The Coaching Carousel for college basketball is a series where we break down contracts and candidates. You can read more about it here or dive deeper into Bryan Hodgson, Chris Mack, Travis Steele, Andy Newman, Jerrod Calhoun, Brooks Savage, or Takayo Siddle profiles.
As the carousel begins to slow down, though it could always spin back up if a Bill Self retirement creates another chain reaction, it feels like a good time to close this stretch with one more coaching candidate who has generated at least some traction in a few open jobs.
Let’s take a look at UAB’s Andy Kennedy.
Andy Kennedy Contract Snapshot
Under contract through the 2030-31 season, originally signed in 2020 with an extension in 2022 and again in 2025.
Salary in 2025-26: $1.4 million
Salary from 2026-27 through 2030-31: $1.5 million annually. Depending on how you count some metrics, it gets closer to $1.65 million.
Buyout (for another job):
- $800,000 currently
- $700,000 after April 2, 2026
- $600,000 after April 2, 2027
- $500,000 after April 2, 2028, it stays flat through 2031 at this amount.
Andy Kennedy’s Coaching Resume
Kennedy has won at every stop. Across his career, he owns a 411-231 record, good for a .640 winning percentage. He went 21-13 at Cincinnati (interim), 245-156 at Ole Miss, and has been especially strong at UAB, where he has posted a 145-62 mark and a .700 winning percentage.
His work at UAB is what will stand out most to many athletic directors. Across two different leagues, Conference USA and the American, Kennedy has taken the Blazers to two NCAA Tournament appearances while averaging more than 20 wins per season. He helped end a six-year NCAA Tournament drought for a program with real basketball history and expectations.
In his third season at UAB, Kennedy led the Blazers to a program-record 29 wins, which also marked the program’s third straight 20-win season under his leadership. He is one of just five active head coaches to post 20-plus wins in 13 of their first 16 seasons, joining John Calipari, Mark Few, Jamie Dixon, and Thad Matta on that list. UAB also won 27 games in 2022-23 and 29 in 2023-24, giving Kennedy two of the strongest single-season win totals in school history.
There is also a fairly notable early-career marker on his resume. Kennedy served as Cincinnati’s interim head coach during the 2005-06 season and guided the Bearcats to a 21-13 record against what was rated the fifth-toughest schedule in the country. That team beat 12 opponents ranked in the top 100 of the RPI, and some outlets named him the Big East Coach of the Year.
From a basketball standpoint, Kennedy has long been known for tough, defensive teams and aggressive scheming. His squads tend to play with an edge. There is structure there but also strategic pressure. That identity has helped him win in multiple leagues and at different types of jobs, which matters a lot to athletic directors looking for a team identity for a basketball program.
Of course, Kennedy’s candidacy is not without complications.
Many will point to his time at Ole Miss as a disappointment, even though the full picture is more nuanced than that label suggests. Kennedy posted a .611 winning percentage there and finished four games over .500 in SEC play across 12 seasons, which is hardly a disaster given the difficulty of that league and the reality of that job.
Kennedy checks a lot of boxes. He is a proven winner, a former student-athlete at NC State and UAB, and someone who also played professionally overseas. He has won at a high level, reached the NCAA Tournament, built consistency, and shown he can stabilize and elevate a program.
For schools looking for an experienced head coach with a track record of winning, toughness, and defensive identity, Kennedy is easy to understand as a candidate who would at least merit a serious look.
