South Carolina announces parting with baseball coach Paul Mainieri
By David Wasson
Published:
For the second time in less than two years, the South Carolina baseball program is in search of a new coach.
The Gamecocks announced that they are parting ways with veteran coach Paul Mainieri on Saturday, bringing to an end his tenure in Columbia that began with the 2025 season. Mainieri departs Columbia with a 40-40 record that includes a 12-11 mark this season heading into Saturday’s second game of a three-game home series against No. 4 Arkansas.
“(South Carolina athletic director) Jeremiah Donati and I have agreed that the baseball program will be better served with new leadership,” Mainieri said in a statement. “I take full responsibility for the win/loss record of the baseball program over the 80 games I have served as head coach.
“When Ray Tanner invited me to come out of three years of retirement to coach again, my goal was to work with young people again and restore the South Carolina program to greatness with a return to Omaha. My staff and I have worked diligently in an attempt to accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, that goal has not materialized as quickly as I would have liked and will take more time than I had anticipated and that is time that I just don’t have at my age.”
Donati indicated in the statement that the decision to part ways with Mainieri — who won a College World Series at LSU and also coached at Notre Dame, Air Force and St. Thomas in a 39-year Hall of Fame career — was reached Saturday morning.
“After a conversation this morning with Coach Mainieri, we agreed that it would be in the best interest of the program that we part ways at this time,” Donati said. “I appreciate everything Paul has poured into our student-athletes and our program, not just at South Carolina, but throughout his career. He is a Hall of Fame coach and a world-class individual, and we wish him and his family all the best.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
