South Carolina baseball coach candidates: Four options Gamecocks could consider

COLUMBIA — South Carolina baseball's 2026 season is officially over.

The Gamecocks lost 11-6 to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament first round May 19 in Hoover, Alabama.

South Carolina likely played its last game under interim coach Monte Lee, who took over after the school announced March 21 that Paul Mainieri would not finish his second season.

Mainieri, 68, was hired in June 2024 to replace Mark Kingston, who was fired after seven seasons. Mainieri came out of retirement to take the job. In his first season, the Gamecocks went 28-29 and 6-24 in SEC play, the worst conference record in program history. 

Lee took over when the Gamecocks were 12-11 overall, 0-4 in SEC play. They finished 22-35, 7-23. Their 13-game losing streak is the longest for the program since 1961.

Ray Tanner coached South Carolina baseball for 16 seasons, winning national titles in 2010 and 2011 before switching to athletic director in 2012. He retired in 2024, right after hiring Mainieri.

Jeremiah Donati took over as AD in early 2025 and now has his first big coaching hire to make.

"The challenge is if you're looking to talk to coaches who are currently playing. Many of those coaches are going to be playing until mid June (but) as far as a timeline, I'd say as soon as possible," Donati said May 6 when asked for an update on the search. "This is a huge opportunity, people know that, people know this is a baseball school."

Mainieri wasn't hired until June 11, Kingston wasn't hired until June 30 and Chad Holbrook wasn't hired until July 7.

Here's a look at some coaches who might make sense for the job.

Kevin Schnall, Coastal Carolina

Schnall, 49, is in his second season as Coastal Carolina coach. One season ago, the Chanticleers went 56–13 and finished as runnerup to LSU in the College World Series.

Coastal set a record for program wins and won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Schnall was named the 2025 National Coach of the Year by Baseball America.

The Chanticleers took a slight dip this year at 39-19 and 21-9 in conference play. But Schnall's name has been mentioned since even before Mainieri left.

James Ramsey, Georgia Tech

Ramsey, 36, is in his first season as Georgia Tech coach after seven as an assistant. His path is similar to Schnall, who was a long-time Coastal assistant before getting promoted.

Though Ramsey just got his first head coaching job, he's put up an impressive showing as the Yellow Jackets are 45-9 and 25-5 in ACC play.

Ramsey is young, but he has Georgia Tech as a top-5 team in his first season.

Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas

Fitzgerald, 49, is in his fourth season with the Jayhawks and also had a strong 2025 season, with a program-record 42 wins. He led them to their first NCAA Tournament since 2014.

Kansas is 39-16 and 22-8 in Big 12 action, and in three of his last four seasons, Fitzgerald has won at least 31 games.

He brings head coaching experience but also SEC experience after a season at LSU as an assistant.

Rob Vaughn, Alabama

Vaughn, 38, spent six seasons at Maryland before coming to the SEC to coach Alabama in 2024.

He went 183-117 with the Terps, winning Big Ten regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023. Since getting to Tuscaloosa, he has won at least 33 games.

The Crimson Tide are 37-18 (18-12 SEC) and in 2025 went 41-18 and 16-14 before losing in the NCAA Tournament regional.

Vaughn has already proved he can win in the SEC.

Will South Carolina hire Monte Lee?

When Kingston was fired, players used social media to advocate for Lee, saying the program should just promote him from associate to head coach. But Tanner hired Mainieri.

Lee, 49, joined the Gamecocks staff in 2022 for a second time as he was an assistant coach under Tanner from 2003-08.

He was coach at Charleston from 2009-15, finishing 276-145 before he took the Clemson job from 2016-22. With the Tigers, Lee finished 242-136 and led them to four NCAA tournament berths. They also won the 2016 ACC Tournament. He was fired in May 2022.

Even though Lee won more SEC games in less than a full season than Mainieri did in a little over one, it's unlikely he gets the job.

South Carolina didn't make a big enough jump under Lee in 2026 for Donati to hire him permanently.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina baseball coach hot board: 4 options for Gamecocks