University of Hawaii (1974–1976) Pitino started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the
University of Hawaii in 1974, and became a full-time assistant in 1975. Pitino served as Hawaii's interim head coach late in the 1975–76 season. Coach Bruce O'Neil was fired after the Rainbow Warriors started the season 9–12. Pitino led Hawaii for their final six games, going 2–4 in the span.
Scandal and investigation Pitino's time at Hawaii was marred by a 1977
NCAA report on sanctions against the program. According to the report, Pitino was implicated in 8 of the 64 infractions that led the university to be placed on probation. The violations involving Pitino included providing round-trip air fare for a player between New York and
Honolulu, arranging for student-athletes to receive used cars for season tickets, and handing out coupons to players for free food at
McDonald's. He was also cited, along with the head coach, Bruce O'Neil, for providing misinformation to the
NCAA and
University of Hawaii officials. Also in 1977, the NCAA infractions committee recommended that Pitino and O'Neil be dissociated from Hawaii athletics. In 1989, Pitino would dismiss the report, saying "I didn't make any mistakes. I don't care what anybody says."
Syracuse (1976–1978) Pitino was the first assistant hired by
Jim Boeheim in 1976 as Boeheim began his tenure at
Syracuse University.
Boston University (1978–1983) In 1978,
Boston University athletic director John Simpson hired Pitino as head coach, funding the
Terriers men's basketball team with $20,000 for recruiting players and fifteen full scholarships, the maximum allowed under NCAA rules and far more than prior head coach
Roy Sigler was allotted. As compensation, Pitino received a
Renault Le Car and an annual salary of $17,500. In the two seasons before Pitino's arrival, the Terriers had won a mere 17 games. During his 5-year tenure, the team slogan was, “the hardest working coach, for the hardest working team in the country." Pitino used the full-court press for almost the entirety of each game, eventually leading the Terriers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years.
New York Knicks (1983–1985) Pitino left
Boston University to become an assistant coach with the
New York Knicks under
Hubie Brown.
Providence (1985–1987) In 1985, Pitino returned to college coaching to become head coach at
Providence College after being hired by athletic director
Lou Lamoriello. Providence had gone a dismal 11–20 in the year before he took over. Two years later, Pitino led the team to the Final Four. The
three-point field goal, previously permitted on a conference-by-conference basis and with no standard line distance, was nationally codified for the
1986–87 season and Pitino took full advantage of the new rule. The Friars attempted an average of 20 threes per game (nearly double their opposition) with the "Rainbow Coalition" backcourt of
point guard Billy Donovan and
shooting guard Delray Brooks both averaging better than 40% from beyond the arc. Both Brooks and Donovan went on to be assistant coaches under Pitino at the
University of Kentucky; Donovan later won back-to-back national championships as head coach at the
University of Florida.
New York Knicks (1987–1989) Pitino became head coach of the
New York Knicks on July 14, 1987. The year before he arrived, the team had only won 24 games. In just two years, Pitino led the Knicks to their first division title in nearly twenty years.
Kentucky (1989–1997) After spending two years coaching in the NBA, Pitino returned to the college level again in 1989, becoming the coach at Kentucky. The Kentucky program was recovering from a major recruiting scandal brought on by former coach
Eddie Sutton that left it on NCAA probation. Pitino quickly restored Kentucky's reputation and performance, leading his second school to the Final Four in the
1993 NCAA tournament, and
winning a national title in the
1996 NCAA tournament, Kentucky's 6th NCAA Championship. The following year, Pitino's
Kentucky team made it back to the national title game, losing to
Arizona in overtime in the finals of the
1997 NCAA tournament. Pitino's fast-paced teams at Kentucky were favorites of the school's fans, implementing his signature style of
full-court pressure defense. The following year, he left Kentucky for the NBA and Kentucky
went on to win the 1998 national title. He would later refer to Kentucky as "the Roman Empire of college basketball".
