South Carolina expected to part ways with head baseball coach Paul Mainieri

South Carolina is expected to part ways with head baseball coach Paul Mainieri, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. He was in the midst of his second season with the Gamecocks after returning to the dugout in 2025.

Mainieri replaced Mark Kingston in 2025 after coming out of retirement. Before that, he last coached in 2021 at LSU, where he went 641-283-3 across 14 years and led the Tigers to a College World Series title in 2009. All told, LSU made five trips to Omaha during his time at the helm.

Things got off to a rough start at South Carolina, though. The Gamecocks went 28-29 overall and 6-24 in SEC play during Mainieri’s debut season, and the struggles continued this year. South Carolina most recently fell to Arkansas 22-6 on Friday night for its fourth straight loss to start SEC play.

Following the blowout loss, Mainieri was asked about the vibe around the dugout after it appeared to be fairly quiet during the game. He made it clear the Gamecocks players were giving it their all while also cheering each other on.

“Yeah, I think our players are giving it the best they can,” Mainieri said. “The people in the dugout are rooting for the other teammates.”

Friday’s game was the first of a three-game series against Arkansas at Founders Park. First pitch for Game 2 is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

Paul Mainieri began his coaching career at NAIA St. Thomas from 1983-88 before becoming the head coach at Air Force, where he went 152-158. He then left to take over at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to four Big East titles and became the 2001 conference coach of the year. All told, Mainieri had a 533-213-3 overall record in South Bend and took the program to the College World Series in 2002.

After the 2006 season, Mainieri took over at LSU. The Tigers won six SEC tournament titles and four conference regular season championships across his time at the helm from 2007-21, when he announced his retirement.

In Baton Rouge, Mainieri was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year and won both the National College Baseball Writers Association National Coach of the Year and the Skip Bertman Award in 2015. That season, LSU went 54-12 overall and 21-8 in SEC play en route to a second CWS appearance in three years.