Former Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston taking new job with Big East team
Mark Kingston has a new job for the 2025 season.
Kingston, who was fired after seven seasons as South Carolina’s baseball coach on June 3, has joined Creighton as its associate head coach and “coach in waiting,” the Big East school formally announced on Monday afternoon.
Kingston will spend the 2025 season as the lead assistant to current head coach Ed Servais and take over as the head coach after that season concludes. He’ll coach his first game as the Blue Jays’ leader in their 2026 season opener.
Servais, 66, previously announced in May he’d be retiring after the 2025 season. Servais has coached Creighton for 21 years and led the Blue Jays to six NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also an assistant there from 1998-2003.
News of Kingston’s hire at Creighton was first reported Sunday evening by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com.
Rogers reported that the Blue Jays were “expected to hire” Kingston, who led the Gamecocks to four NCAA regional rounds and two super regional rounds (2018, 2023) after his 2017 hiring.
It’ll be his fourth Division I head coaching job, as Kingston, 54, also previously coached at Indiana State (2009-14) and USF (2015-17).
“Creighton offers a world class education within a premier city, all while playing in Charles Schwab Field,” Kingston said in a news release. “For a coach or student athlete, an elite level combination like this is very hard to find.”
Kingston added of Creighton, a private school that joined the Big East in 2013 after competing in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1976-2013: “My last two trips to the CWS were with private institutions Miami and Tulane, so I feel like this is a perfect fit for both sides. Working with Ed during the transition will be a partnership that will benefit all.”
The Blue Jays were 35-17 and 7-13 in conference this year and failed to qualify for the Big East baseball tournament (only the top four of eight teams qualify).
Creighton has 11 all-time NCAA appearances, most recently in 2019. The program competes in the same city that hosts the College World Series (Omaha, Nebraska) and plays its home games at Charles Schwab Field (the CWS field).
“I’m glad to have Mark come on board,” Servais, Creighton’s current coach, said in a release. “He has a ton of experience and it will be fun to work shoulder-to-shoulder with him. ... The players are going to have a great experience in 2025 and beyond.”
More coaches on the move
South Carolina hired former national championship-winning LSU coach Paul Mainieri to replace Kingston last week and held his formal introductory news conference last Thursday on campus.
Mainieri is only retaining one of Kingston’s former assistants: Monte Lee, who served as interim coach after Kingston’s firing, was a candidate for the lead job and has deep ties to the program and the state.
Kingston’s other two former assistants have reportedly found new gigs, too.
Former USC pitching coach Matt Williams will join Coastal Carolina as its pitching coach for 2025, Rogers reported Sunday. Williams, a Lancaster native, was on Kingston’s staff for one season and previously spent four years at Liberty.
And former South Carolina assistant coach Joey Holcomb is joining the South Florida staff as an assistant, Rogers reported Saturday. Holcomb was on staff for one season at USC and previously worked at Campbell.
Mainieri’s three assistants at USC for 2025 will be Lee, former LSU pitching coach Terry Rooney and former Virginia assistant John Hendry.
This story was originally published June 17, 2024 at 9:21 AM.
