COLUMBIA, S.C. — Third time the charm?
South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner has made his third head coaching hire for a baseball program that he led to two consecutive national championships.
Paul Mainieri has previous experience in taking programs to the city that is most revered by the college baseball world. He is one of 13 head coaches to lead multiple programs to Omaha, first going to the college world series with Notre Dame before leading LSU to the 2009 national championship.
It is the hope of Gamecock fans that Mainieri can lead one more program to Omaha.
The eighth winningest college baseball coach all-time with 1,505 wins, Mainieri is the winningest active head coach and that is what he will bring to Founders Park when a new season opens in February of 2025.
Mainieri left the dugout after the 2021 season at LSU due to chronic neck pain which required surgery. Three years later, Mainieri says he feels closer to 40 as opposed to his actual age of 66 and that is certainly a message to not only the fans but the players who will make up the 2025 Gamecock baseball squad.