Instant reaction: 3 things that stand out as Kevin Schnall shares vision for Gamecocks
Two days after he was hired as South Carolina’s next baseball coach, Kevin Schnall made his public debut Friday at Founders Park.
Although Schnall didn’t make any grand Omaha predictions on what was coincidentally also the opening night of this year’s College World Series, he promised this of USC baseball: “We’re going to get this thing moving in the right direction.”
Here are three more things that stood out during Schnall’s welcome event, which included a podium address to fans and a news conference with AD Jeremiah Donati.
Value of SEC ‘resources’
Why did Schnall leave Coastal Carolina, a team he had two wins away from a national championship last year, for South Carolina? The competition he’ll play is part of it.
Schnall on Friday described himself as a competitor who wants to win at the highest level. He said there’s nowhere better to do that than in the SEC, which has won seven of the last eight college baseball championships (including 2025, when Schnall’s Coastal team lost 2-0 to LSU in the College World Series finals).
“The SEC is the major leagues of college baseball,” Schnall said.
Schnall also said South Carolina is “committed to excellence” in baseball, which is key in a sport increasingly defined by one’s NIL/revenue-sharing budget.
“This university, under Jeremiah’s direction, is committed at the extreme highest level, and we’re excited to compete in this league,” Schnall said.
In-state recruiting ‘extremely’ important
Although he’s a New Jersey lifer, Schnall spent 20-plus years at Coastal Carolina and knows the power of in-state recruiting. Some of the Chants’ best players on their 2016 national title team and 2025 runner-up team were from South Carolina.
Schnall said he’s intent on continuing that with the Gamecocks, who’ve been hit or miss in recent recruiting cycles when it comes to keeping top in-state talent in Columbia.
“Our No. 1 priority will be dominating the state of South Carolina and making sure the best players in this state are Gamecocks,” Schnall said.
At the same time, Schnall said, USC’s a national brand with the ability to recruit anywhere. He won’t hesitate to do that if the best players are outside of the state’s borders.
“Ultimately, we’re never going to settle for the ‘next best’ player,” Schnall said. “If that means we have to expand out, we’ll do that.”
Showing love to former players
Early in Schnall’s address to fans, he threw a bit of a curveball by asking any current or former South Carolina baseball players to stand.
“You are the most important part of this program,” Schnall said.
Alumni involvement during the Paul Mainieri era at USC wasn’t consistent, and the program’s inconsistency and turnover since Ray Tanner retired in 2012 (three coaches pre-Schnall) haven’t helped.
Schnall said his doors will always be open to program alumni and that he looks forward to building relationships with the Gamecocks who helped USC become “the biggest, baddest college baseball program in the country” under Tanner.
That outreach is already underway. Former USC and MLB catcher Grayson Greiner told “Inside The Gamecocks” that Schnall reached out to him earlier this week to pick his brain and had done the same with other alums.
“He made me want to put on the cleats again and run through a brick wall for him,” Greiner said.
