South Carolina baseball on Tuesday named former LSU coach Paul Mainieri as its new head coach.
Mainieri, 66, coached LSU for 15 seasons, leading the Tigers to the 2009 national title and five appearances in the Men's College World Series. Mainieri replaces Mark Kingston, who was fired last week after seven seasons.
“Paul Mainieri is an excellent coach, teacher, competitor and someone I have known for many years,” said athletic director Ray Tanner. “One can judge his success through his numerous SEC and NCAA championships, but I see the impact he has had on young men and I know he can have the same success here that he has achieved in his career.” “.
Mainieri left the Tigers in 2021, calling it retirement at the time. He now returns as the active leader in Division I wins with 1,505. In addition to the 2009 national title, Mainieri led LSU to a second-place finish in 2017. He has made six College World Series appearances, five with LSU and one with Notre Dame, four SEC championships, six SEC tournament championships and 10 NCAA regional championships.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to coach at a prestigious and tradition-rich college baseball program,” Mainieri said. “I trained and competed against Ray Tanner for years and always had the utmost respect for him and the USC program. To now join him on the same team and be a part of this program was just something I couldn't walk away from.”
South Carolina finished 37-25 and 13-17 in the SEC this season, which ended with a 2-0 loss to James Madison in the NCAA Raleigh Regional tournament last week.
The Gamecocks haven't made the MCWS since 2012. They won the national title in 2010 and 2011.
Mainieri also announced the retention of associate head coach/hitting coach Monte Lee and the additions of pitching coach/recruiting coordinator Terry Rooney and assistant coach John Hendry.
“We have a great coaching staff,” Mainieri said. “I feel great and energized, I can't wait to start working with the players, and we are going to take this University of South Carolina baseball program where it belongs: in Omaha and in the College World Series.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
