Only a little over a week after parting ways with head coach Mark Kingston, the South Carolina Gamecocks are now reportedly zeroing in on their next head baseball coach, which happens to be a familiar one across the SEC.
That is because the Gamecocks are targeting former LSU head coach Paul Mainieri according to reports to takeover the South Carolina program.
Mainieri, who retired back in 2021, was the head coach at LSU from 2007-21 where he led the Tigers to multiple College World Series appearances during that span. Under Mainieri, LSU also won a national title at in 2009, finished as national runner-up in 2017, and won multiple SEC Regular Season and Tournament titles.
Should the Gamecocks hire Mainieri, the former national champion coach would takeover a South Carolina program that finished the 2024 season at 37-25 overall to make a NCAA Regional appearance. The Gamecocks also went 13-17 in SEC play this past season, and have not made a College World Series since 2012.
🚨BREAKING: Paul Mainieri is expected to be named the new head baseball coach at @GamecockBasebll, @d1baseball has learned. Mainieri guided #LSU to the 2009 national championship and has tallied more than 1,500 wins in his career. Kudos to @tedcahill for 1st mentioning poss. pic.twitter.com/d07XDCEL3o
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 10, 2024