Paul Mainieri buyout details: How much will South Carolina pay departing coach?
Just over 21 months after South Carolina hired Paul Mainieri out of retirement to lead the Gamecocks’ baseball program, the school has parted ways with the 68-year-old.
The decision comes 80 games into his tenure as USC coach.
On Saturday, in the announcement of Mainieri’s departure, the former head coach said in a statement that he and athletic director Jeremiah Donati “have agreed that the baseball program will be better served with new leadership.”
Donati, in the same statement, added that “we agreed that it would be in the best interest of the program that we part ways at this time.”
All that verbiage could be very important when it comes to how much South Carolina has to pay Mainieri in a buyout for the remaining years on his contract..
If Mainieri was fired without cause, he would be owed the entirety of what’s remaining on his contract, which runs through May 31, 2029. If that were the case, Mainieri — who was making $1.3 million annually — would be due around $4.15 million from USC.
Per his contract, if Mainieri chose to step down by his own volition, he would not owe the university anything — so long as he didn’t take another college head coaching job.
But given the wording of the announcement, it would be reasonable to assume that the two parties will — if they haven’t already — negotiate a settlement that allows them to amicably go their separate ways. (For what it’s worth, Mainieri has on several occasions been proud to point out that he’s never been fired as a coach or asked to step down.)
University leaders are not expected to discuss Mainieri’s buyout terms, at least not any time soon.
After a disastrous first season that ended with the most losses (28) and most SEC defeats (24) in program history, Mainieri’s second season was off to an even rougher start. At the time of Mainieri’s departure, the Gamecocks were 12-11 with uncharacteristic losses to programs like Northern Kentucky, Army, Queens, The Citadel and Charlotte.
Rock bottom, though, came on Friday. The Gamecocks were embarrased by Arkansas, losing 22-7 in a game that was called after seven innings. Fed up, the limited fans in attendance at Founders Park began chanting, “We want beer” as the Gamecocks were down 14-0.
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 1:11 PM.
