How South Carolina’s athletic director search led to the hire of Jeremiah Donati
South Carolina President Michael Amiridis approached the search for the school’s next athletic director with a sense of urgency and purpose.
That search ended last week when the school announced the hiring of Jeremiah Donati, who’se been athletic director at TCU in Dallas/Fort Worth since 2017.
The hiring of Donati came more than two months after Ray Tanner announced on Sept. 13 that he was stepping down as athletic director and moving into a new role as senior advisor to Amiridis. Tanner remains the school’s AD until Donati takes over Jan. 2.
South Carolina used the Funk Associates executive search firm during the process, according to the school.
“You have to be quick in these cases. You can’t be slow and have people waiting. It had to be done,” Amiridis said Thursday.
During Donati’s introductory press conference, Amiridis outlined the characteristics of what he was looking for and what to avoid in the next athletic director. He spoke of getting the advice of others for the search, asking what the USC board of trustees, coaches, the Gamecock Club board and student-athletic leadership committee wanted in Tanner’s successor.
“They want somebody who is successful, experienced, a visionary, great communicator, fundraiser and friendly. After those meetings, I started thinking I would be looking for a unicorn,” Amiridis said. “... I also found out there was a unicorn in Dallas with a first name and last name of Jeremiah Donati.”
USC gave Donati a raise from his $1.3 million salary at TCU to $1.9 million per year, and that increases $100,000 annually. The school will also pay no more than $2 million toward his contract buyout at TCU.
Amiridis said Donati’s salary puts him seventh among Southeastern Conference athletic directors. Tennessee’s Danny White is No. 1 at $2.75 million per year.
Donati was the only person USC offered the job to, Amiridis said, despite some reports that linked the Gamecocks to Georgia Tech’s J Batt. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported last week that Batt was getting a new five-year deal that will extend him at the school through 2029.
Arkansas’ Hunter Yurachek, a former Coastal Carolina athletic director, spoke on a radio show and denied interest in the Gamecocks’ opening.
“I have no intention of going to South Carolina. That’s all social media speculation, I believe due to my ties to that area from my time at Coastal Carolina and growing up in Charlotte,” Yurachek said to David Bazzel on 103.7 FM in Arkansas.
Amiridis made it clear Thursday that he was looking for someone who was a current athletic director at a school, preferably at the Power 4 level.
Amiridis said the interview process started in early November and that 12 people were contacted for the job. One other person turned down a request to talk about the job, according to the president.
From there, the field was narrowed to five people who met with Amiridis in person at various locations.
During the process, Amiridis said it became clear that Donati was the choice.
“He was the guy,” Amiridis said. “His experience, success, his personality, his emphasis holistically on the success of the students.
“... His presence in the national scene, the respect of his peers, his presence and personality combined and differentiated him from the rest of the group we talked to.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
