Following South Carolina‘s dreadful 22-7 loss to No. 4 Arkansas on Friday, the program parted ways with legendary head coach Paul Mainieri. Mainieri was in the midst of his second season in Columbia, where he had led the Gamecocks to a 12-11 (0-4) start to the season.

Mainieri announced his retirement from coaching following the 2021 season at LSU (his 15th at the program), but came out of retirement in 2025 to coach at South Carolina following Mark Kingston‘s firing. The Gamecocks went 28-29 (6-24) last season and missed the NCAA Tournament, making this season extremely important for the former College World Series-winning coach.

Just days after being let go from his position, Mainieri opened up about the media and fans at South Carolina in an interview with Nola.com. He did not seem to be pleased with the fan base.

“The people here just got very impatient. I’m not talking necessarily even about the athletic director (Jeremiah Donati). He was great,” Mainieri said. “But I think (the people) above him, and I think the fans and the media, everybody here was pretty impatient. And so, I just felt like it was time, you know? So when (Donati) and I talked about it, we both kind of agreed that, let’s see if maybe if I step aside, it’ll give a little jolt of new energy to the team.”

South Carolina was 40-40 with Paul Mainieri at the helm

South Carolina associate head coach Monte Lee, who has formerly coached at rival Clemson, was promoted to head coach following Mainieri’s departure. With Lee in charge, the Gamecocks split the final two games of their series against the Razorbacks.

Although Mainieri’s time in Columbia didn’t pan out, he doesn’t plan on letting it ruin how he looks at his career. The Morgantown native led LSU to a National Championship (2009), four SEC Regular Season Championships, and six SEC Tournament Championships. Prior to his tenure in Baton Rouge, Mainieri led Notre Dame to four Big East Regular Season Championships and five Big East Tournament Championships.

“I’m not going to let one little 80-game era ruin my feelings about my career,” Mainieri said. “And I hope other people don’t look at it that way either.”

Across his 40-year coaching career, Mainieri compiled a 1,545–817–8 (.654) record. He is the 10th-winningest coach in collegiate baseball history.