Paul Mainieri Out at South Carolina Mid-Season
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- Paul Mainieri, 68, stepped down as South Carolina's head baseball coach midway through his second season, with the university announcing the mutual decision Saturday after a six-game losing streak.
- The Gamecocks went 40-40 under Mainieri, finishing 28-29 last season and opening this year 12-12 overall and 0-5 in SEC play, capped by a 22-6 loss to Arkansas on Friday and a 3-2, 10-inning defeat Saturday.
- Monte Lee, previously Mainieri's hitting coach, is serving as interim head coach; Lee posted a 518-281 career record as head coach at College of Charleston (2009-15) and Clemson (2016-22).
- Mainieri ranks sixth in NCAA history with 1,545 career wins across 39 years as a head coach at St. Thomas, Air Force, Notre Dame (1995-2006), and LSU (2007-21) before going 40-40 at South Carolina.
- His 2009 LSU Tigers won the College World Series title, and he made six CWS appearances total (one with Notre Dame in 2002, five with LSU in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017), going 641-285-3 in Baton Rouge.
- Athletic director Jeremiah Donati and Mainieri agreed new leadership was needed; Mainieri said in a statement: 'I did not get the job done at a level that I expected, or the university deserves,' citing his age as a factor in not having more time to rebuild.
- Mainieri had been lured out of a three-year retirement by former South Carolina AD Ray Tanner with the stated goal of returning the program to the College World Series in Omaha — a goal that 'has not materialized as quickly as I would have liked,' Mainieri said.
Why it matters: South Carolina must now find a permanent head coach mid-season while buried in an 0-5 SEC start and a six-game losing streak — a tough sell for athletic director Jeremiah Donati despite the program's pedigree. The 68-year-old Mainieri's exit closes an unsuccessful 1.5-season return from retirement for a coach who went 641-285-3 at LSU.
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