A closer look at Kevin Schnall’s Coastal contract, buyout details
Yes, South Carolina is still searching for its next baseball coach. Yes, Coastal Carolina’s Kevin Schnall is still believed to be the frontrunner for the job.
It’s hard to gauge much beyond that. The timelines and legit candidates in this search have been foggy at best, a credit to the secrecy athletic director Jeremiah Donati and USC’s search firm, Turnkey ZRG, have maintained through the process.
But let’s say it ends up being Schnall. What would that mean financially for both South Carolina and Coastal?
Most notably, Schnall has a buyout of $600,000 if he accepts another baseball coaching job by June 30, 2026 — meaning South Carolina would have to pay Coastal $600k if it plucks away the Chanticleers’ head man.
Though Schnall has only been leading his alma mater for two seasons, he’s already on his second contract. Following Coastal’s magical run to the College World Series Final in 2025, where the Chants fell to LSU in two games, Schnall earned a new deal that pays him a base salary of $500,000 through the 2030 season.
For reference: South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri went into the 2026 season as the 13th-highest-paid coach in America, earning $1.3 million annually.
But Schnall’s contract at CCU is much more than just base salary.
He earned an extra $25,000 last season from Coastal’s multimedia-rights partner, a figure that was set to increase by $50,000 every year. Additionally, CCU agreed to contribute $100,000 into a tax-deferred account of Schnall’s choosing on June 30 of every year (beginning in 2026).
Then there’s the laundry list of incentives — 18 in total — that afforded him plenty of avenues to earn additional compensation.
Team achievements
- Win Totals (including postseason games // non-cumulative): 35-39 wins ($15,000), 40-49 wins ($25,000), or 50+ wins ($35,000).
- Regular Season Championship ($30,000)
- Tournament Championship ($40,000)
- NCAA Regional At-Large Bid ($40,000)
- Regional Championship ($60,000)
- Super Regional Championship/CWS Appearance ($120,000)
- National Championship Runner-Up ($170,000)
- National Championship Title ($600,000)
- All postseason bonuses are non-cumulative
- NCAA Seeding (non-cumulative): Regional Seed 1-16 ($10,000) or Super Regional Seed 1-8 ($15,000)
- National Ranking: $2,000 per week for appearing in a Top 25 poll (Baseball America, USA Today Coaches, NCBWA, or DI Baseball; non-cumulative across polls).
Academic achievements
- Annual APR (non-cumulative): 970+ ($7,500) or 1000 ($10,000).
Individual achievements/awards:
- Recruiting class ranked among Top 25 by Baseball America, DI Baseball, or ABCA: $5,000
- Conference Coach of the Year: $30,000.
- National Coach of the Year by Baseball America, DI Baseball, or ABCA: $60,000
For reference as to the rarity of Schnall’s incentive-heavy contract structure: Mainieri’s deal included only 12 possible bonuses. There was no weekly incentive for appearing in polls or a possible bonus for having a Top 25 recruiting class.
Also, in the categories included in both Schnall and. Mainieri’s contracts, Schnall’s incentives are much more lucrative.
Mainieri’s contract — which had far more guaranteed money — only called for a $20,000 bonus if he led USC to the College World Series ($100,000 less than Schnall’s) and $80,000 if the Gamecocks won the national title ($520,000 less than Schnall’s).
If Schnall becomes South Carolina’s head coach, it’s unclear whether his contract would include a similar bonus structure or if the steep spike in guaranteed salary would be enough for Schnall to have similar incentives to those given to Mainieri.