Boston Celtics (1997–2001) Pitino returned to the NBA in 1997 when the
Boston Celtics hired him as head coach on May 6, 1997. He resigned on January 8, 2001. His NBA coaching experience often demonstrated a deep frustration with the dynamics of the league, especially in Boston, where he amassed a 102–146 record from 1997 to 2001. After being beaten by the
Toronto Raptors on March 1, 2000, on a buzzer-beater by
Vince Carter, Pitino's frustration reached critical mass as he addressed the press. Referring to the expectations of
Boston Celtics fans and media, Pitino challenged each of them to let go of the past and focus on the future: Pitino struggled in Boston, and statistics like 1998–99's 19–31 record made him little better in the eyes of many Boston fans than his inexperienced predecessor,
M. L. Carr. Pitino's remarks became a cornerstone of Celtics lore, and has served as a metaphor for other sports franchises and their inability to relive past successes. Pitino himself reprised the speech in a tongue-in-cheek manner at Louisville in November 2005, challenging his freshmen players to play as tough as past seniors and drawing laughter from sportswriters in a postgame press conference. During his time in Boston, he also served as team president, with complete control over basketball operations.
Louisville (2001–2017) Pitino returned to college—and his adopted home state—on March 21, 2001, to coach the
University of Louisville following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach
Denny Crum. In the
2005 season, Pitino led Louisville to their
first Final Four in 19 years, and became the first men's coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four. Immediately following their Final Four run, several players graduated or entered the
2005 NBA draft. The inexperience caused the Cardinals to limp into the
Big East tournament seeded 12th, and miss the NCAA tournament. They made the semifinals of the
National Invitation Tournament (NIT), where they were defeated by eventual champions
University of South Carolina. The 2007 Cardinal team was primarily the same team, with added freshmen. Picked to finish towards the bottom of the
Big East Conference again, Pitino led them to a second-place finish, 12–4 (tied with the
University of Pittsburgh, who had been beaten by the Cardinals during the regular season) in the conference standings and a first round bye in the conference tournament. Pitino implemented a 2–2–1 and 2–3 zone defense midway through the season. The 2007 team's season ended when the Cardinals lost to
Texas A&M in the second round of the
NCAA tournament. The 2008 Cardinals finished second in the Big East and ranked 13th in both the AP and Coaches' polls. Louisville was the third seed in the
2008 NCAA tournament's East region. They defeated
Boise State,
Oklahoma and
Tennessee to advance to the Elite Eight, where they were defeated by
North Carolina. Louisville was the top seed overall in the
2009 NCAA tournament and was planted as the first seed in the Midwest region. They defeated
Morehead State,
Siena and
Arizona to advance to the Elite Eight, where they were defeated by
Michigan State. In 2010 the Cardinals suffered a disappointing 15-point loss to their first round opponent, the
California Golden Bears. In 2011, Louisville was upset by 13th-seeded
Morehead State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In
2012, Pitino coached the Cardinals to the Big East tournament championship and a berth as No. 4 seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals defeated
Davidson,
New Mexico, and top seed
Michigan State to advance to the regional final against
Florida and his former player and friend
Billy Donovan. The Cardinals would go on to win that game, but lost to
arch-rivals and eventual national champions
Kentucky in the 2012 Final Four. following Louisville's victory in the
2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game. In 2013, Pitino led the Louisville Cardinals to their third national championship in an 82–76 win over Michigan to become the first NCAA Division I coach in history to win a championship with two different schools, although that championship was later vacated. On June 15, 2017, the NCAA charged Pitino for failure to monitor his basketball program, which was involved in a sex-for-pay scandal. He was suspended for the first five games of the ACC season in 2017–18. On February 20, 2018, the NCAA officially announced that the 2013 National Championship and their 2012 Final Four appearance had been vacated. It was the first time the NCAA vacated a men's basketball national title.
