Sources: South Carolina Focusing on Paul Mainieri As Subsequent Head Coach

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LSU coach Paul Mainieri (Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos By job of Getty)

Multiple sources on Monday told Baseball The United States that South Carolina is focusing on Paul Mainieri as its subsequent head coach. As of but, there would possibly be not in any admire times any confirmation that a deal is in impart.

Mainieri, who won the 2009 national championship at LSU, has been out of baseball for the closing three seasons after retiring because the Tigers coach following the 2021 season.

Mainieri, 66, would negate a valorous pedigree. He became once a head coach for 39 seasons at LSU, Notre Dame, Air Pressure and St. Thomas (Fla.) and ranks eighth all-time in wins with 1,505. Mainieri led LSU to the national championship in 2009 and a runner-up gain in 2017. He’s one of 13 coaches to lead two assorted capabilities to the School World Sequence and became once named Baseball The United States Coach of the one year in 2009.

When Mainieri retired three years ago, sources stated he stepped down as a result of smartly being points, as he suffered from migraine headaches in 2021. After his retirement, then again, Mainieri has on no myth gone removed from instructing. He became once appealing on instructing searches at Notre Dame in 2022 and Miami in 2023 forward of passing on both opportunities.

If Mainieri does accept the job, he’ll return to the dugout after three seasons away and build so in a truly exciting jam. He’ll be working for Ray Tanner, in opposition to whom he old to compete within the SEC forward of he became once promoted to athletic director in 2012. It is mostly in opposition to Tanner whom every South Carolina baseball coach is judged. Tanner won wait on-to-wait on national titles in 2010-11 and played for a third straight title in 2012. In his 16 years at this intention’s helm, he grew to alter into the Gamecocks into one of many sport’s premier capabilities and made six appearances in Omaha.

Since Tanner grew to alter into athletic director, then again, South Carolina has now not maintained that level of success. First below Chad Holbrook after which Label Kingston, the Gamecocks enjoy slid into the heart of the SEC pack over the closing 12 years. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament seven cases, nonetheless a valorous rate, and made mountainous regionals four cases. Nonetheless they haven’t been to Omaha, haven’t won the SEC and hosted supers right once.

Within the 12 years since South Carolina’s closing CWS look, 10 SEC colleges enjoy reached Omaha – and that doesn’t depend Oklahoma and Texas, which enjoy both been in that time body and are in point of fact joining the conference.

Getting South Carolina wait on to that level would possibly be Mainieri’s remit. He’ll favor to navigate the transfer portal, the unusual NIL realities, a 16-team mountainous conference and, more than seemingly, a truly restructured college baseball panorama after the settlement of Dwelling v. NCAA. All of that has modified critically since he led LSU.

It won’t be straightforward, but Mainieri has proved to be impressively adaptable in his occupation. He coached at a carrier academy, an elite tutorial college within the Midwest and, arguably, the game’s ideal job. He won in any admire three. Leading South Carolina in 2025 would more than seemingly require his ideal adjustment but.