The USF Bulls introduced their 15th basketball head coach in program history on Tuesday morning, naming Chris Mack their new head coach. Mack, 56, spent the last two seasons as head coach at Charleston.
Mack began his duties immediately and, as he stated in the press conference, he missed calls from Derrick Brooks and Will Weatherford while he was in the film room watching players in the transfer portal to rebuild the basketball roster.
If you think that USF is a stepping stone to something better, think again. It may seem that way based on the decisions of their previous head football and basketball coaches, but it could not be any farther from the truth.
Rob Higgins, the CEO of Athletics, stated that they had over 50 interested applicants, narrowed the search, and ultimately selected Chris Mack to lead the program.
“We had a pool of well over 50 candidates,” Higgins said. “The interest we received was mind-blowing. It was impressive and unprecedented. If you saw or heard a name out there, it’s highly likely we talked to them.
As they spoke with the prospective candidates, one man’s name kept coming up front and center: Chris Mack.
“One person’s resume and approach stood out from all the rest, which meant we needed to proactively get him,” Higgins said. “The more we talked to him, the more we understood that he was the perfect leader for our next chapter.”
Mack is ready to hit the ground running,
“I’m damn excited to be the head coach here at the University of South Florida,” he said. “Unbelievably excited. Our teams are going to compete for championships each and every year. We’re going to do it with great representatives of this university,” Mack said.
Mack comes to USF from a long line of successes at his previous stops. Mack’s teams have won at least 20 games in 12 seasons, and he has been to the NCAA Tournament nine times, including an Elite Eight appearance while at Xavier in 2017.
Mack’s College of Charleston’s teams were on an upper trajectory after posting 45 wins over the last two seasons. The upper trajectory and commitment to excellence appealed to Higgins.
“Chris Mack has not only been where we are going, he’s also won where we’re going, and he’s ready to lead our goals there,” Higgins said.
Although Mack’s basketball resume stood out, it was not necessarily the X’s and O’s that sold Higgins on Mack.
“You can’t teach his relationships, his resilience, his desire, his work ethic, and collaborative spirit,” Higgins said. “His preparation, reliance, and execution around the transfer portal stand out. His deep relationships with his players stand out. His ability to bring an elite staff and build a roster really quickly stands out.”
Mack will need to build a roster from the returning players and make good use of the transfer portal. Mack has stated that he and his staff have already reached out to all returning players via Zoom. He said there are also 1-on-1s scheduled.
With the portal opening up next week, Higgins moved quickly to hire Mack, so USF does not get left behind in preparations for the 2026-27 season.
What kind of players can we expect to see on the basketball court for USF next season? Coach Mack said that he “thrives with everyday guys.”
“That means they bring the same effort, the same attitude, the same energy, every single day. They may not bring the same result every day, but they’re gonna bring the same effort, the same attitude, and the same energy. You win with those types of guys. All day, every day,”
Mack added, “We’re going to teach our players how to be four things. We’re gonna teach them how to be tough physically and mentally. We will teach him how to be resilient and the ability to bounce back when it doesn’t go your way. And, Lord knows, we all know it doesn’t always go our way.”
“And there’s a mentality that’s rampant through college basketball, and college football, and college athletics, where when it doesn’t go your way, you pick up and you move somewhere else,” he also said. “But I can tell you that our team, when something happens poorly in a practice, in a game, they’re going to dust themselves off, they’re going to get back up, and they’re going to compete. They’re going to be unified. Basketball is a team game.”
As for the style of basketball we will see next winter, Mack said it depends on the roster construction.
“We need some dogs. And I love guys that shoot and dribble, the more skill that we have on the floor at all five positions, the better. I know that there’s a huge emphasis on certain programs on shooting (threes). We’re gonna get the best shot available. We’re gonna do whatever it takes to win. But we need guys that can pass, shoot, and dribble.”
In just 171 days, there will be basketball at the Yuengling Center, and we can’t wait to see this new era of basketball at South Florida.