a foundation. Brandon [Huntley-]Hatfield, Mike James, JJ Traynor, the young guys we have, we have a foundation. Whether I'm the coach or not, I can look in the mirror and say I gave it everything I had to help this program," Payne added.
