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by WILL FOLKS
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The University of South Carolina has pulled the plug on the Paul Mainieri experiment after one-and-a-half deflating seasons – a move which marks the first major coaching change effectuated by second-year Gamecocks’ athletics director Jeremiah Donati.
Mainieri’s struggles at the helm of the once-proud Gamecock baseball program have been well-documented. His first team posted a disappointing 28-29 (.491) record – including an abysmal 6-24 (.200) conference record. This year’s team went 12-11 (.521) under his watch, including an 0-4 (.000) conference mark.
Even worse than the losses was the lack of competitiveness, which soon manifested itself in thousands of empty seats at Founders Park in downtown Columbia. The final straw was Friday (March 20, 2026) – when No. 4 Arkansas exploded for 22 runs on Mainieri’s hapless squad.
The 68-year-old Morgantown, West Virginia native concludes his South Carolina tenure with a 40-40 (.500) overall record, including an atrocious 6-28 (.176) conference record. In more than four decades of coaching at five schools, however, Mainieri posted an all-time record of 1,545–817–8 (.654).
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“After a conversation this morning with Coach Mainieri, we agreed that it would be in the best interest of the program that we part ways at this time,” Donati said in a statement. “I appreciate everything Paul has poured into our student-athletes and our program, not just at South Carolina, but throughout his career. He is a Hall of Fame coach and a world-class individual, and we wish him and his family all the best.”
Mainieri was hired by former Gamecock athletics director Ray Tanner in June of 2024 – just three months before Tanner announced he was stepping down from his role. At the time of his hiring, he vowed to “get this University of South Carolina baseball program back to where it belongs – in Omaha and in the College World Series.”
That clearly didn’t happen – making Mainieri the third swing and miss for Tanner at this position. After stepping down as baseball coach in 2012 to become athletics director, Tanner hired Chad Holbrook – who posted a 200-106 (.654) record in five seasons at the helm of the program. Next up was Mark Kingston, who posted a 216-155 (.583) mark through seven season.
“I take full responsibility for the win/loss record of the baseball program over the 80 games I have served as head coach,” Mainieri said. “The university leadership have supported me and the baseball program throughout my tenure. In short, I did not get the job done at a level that I expected, or the university deserves.”
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“When Ray Tanner invited me to come out of three years of retirement to coach again, my goal was to work with young people again and restore the South Carolina program to greatness with a return to Omaha,” Mainieri added. “My staff and I have worked diligently in an attempt to accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, that goal has not materialized as quickly as I would have liked and will take more time than I had anticipated and that is time that I just don’t have at my age.”
Tanner’s legacy at South Carolina continues to take it on the chin – and not just as it relates to the downward trajectory of its programs. By approving contracts and extensions with massive, unjustified buyouts, Tanner has put Donati in multiple untenable situations.
Mainieri is no exception…
Barring any undisclosed settlement with the school, he would be owed $4.15 million on his contract – although the terms of his release were not immediately disclosed.
As for who might replace Mainieri, the top prospect for the job is 49-year-old Coastal Carolina Chanticleers head coach Kevin Schnall, who has posted a 71-20 (.780) record in a season-and-a-half in Conway, S.C. Schnall’s team was the runner-up to LSU in last year’s College World Series (CWS).
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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9 comments
Give Tanner a raise on his advisor contract for his hirings and making this gamecock fan finally say I just don’t care. Kudos to Donati for the firing. My give a damn is on life support, and I don’t have many “wait til next years” left in me!
agree
Is Tanner still on the payroll as an ambassador ?
Hey Just wait til next year! How about them cocks! LOL
Not sure why you think that’s funny, our university motto has always been “Disciplina mores humanizat nec sinit eos esse crudeles et exspecta usque ad annum proximum’. (“Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros” doesn’t actually translate the way USC thinks it does…)
Ray Tanner, does USC really need his advising? He hasn’t done anything but fuck up since he stopped coaching. Three coaches on the chopping block with $25 million dollar buyouts.
Absolutely. What in the world made them think because he was a good coach he could be an athletics director?? We are stuck with men’s basketball coach who has never done well with a 12 million dollar buy out. It is exhausting being a Gamecock
it really is exhausting….
There is no better “fail-upward” career than a major sport college coach. Oh, the years I wasted working hard in school and in the trenches as a young man! I could have been a mediocre millionaire by now! – sitting next to a line of former USC coaches on the beach in St. Croix!