Scandal and ouster On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors announced that the school was under investigation for an alleged "pay for play" involving recruits at Louisville. The allegations state that an
Adidas executive conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a top-ranked national recruit to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro. A day later, Louisville placed Pitino on unpaid administrative leave, while athletic director
Tom Jurich was placed on paid administrative leave. According to a letter interim president Greg Postel sent to Pitino, the information spelled out by prosecutors amounted to a "material breach" of his contract. Pitino's lawyer, former
Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence, told
The Courier-Journal that as he understood it, Pitino had been "effectively fired". Under the terms of Pitino's contract, Louisville was required to give him 10 days' notice and "an opportunity to be heard" before firing him for cause. According to CBS Sports'
Gary Parrish, school officials did not intend for Pitino to ever return to the sidelines again, and planned to cut ties with him as soon as they could legally do so. On October 2, the board of the University of Louisville Athletic Association voted to formally begin the process of firing Pitino for cause. On the same day, Pitino, through his lawyer, claimed that Louisville officials should have given him 10 days notice and a chance to respond before placing him on leave. On October 16, the ULAA board voted unanimously to fire Pitino for cause. On September 18, 2019, nearly two years after his dismissal and his lawsuit for $38.7 million against the ULAA, Pitino settled with the university and dropped the case. As a result, his termination was changed from a firing on October 16, 2017, to a resignation on October 3, 2017, citing "zero liability" between both parties.
Panathinaikos (2018–2020) On December 26, 2018,
Panathinaikos announced Pitino as the head coach of the team until the end of the season, marking his debut in the
EuroLeague. On February 17, 2019, they won the
2018–19 Greek Cup against
PAOK in the final. In the
EuroLeague regular season, they managed to make a comeback after a 6–8 start, to finish in sixth place and reach the playoffs, after they registered ten wins in their last 16 games. In the EuroLeague Playoffs, Panathinaikos fell for a second consecutive year against defending champions
Real Madrid, thus failing to qualify for the
2019 EuroLeague Final Four. The season ended with Panathinaikos winning the
2018–19 Greek Basket League's season championship, after they swept
Promitheas Patras 3–0 in the League's Finals. After the season, Panathinaikos made an offer to coach Pitino to extend his stay, and although he showed willingness to stay in Greece for another season, he declined the offer, due to a family matter. On November 26, 2019, Pitino was rehired by Panathinaikos as the team's head coach on a two-year deal after the firing of
Argyris Pedoulakis. He remained with the team until March 2020 when the
2019–20 EuroLeague season was suspended due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Panathinaikos at sixth place.
Iona (2020–2023) On March 14, 2020, Pitino was named head coach of
Iona College after
Tim Cluess stepped down from the position due to health issues on March 13. Despite the hiring, Pitino was scheduled to finish his commitments to Panathinaikos; however, on March 20, Panathinaikos announced mutual agreement to terminate the contract. The 2020–21 team was 6–3 in conference play for 9th in MAAC play but ran the table in the MAAC tournament with four upsets to reach the NCAA tournament and make Pitino the third coach ever to lead five different programs to the NCAA tournament. Pitino's squad won the regular season title in the next two seasons and won the MAAC tournament in Pitino's final season.
St. John's (2023–present) On March 20, 2023, Pitino was named the head coach of
St. John's, just a week after
Mike Anderson was fired after four years. Prior to Pitino's appointment, the Red Storm had not won a
Big East Conference championship since 2000 and last reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and struggled with attendance at their spiritual home of
Madison Square Garden. Pitino was recommended for the job by billionaire businessman and St. John's alumnus
Mike Repole; the two had previously met through horse racing connections and Repole promised an increase in
student athlete compensation funding alongside Pitino's hiring. The Johnnies returned to local and national prominence with Pitino at the helm; in his
second season St. John's won the Big East regular-season and tournament titles, beat rival
UConn home and away, and posted their first 30-win season since their 1985 run to the Final Four.
2025–26 saw a repeat as Big East champions as well as a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament following a dramatic last-second win over
Kansas. ==National team career==