What AD Jeremiah Donati said about South Carolina baseball’s coaching search
Just over a month after South Carolina and baseball coach Paul Mainieri parted ways, South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati spoke publicly for the first time about the impending coaching search.
Donati says he’s currently in the “assessment phase” of the search for a new baseball coach.
“Now is the time that we’ve really got to take a good look at the program overall and figure out what it is that we need,” Donati said Tuesday at the first stop of the Garnet and Black Road Trip, “and figure out the profile for who the next coach is going to be.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of outreach from current coaches all over the country,” Donati said. “Some big names. This is the job right now.”
The next coach will be the 32nd in program history.
South Carolina will utilize a search firm to help with the vetting process, Donati said, and the school will meet with the firm next week to “officially start that process.”
Two names that will likely be considered, though, aren’t far away.
Current Gamecocks interim coach Monte Lee is 12-13 since taking over on March 21 and will certainly receive consideration, though he might not have the success to earn the full-time job. USC is 22-24 overall this season.
Which brings us to one of the top options: Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall, who led the Chanticleers to the College World Series final last year and has Coastal in the top 10 again this season.
Certainly, those will be big names as South Carolina’s baseball coaching search begins. But it might be a while until Donati officially makes a hire.
Without an NCAA postseason run, the Gamecocks’ season will end sometime during the week of May 18 at the SEC Tournament.
For reference, Mainieri’s hire was announced June 11, 2024 — nine days after that season ended. His predecessor, Mark Kingston, was hired on June 30, 2017, or about three weeks after previous coach Chad Holbrook announced his resignation.
The transfer portal window for college baseball is the entire month of June.
South Carolina baseball coaches: Recent history
Ranked by winning percentages
- Bobby Richardson (1970-76): 220-91-2 (.703)
- Ray Tanner (1997-2012): 738-316 (.700)
- June Raines (1977-96): 763-380-2 (.667)
- Chad Holbrook (2013-17): 200-106 (.654)
- Mark Kingston (2018-24): 217-155 (.583)
- Paul Maineri (2025-26): 40-40 (.500)
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 6:59 PM.
