Inside Paul Mainieri’s final hours as South Carolina’s baseball coach
The last game of Paul Mainieri’s South Carolina tenure — and, likely, the last of his hall of fame college baseball career — came on Friday night, an embarrassing 22-6 loss to No. 4 Arkansas that was decided by a run rule after seven innings.
That game itself was not the catalyst for Mainieri and South Carolina to mutually part ways on Saturday — just 23 games into the 2026 season — but it was the impetus for a rare Saturday morning meeting between Mainieri and Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati, according to a USC source.
Donati and Mainieri met around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and talked for about two hours, per the source. The two agreed things weren’t working with Mainieri at the helm at South Carolina.
Maineri was given the option to keep coaching the Gamecocks — at least for the final two games against Arkansas, potentially beyond that.
But the 68-year-old Mainieri, who was the active wins leader in college baseball (1,545) before Saturday, felt it was in the best interest of the program to immediately turn the team over to hitting coach Monte Lee.
Mainieri, who guided LSU to the 2009 national championship, led South Carolina for just 80 games. He finished with a 40-40 record. While his contract outlines a buyout of more than $4.15 million, it’s likely — given the mutual decision for him to step down — the two sides will settle on a number smaller than that.
“My goal was to work with young people again and restore the South Carolina program to greatness with a return to Omaha,” Mainieri said in a statement. “… Unfortunately, that goal has not materialized as quickly as I would have liked and will take more time than I had anticipated and that is time that I just don’t have at my age.”
Surprise: Monte Lee takes over
Lee arrived at Founders Park on Saturday morning without even considering the possibility that he’d finish the day as South Carolina’s interim head coach.
For a few hours, likely as Donati and Mainieri were meeting, Lee prepared for Saturday’s game as usual: looking over video of Arkansas’ starting pitcher, putting together the pregame batting practice routine, etc.
But things moved quickly in a different direction on Saturday.
According to the USC source, shortly before noon on Saturday — after Mainieri and Donati agreed that the head coach would step aside — Mainieri called the Gamecocks’ coaching staff into his office, informed them of the change and made it known that Lee would take over as interim head coach ... for a game that began in less than four hours.
“We had a very short amount of time to make the adjustments that we needed to make to get ready for the game,” Lee said after Saturday’s game, which began at 4 p.m. “It was an absolute whirlwind.”
Before Lee made his adjustments — things like changing the pregame routine and informing catcher Talmadge LeCroy that he wouldn’t be calling pitches — the team had to be informed of what was happening.
Mainieri spoke with the Gamecocks and informed them he’d no longer be their coach. Then Donati said some words and, finally, Lee shared his message to the guys.
“The first thing that I told them is, ‘Look guys, we can do one of two things: We can either give up or give it everything we’ve got,’” Lee said of his message to the team, later adding: “I’m gonna encourage these guys. I’m gonna build their confidence. We’re gonna be as positive as we can.”
South Carolina publicized the news with a 12:38 p.m. social media post.
Mainieri was still on campus as of Monday afternoon, the source said, which allowed a number of USC players to meet with him personally one more time. And, though odd in its timing, the decision by Mainieri to step aside right away provided a spark to the Gamecocks over the weekend.
If not for a throwing error with two outs in the ninth inning, the Gamecocks — who eventually lost in the 10th — would have beat No. 4 Arkansas on Saturday. Yet, even after the disappointment, South Carolina (13-12, 1-5 SEC) hit four home runs on Sunday, notching a 9-4 win — its first conference victory of the season.
“After the game,” Lee said, “we went into the locker room and just celebrated, celebrated something good.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 8:00 AM.
