Ray Tanner hopes national titles become more routine at South Carolina

Ray Tanner remembered the picture.

Preparing to play UCLA in the 2010 College World Series final, Tanner saw an image of the Bruins’ athletic hall of fame. The building features a wall of national championship trophies, stacked floor to ceiling.

A similar trophy, one he was about to play for, sat on the table. It didn’t look that impressive.

Until Tanner saw stacks and rows of them residing in a museum in Los Angeles. He didn’t blush with envy, but he knew UCLA probably had lost count of its team NCAA national championships (currently a nation-leading 112).

The Gamecocks were playing for the school’s fourth.

“I was looking for any perspective I could get,” Tanner said. “We were in a position, but that didn’t mean we were going to win. We did win, but it was like, we have worked hard to get in position to have this opportunity.”

South Carolina never will catch UCLA, but has its foot in the door after decades of athletics mediocrity. A national championship, something the Gamecocks couldn’t obtain in any sport, finally landed in Columbia in 2002, when the women’s track and field team won USC’s first.

USC has added five more since, culminating in the equestrian team’s third championship last week.

“The commitment that we have provided for student-athletes from our fan base, from our donors, from our president, Dr. Harris Pastides, the Board of Trustees, the impact Eric Hyman made here in getting facilities moving in the right direction, we’ve continued to do that,” Tanner said. “It’s putting student-athletes in a position to be successful at a high level. It doesn’t just happen. You have to position them.”

Tanner remembers how special it was to see Curtis Frye’s track team bring home the first trophy, although it might have gone unnoticed at the time. Tanner had something to do with that – most Gamecock fans were tuned into his baseball team, which was in the process of another run through the postseason.

He nearly added the school’s second championship three weeks after the first, but his first CWS team fell to Texas in the title game. Still, he returned to Omaha five more times – winning national titles in 2010 and 2011 – before ascending to athletics director.

During his coaching tenure, Boo Major’s equestrian team won national championships in 2005 and 2007. Their 2015 triumph is Tanner’s first as AD (while the Gamecocks also won the collegiate fishing national championship last week, it isn’t recognized as a varsity sport).

Winning championships has been terrific, but Tanner views it as a culmination of the work accomplished by previous visionaries. He aims to keep USC there – and keep adding hardware.

“You’re not going to do it all the time, no matter how good you are,” Tanner said. “Kentucky didn’t win (in men’s basketball this season) – they were pretty good, but they didn’t win it. The deal is to try to consistently stay in position. I think we’re in a position in a number of sports, so that on any given weekend, you get the results that you’re number one.”

USC’s golf teams are each coming off second-place finishes at the SEC championships and will be headed to the NCAA championship. The women’s team is ranked second by Golfstat, and the men’s team, which has won more tournaments this year than ever before and saw Matt NeSmith win the individual SEC title, is sixth.

The tennis teams could be in the NCAAs, while softball and baseball are charging for their own berths. All credit the support of Tanner and the administration as crucial parts of their success.

“I can’t tell you how much coach Tanner has meant to our team and meant to me personally,” Major said after winning her third title. “They talk to us all the time, they shoot us e-mails. When you get support from a university, from the top down, it really has been fantastic the support we’ve gotten.”

Tanner is the boss, but he’s also a guy that’s been in the coaches’ shoes. Hard-line stances aren’t his style – he wants the teams to win, but he’s not going to demand it.

“When I get a chance from time to time to talk with student-athletes, I don’t talk to them about we’ve got to win, win, win, win. It’s about the position,” Tanner said. “If you can consistently stay in position, then the magical year is possible. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. We have to continue to move in that direction in this athletic department.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Ray Tanner hopes national titles become more routine at South Carolina."