South Carolina set to make new athletic director hire
South Carolina reportedly has its next athletic director lined up.
Jeremiah Donati, the athletic director at Texas Christian University, is set to become South Carolina’s athletic director, FootballScoop’s John Brice and ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported. An industry source confirmed to The State that Donati is expected to be the Gamecocks’ hire.
The university scheduled a 3 p.m. Thursday board of trustees meeting with “Approval of Athletics Director” as the only agenda item. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that Donati will sign a six-year agreement with the university.
Donati, 47, has been the AD at TCU since 2017 and worked in the athletic department since 2011 where, according to his official bio, “Donati has played a major role in enhancing the TCU student-athlete experience through donor-supported facility upgrades totaling nearly $500 million.”
Donati will take over for Ray Tanner, who served as the Gamecocks’ athletic director since 2012 but announced in September that he was stepping down as AD and transitioning into a new role at the university.
At TCU, Donati was making $1.33 million — which is more than what Tanner is currently making ($1.175 million).
Former South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman (2005-2012) also worked at TCU before joining the Gamecocks.
Before he announced he was changing jobs, Tanner made a flurry of head coaching hires highlighted by tabbing Paul Mainieri as the baseball coach. So while Donati won’t have to make a hire out of the gate, he will in time.
At TCU, he made waves by letting go of longtime football coach Gary Patterson only to hire Sonny Dykes away from TCU’s crosstown rival, SMU. A few months later, Dykes led the Horned Frogs to the national championship game and student applications to the school spiked.
During Donati’s seven-year tenure at TCU, he oversaw nearly $500 million of facilities upgrades, including a $72-million update to the basketball arena, upgrades to the baseball field and a $50-million, donor-funded Human Performance Center that is expected to be completed next year.
Donati’s background is in fundraising, working for the booster clubs of Washington State, Arizona and Cal Poly before getting to TCU. And, in this new world of revenue distribution to college athletes, Donati has experience working on the other side.
Before arriving at TCU, Donati worked as general counsel and director of player representation for the Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment agency.
While Donati does not have SEC experience, he is very close with someone who recently made the move to the conference. Donati worked with Chris Del Conte at TCU and only became the Horned Frogs’ athletic director when Del Conte left for Texas, where he still serves as AD.
The two have known each other for decades after their fathers met in Taos, New Mexico back in the 1970s. According to The Athletic, Del Conte lived with the Donatis for a time and, in the mid-1990s, Donati would spend summers interning for Del Conte at Cal Poly, where he was an assistant AD.
South Carolina’s recent athletic director history
- Ray Tanner, 2012-2024
- Eric Hyman, 2005-2012
- Mike McGee, 1993-2005
- King Dixon, 1988-1993
- Dick Bestwick, 1988
- Bob Marcum, 1982-1988
- Jim Carlen, 1976-1981
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 12:33 PM.
