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Almost immediately after Paul Mainieri coached his last South Carolina baseball game, Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall was linked to the job opening, and while that hasn't changed, a new name has emerged as well, according to a recent report.
Kendall Rogers of DI Baseball reported May 29 that the two leading candidates for the job "barring a last-second surprise" are Schnall and West Virginia's Steve Sabins.
This news comes hours before Coastal plays in the Tallahassee Regional against Northern Illinois at 8 p.m. ET. The Chanticleers are 37-21 in Year 2 with Schnall. In his first season, they lost to LSU in the College World Series championship series, finishing 56-13.
Sabins spent nine seasons as an assistant coach of West Virginia before he was promoted to head coach in June 2024. The Mountaineers went 44-16 and won the Big 12 regular season title before losing in the super regionals in Sabins' first season.
West Virginia is 39-14 and is hosting an NCAA regional. The Mountaineers open vs Binghamton at 5 p.m. ET on May 29.
Schnall addressed the link to South Carolina's coaching search in an interview May 26 with SportsTalkSC and said he hasn't spoken to the school, but his agent talked to a South Carolina search firm.
According to D1 Baseball, the Gamecocks and athletic director Jeremiah Donati also showed interest in Georgia Tech coach James Ramsey, but "There was zero reason for him to leave Atlanta."
Ramsey signed a contract extension on May 27, and Georgia Tech is the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Mainieri, 68, came out of retirement to take the job at South Carolina and was hired in June 2024 to replace Mark Kingston, who was fired after seven seasons.
In his first season, the Gamecocks went 28-29 and 6-24 in SEC play, the worst conference record in program history. The school announced March 21 this season that Mainieri would not return, and interim coach Monte Lee took over the Gamecocks with a 12-11 overall, 0-4 SEC record.
They finished 22-35, 7-23 and their 13-game losing streak is the longest for the program since 1961. Donati fired Lee and two other assistants on May 21.
Mainieri initially was set to make $1.3 million annually with his five-year contract. D1 Baseball reported that Schnall and Sabins have a base salary of $500,000.
This is Donati's first major coaching search since taking over for Ray Tanner in early 2025. Tanner coached South Carolina baseball for 16 seasons, winning national titles in 2010 and 2011 before switching to athletic director in 2012. He hired Mainieri then retired three months later.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina baseball focus on Kevin Schnall, Steve Sabins, per report
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Kendall Rogers of DI Baseball reported May 29 that the two leading candidates for the job "barring a last-second surprise" are Schnall and West Virginia's Steve Sabins.
This news comes hours before Coastal plays in the Tallahassee Regional against Northern Illinois at 8 p.m. ET. The Chanticleers are 37-21 in Year 2 with Schnall. In his first season, they lost to LSU in the College World Series championship series, finishing 56-13.
Sabins spent nine seasons as an assistant coach of West Virginia before he was promoted to head coach in June 2024. The Mountaineers went 44-16 and won the Big 12 regular season title before losing in the super regionals in Sabins' first season.
West Virginia is 39-14 and is hosting an NCAA regional. The Mountaineers open vs Binghamton at 5 p.m. ET on May 29.
Schnall addressed the link to South Carolina's coaching search in an interview May 26 with SportsTalkSC and said he hasn't spoken to the school, but his agent talked to a South Carolina search firm.
According to D1 Baseball, the Gamecocks and athletic director Jeremiah Donati also showed interest in Georgia Tech coach James Ramsey, but "There was zero reason for him to leave Atlanta."
Ramsey signed a contract extension on May 27, and Georgia Tech is the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Paul Mainieri was out as South Carolina coach in March
Mainieri, 68, came out of retirement to take the job at South Carolina and was hired in June 2024 to replace Mark Kingston, who was fired after seven seasons.
In his first season, the Gamecocks went 28-29 and 6-24 in SEC play, the worst conference record in program history. The school announced March 21 this season that Mainieri would not return, and interim coach Monte Lee took over the Gamecocks with a 12-11 overall, 0-4 SEC record.
They finished 22-35, 7-23 and their 13-game losing streak is the longest for the program since 1961. Donati fired Lee and two other assistants on May 21.
Mainieri initially was set to make $1.3 million annually with his five-year contract. D1 Baseball reported that Schnall and Sabins have a base salary of $500,000.
This is Donati's first major coaching search since taking over for Ray Tanner in early 2025. Tanner coached South Carolina baseball for 16 seasons, winning national titles in 2010 and 2011 before switching to athletic director in 2012. He hired Mainieri then retired three months later.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina baseball focus on Kevin Schnall, Steve Sabins, per report
Continue reading...
