Poll: Who are the greatest South Carolina coaches of all time?
The State is publishing a “Mount Rushmore of South Carolina Athletics” series this summer. Each week we’ll determine the best of the best for various Gamecock sports program. Last week we unveiled the Mount Rushmore of USC football.
Up next is our final installment in the series: South Carolina coaches.
After sorting through stats, records books and crowd sourcing on social media, The State compiled a list of 14 coaches across athletic department history as the best to ever lead the Gamecocks.
Choose four coaches you think deserve to be on the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina coaches. Make your voice heard and cast your votes below the bios. Vote as often as you like — and use the comments feature on this story to “write in” another one of your favorites.
Joyce Compton (1987-2010): Compton put together an illustrious 24 years as the head coach of South Carolina softball. She’s the winningest coach in school history with a 951-486-4 mark career record with the Gamecocks. Compton took USC to the NCAA Tournament 13 times and to the Women’s College World Series twice. She’s a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, and her jersey was retired by South Carolina in 2022.
Paul Dietzel (1966-74): Dietzel served as the head football coach and athletic director during his time at South Carolina. He compiled a 42-53-1 record in his nine seasons with the Gamecocks and is the only football coach in school history to win a conference title when he led South Carolina to an ACC title in 1969. Dietzel was inducted in the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Rex Enright (1938-42 and 1946-55): Enright holds the record for longest-tenured football coach at South Carolina. He was with the Gamecocks for 15 seasons, coaching a program-record 140 games. Enright won 64 games with South Carolina, second only to Steve Spurrier. He also served as USC’s athletic director from 1938 to 1960. South Carolina’s Defensive Player of the Spring and Captains Awards are named after him. He was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 1968.
Eddie Fogler (1993-2001): Fogler spent eight years as South Carolina’s men’s basketball coach. In that time he compiled 123 wins (No. 5 in the program record book). His 1996-97 squad won the SEC regular season championship and holds the program record for most conference wins in a season (15). Fogler took the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament twice.
Curtis Frye (1996-2023): Frye spent 27 years as the head coach of South Carolina Track and Field. He played a part in coaching 28 Olympians who won 14 Olympic medals, 60 NCAA Champions, 126 SEC Champions and over 500 NCAA All-Americans. Frye also coached 14 SEC Athletes of the year, five National Athletes of the Year and helped South Carolina win its first team NCAA Championship in any sport when the women’s track squad won the 2002 NCAA Outdoor title. Frye was also a three-time United States Track Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.
Boo Major (1997-2024): Major spent 26 years as the head coach of South Carolina’s equestrian team. Major led the Gamecocks to three NCEA Overall Championships (2005, 2007 and 2015), three-straight NCEA Hunter Seat National Championships (2005-2007), one Southern Equestrian Championship (2012) and two SEC Championships (2013 and 2014). She was a two-time SEC and National Coach of the Year.
Frank Martin (2013-22): Martin spent 10 years as the head coach of South Carolina’s men’s basketball team. His 171 total wins with the Gamecocks is No. 2 in the program record book and he led South Carolina to its first, and only, Final Four in 2017.
Frank McGuire (1965-80): McGuire was the head coach of South Carolina men’s basketball for 16 years, making him the longest-tenured coach in the program’s history. He holds the program record with 283 total wins with the Gamecocks. He took USC to four NCAA Tournaments and won the ACC regular season championship in 1970 and the ACC Tournament Championship in 1971. McGuire was named National Coach of the Year in 1970, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 and the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980.
Dave Odom (2002-08): Odom spent seven seasons as head coach of the South Carolina men’s basketball program. His 128 wins are good for No. 4 in the program record book. Odom took the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament once and won the NIT Championship in 2005 and 2006. He was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2004.
June Raines (1977-96): Raines spent 20 years as the head coach of South Carolina baseball. He’s the longest-tenured coach in program history and holds the program record for wins (763). Raines led South Carolina to 19 consecutive winning seasons. Under his guidance, South Carolina made it to the NCAA Tournament 11 times, won four NCAA Regionals and advanced to the College World Series four times. He was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Shelley Smith (2001-present): In her 24 years at South Carolina, Smith has racked up a 294-113-54 record with the women’s soccer team.. She has taken the Gamecocks to 12-straight NCAA Tournaments and 17 times overall during her tenure. South Carolina has won the SEC Tournament three times (2009, 2019 and 2022) and has been SEC regular season champs three times (2011, 2016 and 2017) under Smith. She took South Carolina to the College Cup in 2017 and Smith has been named the SEC Coach of the Year four times.
Steve Spurrier (2005-15): Spurrier is responsible for the best seasons of the modern era of South Carolina football. He led the Gamecocks to eight bowl games and won five, including four-consecutive bowl wins from 2011-14. Spurrier is responsible for the three best single seasons of Gamecock football: South Carolina won 11 games in three straight seasons from 2011-13. He coached in 135 games for the Gamecocks, No. 2 in the program record book and recorded 86 wins, which is the most of any coach in program history. Spurrier was SEC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2010.
Dawn Staley (2008-present): There isn’t enough room here to fit the long list of Staley’s achievements during her time at South Carolina. She turned South Carolina into a perennial women’s basketball powerhouse by taking the Gamecocks to three national championship wins (2017, 2022 and 2024), seven Final Fours, nine SEC Tournament titles. South Carolina has been ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll every week since Dec. 10, 2012. Staley is a seven-time SEC Coach of the Year and a five-time National Coach of the Year. She boasts a 475-110 record during her time with the Gamecocks and has a statue in her honor in downtown Columbia.
Ray Tanner (1997-2012): Tanner helped South Carolina baseball reach unprecedented levels of success. His teams won two national championships with the Gamecocks in 2010 and 2011 and finished as national runner-up twice. South Carolina went to the NCAA Tournament 14 times, advanced to the super regionals 10 times and made a College World Series appearance six times under Tanner. Under Tanner’s tutelage, USC won the SEC three times. Tanner was named National Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year three times. He served as athletic director at South Carolina from 2012-24. South Carolina’s baseball stadium was renamed to Ray Tanner Field at Founders Park this year in his honor.
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 9:12 AM.
