“He had a proven track record of (recruiting), had a connection to the university, and I thought that was going to be a benefit,” Heird said of Payne. “Then from there, you look at some areas that you missed on, and I think they were unknowns for a first-time head coach. Do they have the ability to put a staff together and understand their strengths and weaknesses and put a staff around them that complements their strengths and weaknesses? I’ve used the term organizational leadership at times. And, you know, I think that’s a skill that you don’t just wake up and have it. … As a first-time athletic director, I struggle with it all the time. How do we manage a staff? How do we put staff in appropriate positions to be successful? How do we hold people accountable? How do we set expectations, all those things? … Kenny had never really been given that opportunity to manage a larger group of people. And I think there was there were times that it was difficult.”
But also, like, Payne often neglected to foul in situations where the other team lead and there wasn’t enough time for Louisville to get the ball back. That’s just gross incompetence of doing the job. I think Juwan is a pretty strong X&O coach, I’m not sure Payne had even seen the letters next to each other.
