Longtime ACC assistant coach leaving to join Kevin Schnall, Gamecocks baseball
New South Carolina baseball coach Kevin Schnall has found his hitting coach, and he’s a well regarded assistant at an ACC school.
USC will hire Wake Forest’s Bill Cilento as its new hitting coach, as first reported by Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball on Thursday. The news was also confirmed by Gamecock247 and DeaconIllustrated.com.
It’s a notable hire, considering Cilento had worked at the ACC school for 17 seasons and been with coach Tom Walter for the entirety of his Wake Forest tenure. Cilento was promoted to Wake Forest’s associate head coach role in 2019 and was considered a potential successor to Walter.
Walter described Cilento as “the lifeblood of our program” in 2019. The longtime Wake assistant has had multiple head coaching opportunities in the past, according to Rogers of D1 Baseball, and that website has recognized him as an assistant coach “on the rise” nationally.
“Strong hire for the Gamecocks,” Rogers wrote on X.
Entering the 2026 season, Wake Forest had ranked in the top 50 nationally in home runs nine of the past 10 seasons. This year’s Demon Deacons team was 39-21 and made a fifth straight NCAA Tournament, tying the longest streak in program history.
Cilento was also part of Wake Forest’s 2023 team that hosted a regional and super regional in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and reached the College World Series for the first time in 68 years. Wake was the No. 1 overall seed that season.
Wake Forest confirmed Cilento’s departure in a post on X Friday morning, attaching a statement from Walter that described his outgoing hitting coach as “one of the best in the business.”
“I know he will go on to do great things and we will see him in Omaha,” Walter said.
South Carolina’ most recent hitting coach was Monte Lee. Lee was promoted to interim coach after Paul Mainieri was fired mid-season and wasn’t retained.
At the team’s other top assistant coach position, Schnall is reportedly bringing in Matt Williams as his pitching coach. Williams was Mark Kingston’s pitching coach at South Carolina in 2024 but wasn’t retained by Mainieri. He was Schnall’s pitching coach at Coastal Carolina from 2025-26.
Schnall was formally hired by the Gamecocks on Wednesday. His welcome event is set for Friday at 8:30 p.m. at USC’s Founders Park in Columbia.
Other new hires for Schnall, Gamecocks
Along with Williams and Cilento, Schnall has made a number of other reported hires for his first South Carolina baseball staff, primarily from Coastal Carolina.
Here’s a round-up of on-field and off-field coaches expected to follow him:
- Chad Oxendine, associate head coach
- Tyler Shewmaker, recruiting coordinator
- Matt Pepin, general manager
- Dylan Eskew, director of pitching development (former Gamecocks pitcher)
- Mickey Beach, director of baseball operations
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 10:29 AM.
