Dan McDonnell: 5 things to know about potential South Carolina baseball coach

As the South Carolina baseball coaching search moves along, one veteran ACC coach has drawn a significant amount of buzz: Louisville’s Dan McDonnell.

Here are five things to know about McDonnell, including his ties to the state of South Carolina, his history with the Cardinals and his reported interest in the USC job.

Win, win, win

McDonnell isn’t lacking on accolades.

Entering the 2024 season, he’d won 719 games at Louisville, the third most of any coach nationally since 2007 (his first season coaching the Cardinals). That’s 42 wins a year on average — and the success extends past the regular season.

Through 18 completed seasons at UL, McDonnell’s teams have won 10 regular-season conference titles and two conference tournament titles; advanced to 13 NCAA regionals and nine NCAA super regionals; and reached five College World Series.

McDonnell, in 2007, became the first rookie head coach to lead his team to Omaha in 27 years. The Cardinals have since appeared in 2013, 2013, 2017 and 2019.

South Carolina ties

McDonnell was born in New York, but before rising to fame as an assistant coach at Ole Miss and head coach at Louisville he spent over a decade in the Lowcountry.

A standout second baseman for The Citadel from 1989-92, McDonnell graduated as the school’s all-time leader in stolen bases and walks. He was also a key member of the beloved 1990 Bulldogs team that improbably reached the College World Series.

That team, coached by the late Chal Port, remains the only military college to ever qualify for the CWS. McDonnell had a hit in all three of the Bulldogs’ games there.

He’s often referenced his love for that team, which also featured current Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis. McDonnell worked as an assistant at The Citadel from 1993-2000 and helped the program reach four NCAA regionals in that span.

Looking at other jobs

In the past, McDonnell has been connected to other high-level college baseball job openings — and spoken openly about his willingness to pick up the phone and listen.

He was a candidate for the Mississippi State job that went to Lemonis in 2018 and the LSU job that went to Jay Johnson in 2021. And various national and local insiders have intimated there’s long been some mutual interest between McDonnell and South Carolina, if the timing was ever right.

“I think there are jobs out there that out of respect you’re curious to listen,” McDonnell told the (Louisville) Courier Journal in 2021. “I think it’s healthy to listen, so I would never say I wouldn’t listen to somebody to talk about their situation.”

A ‘committed’ administration

In recent years, McDonnell has also expressed some frustration toward Louisville’s university and athletic department leaders for a lack of urgency and investment when it comes to things such as baseball facilities and upgrades over similar investments for football and basketball.

“I want to be at a place that’s committed, when it’s all said and done. … Ultimately, we’re trying to get to Omaha and win a national championship,” he said after the 2023 season. “It ain’t gonna happen unless we make a full commitment.”

Although some concerns remain about the strength of South Carolina baseball’s NIL operation, the Gamecocks are generally regarded as a school that cares about and invests in baseball. USC’s Founders Park is one of the SEC’s more picturesque ballparks and features a stand-alone weight room and player’s lounge for the team.

McDonnell’s contract situation alone would require a commitment on South Carolina’s end. Kingston was one of the lowest paid coaches in the SEC at the time of his firing (about $750,000 in annual salary).

Under his latest contract signed in 2019, McDonnell makes over $1 million in annual compensation — but that figure’s becoming the norm in the SEC.

A recent slump

For all of McDonnell’s success at Louisville, the last few seasons — on paper — have been ... interesting.

Since their last appearance in the College World Series as a 51-8 team in 2019, the Cardinals have only qualified for one the last four NCAA Tournaments.

Excluding the 2020 season, which was canceled due to COVID-19, Louisville missed the tournament in 2021 at 28-22, rebounded with a super regional appearance in 2022 and missed back-to-back tournaments in 2023 and 2024 for the first time ever under McDonnell.

The 2023 season was especially disappointing as Louisville won 16 of its first 17 games and ranked as high as No. 2 nationally but slumped and finished sixth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division with a 10-20 record. Louisville this year was 16-14 in the ACC.

Five years without a trip to Omaha isn’t an awful streak — USC hasn’t been since 2012 and rival Clemson hasn’t been since 2010 — but flat-out missing the postseason would not fly at South Carolina, where super regionals are an expectation.

Those recent seasons could put a damper on McDonnell’s appeal, as could the concerns of an older, more veteran coach adapting to college baseball in 2024 (specifically using the transfer portal and NIL to build and maintain rosters).