Paul Mainieri found new ‘silver lining’ with early departure as South Carolina coach
After Paul Mainieri left South Carolina in March, a big positive stood out in his mind: At least he didn’t have to take the Gamecocks to Baton Rouge.
“Before the season was over, when I left South Carolina by mutual agreement, one thing that I looked at, the silver lining, I said, ‘Well, at least I don’t have to take a team to Alex Box Stadium.’ I didn’t want to do that,” Mainieri said.
That comment was part of a wide-ranging interview from July 10 between Mainieri and WAFB-TV’s Jacques Doucet. In that interview with the Baton Rouge TV station, which was mostly about his LSU connections, Mainieri did address his 80-game tenure as South Carolina’s head baseball coach.
Mainieri and USC mutually parted ways on March 21 after a 12-11 start to the 2026 season. Had Mainieri held onto the job, he would’ve coached the Gamecocks in a three-game series in May against his former team in Baton Rouge. (The Gamecocks, led by interim coach Monte Lee, were swept by LSU.)
There’s a large personal attachment to LSU for Mainieri. It makes sense: It’s his alma mater. It’s where he met his wife, and he coached there for 15 years.
“I love LSU, and I always will,” Mainieri said.
Mainieri spent the bulk of his coaching career at LSU. He put together a 641-283-3 record and won a national title with the Tigers in 2009.
Some coaches are champing at the bit to face a former employer, while it can be bittersweet for others. Mainieri seems to fit in the latter camp.
He said he was “extremely glad” he did not have a coach against LSU in Baton Rouge. South Carolina played LSU in Columbia during Mainieri’s first year with the Gamecocks.
“My first year at South Carolina, LSU came to play there, and it was the most awkward feeling that I could even imagine,” Mainieri said. “We won the first game of the series, and it wasn’t special to me to beat LSU or anything like that. ... I don’t know if I’m a softy or what, but I root for LSU and I always will. But at the same time, I had a job to do.”
More from Mainieri on his tenure at South Carolina
Back in March, Mainieri described South Carolina baseball fans and media as “impatient” in an interview with NOLA.com.
Mainieri doubled down on that position in his interview with WAFB-TV’s Doucet.
“I thought I could put in two, three, maybe four years and get the program going,” Mainieri said. “But they were a little impatient about it, and I wasn’t really feeling it either. So we made an agreement to head home.”
Mainieri had been retired for three years when then-USC Athletic Director Ray Tanner hired him at the age of 66. He inherited a team coming off a 37-25 record, which he felt had “some weaknesses.”
South Carolina went 28-29 in Mainieri’s first year as coach, and he was ultimately let go 23 games into his second season.
“It was gonna take time there, and I really didn’t have the time at my age,” Mainieri said. “I always felt the job there was going to be a temporary assignment. ... For me, it was just kind of a short-term thing.”
Although his career came to a rather unceremonious end, Mainieri said he doesn’t regret his time with the Gamecocks.
“I’ve enjoyed and loved all the jobs that I’ve had,” Mainieri said. “I don’t have any regret about doing the South Carolina thing because it allowed me to scratch the itch, get it out of my system, and now I can be back in Baton Rouge, just be a citizen and a fan again. It feels good to be wearing these colors again.”
