USC baseball’s Mark Kingston could be in line for contract extension. Here’s what we know
Coming off a super regional appearance, South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston should be in line for a contract extension — at least if USC follows its typical course of action.
Athletic director Ray Tanner confirmed to The State on Wednesday that Kingston’s contract is among the anticipated topics for their typical end-of-season meeting that should take place sometime in the next three weeks.
“We’ll have that discussion,” Tanner said. “I sit down and meet with all the coaches (of all sports). We haven’t met yet. ... He’s been busy.”
Kingston was last extended in 2021, with the Gamecocks signing him through the 2025 season and maintaining his $600,000 per year salary. At the time, Tanner said he thought it was important for coaches to have four years under contract “to be effective” on the recruiting trail.
“In this period that we are in college athletics it’s difficult for any coach, man or woman, to be effective in the recruiting wars without four years under contract,” Tanner said in 2021. “So we’ve tried to make sure our coaches were in that position across the board.”
Kingston now just has two years left on his deal after leading the Gamecocks to a bounce-back 42-21 season — the highest win total of the Kingston Era. In his six years at the helm, Kingston, 53, has compiled a 180-130 (.581) record and has led the Gamecocks to three NCAA regional appearances and two super regionals.
“He had a really good year,” Tanner said Wednesday. “And for a majority of the season, he had one of the top four or five teams in the country, a really good lineup. ... I thought it was certainly a bounce-back from the year before in a good way. It was a quality team.”
There were rumblings of a possible coaching change last season after the Gamecocks suffered their first losing season since 1996, but Kingston tapped the transfer portal and spearheaded a massive turnaround for USC, which got off to the team’s best start since 1975 and ranked as high as No. 3 in the country. The Gamecocks hosted a regional in Columbia before their season ended against the No. 2 seed Florida Gators in the Gainesville Super Regional last weekend.
Upon returning to Columbia, Kingston has since been dealing with his team’s own after-season paperwork and processes, Tanner said.
Though Kingston’s status with the university seems secure, his name has been linked to Miami’s head coach opening by D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers. The connection makes sense: Kingston served as an assistant coach for two seasons in 2000-2001 under then-Miami head coach Jim Morris. If nothing else, any interest from Miami could serve as leverage in contract negotiations.
Kingston’s current contract includes an $800,000 buyout owed to USC if he leaves for another school before June 30. It drops to $400,000 after that date.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no school had reached out to USC about speaking to Kingston for any open jobs, Tanner told The State.
— The State’s Dwayne McLemore contributed to this story.
This story was originally published June 14, 2023 at 6:07 PM.
