Dawn Staley on our Mount Rushmore of best-ever USC coaches. See who else made it
The State this summer has created a Mount Rushmore for several major South Carolina athletics programs. Last week we highlighted the greats of Gamecock football to wrap up the team-specific recognitions.
For the final edition of this series, The State put together a Mount Rushmore of all-time best South Carolina coaches across all sports. Just like every other Mount Rushmore this year, it was no easy task.
It’s hard to pick just four coaches who have made large impacts across all of the sports at the University of South Carolina. I There are several combinations of coaches you could argue belong on the Gamecocks’ Mount Rushmore — and even more who were left out of our initial Top 14.
Here’s who we decided makes the Mount Rushmore, along with picks from a long-time local media member, the fans and even ChatGPT.
Jay Phillips makes his picks
Jay Phillips is a long-time member of the sports media world in Columbia. Phillips has been in the radio business for over 20 years and has been a pillar of 107.5 The Game since 2007. In short, Phillips knows Gamecocks sports. His choices:
- Frank McGuire, USC men’s basketball
- Steve Spurrier, USC football
- Dawn Staley, USC women’s basketball
- Ray Tanner, USC baseball
And here are his thoughts: “Coach McGuire was the first at Carolina to really teach the school how to reach for bigger things. He’d won the NCAA Tournament at North Carolina and coached Wilt Chamberlain with the Warriors in the NBA. His recruiting pipeline to NYC was extraordinary, and his success got Carolina Coliseum built (a true gem at the time) and led Carolina to the top of the ACC. If only there were at-large berths to the NCAAs back then, what might have been for Carolina basketball.”
“(Spurrier) really taught the school how to live in the SEC each and every day, not just a few Saturdays a year. He brought unprecedented success on the field and in the NFL Draft and proved that, with the right mix of coaching, talent, fan support and school participation, that Carolina could truly compete regularly in the SEC and nationally.
“(Staley’s) arrival in Columbia ushered in an amazing level of recruiting and winning this school has not seen in any other of its sports. She is a household name in global basketball and has done so much to put USC on a bigger stage. The term ‘rock star’ is not enough to describe her personality, competitive intensity and level of success.
“(Tanner is) a humble leader whose competitive spirit is as large as any coach that’s ever led a team at Carolina. His arrival from his alma mater, N.C. State, brought a renewed energy to a proud program that struggled early in its time in the SEC. Within his first decade USC went to six super regionals and three College World Series, including a runner-up finish in 2002. He then led Carolina to one of its proudest ever moments with a victory over UCLA in the 2010 CWS Finals, followed it up with another CWS title over Florida and then a third straight appearance in the CWS Finals.”
How the fans voted
The State asked you, the fans, to help determine who should make the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina coaches.
Fans were given a poll with 14 coaches and could vote for up to four names as many times as they wanted. Those coaches were: Joyce Compton, Paul Dietzel, Rex Enright, Eddie Fogler, Curtis Frye, Boo Major, Frank Martin, Frank McGuire, Dave Odom, June Raines, Shelley Smith, Steve Spurrier, Dawn Staley and Ray Tanner.
With just under 1,500 individual ballots cast, here’s what the fans said:
- Dawn Staley
- Steve Spurrier
- Ray Tanner
- Frank McGuire
Staley finished first in the voting followed by Spurrier, Tanner and McGuire. Major and Frye finished in fifth and sixth in the voting, respectively.
The State’s picks for top USC coaches
Here are The State’s choices for the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina coaches:
- Dawn Staley
- Ray Tanner
- Steve Spurrier
- Frank McGuire
Staley is a no-doubter choice for a Mount Rushmore of South Carolina coaches. She’s turned USC into a perennial women’s basketball powerhouse and won three national championships (2017, 2022 and 2024). Staley has guided the Gamecocks to seven Final Fours, nine SEC Tournament titles and has had the team ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll every week since Dec. 10, 2012. She’s a seven-time SEC Coach of the Year and a five-time National Coach of the Year who boasts a 475-110 record with the Gamecocks. If that wasn’t enough to convince you she deserves a spot, take it up with her statue in downtown Columbia.
Tanner, just like Staley, is an easy pick for the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina coaches. He helped the baseball program reach unprecedented levels of success. Tanner’s 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 and won the SEC three times under Tanner. He 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.
Though Spurrier’s tenure at South Carolina ended in unceremonious fashion, his time with the Gamecocks is still Mount Rushmore-worthy. 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. He helped guide USC through its three best single seasons from 2011-2013 when the Gamecocks won 11 games in three straight seasons. He coached in 135 games for South Carolina, which is No. 2 in the program record book, and recorded 86 wins, which is the most of any coach in program history. Spurrier was also SEC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2010.
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.
Honorable mentions
Each of these honorable mentions, and even some who didn’t make the Top 14 list in general, have a solid case for why they should be on the Mount Rushmore.
- Joyce Compton
- Curtis Frye
- Boo Major
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.
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 a three-time United States Track Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.
Major’s accomplishments might fly under the radar for the average South Carolina fan. She spent 26 years as the head coach of the Gamecock 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.
Bonus picks from AI
The State asked ChatGPT for its own Mount Rushmore. Here’s what the AI tool came up with:
- Ray Tanner
- Dawn Staley
- Steve Spurrier
- Frank McGuire
- Honorable mentions: Shelley Smith (women’s soccer), Curtis Frye (track and field), Joe Morrison (football) Beverly Smith (softball).
This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
