Yahoo Sports Million-dollar man: Paul Mainieri hired as highest-paid baseball coach in USC history
It’s official: Paul Mainieri is the new head coach for South Carolina baseball.
USC’s Board of Trustees governance committee approved Mainieri’s hiring and contract in a meeting Tuesday. His deal will run for five years with an annual salary of $1.3 million.
Mainieri comes out of retirement tied with Mississippi State’s Chris Lemonis as the eighth-highest paid coach in SEC (according to 2024 salary figures reported by The Tennessean) and first million-dollar baseball coach in school history.
The committee also approved a new three-year contract for current assistant baseball coach Monte Lee ($550,000 a year) and new assistant coach Terry Rooney ($425,000 a year).
The 66-year-old Mainieri coached at LSU for 15 seasons and led the Tigers to a Men’s College World Series title in 2009. He had been retired since 2021 before agreeing to take the helm at South Carolina. He was making $1.1 million a year in his last contract with LSU.
Mainieri will be expected to make the Gamecocks contenders for the Men’s College World Series, where USC has not been since 2012 (when current athletic director Ray Tanner was the coach).
USC parted ways with Mark Kingston last week after the 2024 season ended with a 2-0 loss to James Madison in the NCAA Raleigh Regional. Kingston coached at South Carolina for seven years and compiled a 217-145 overall record (including 83-96 in the SEC). He led the Gamecocks to four NCAA Tournament appearances and two super regionals during his tenure.
South Carolina also adds new softball, men’s golf head coaches
Former Gamecocks pitcher Ashley Chastain was approved as the new softball coach. Her contract will run through June 30, 2029, and she will receive an annual salary of $300,000 per year.
Rob Bradley was approved as the new men’s golf coach. (may 31 2029) His contract will run through May 31, 2029, and he will receive an annual salary of $240,000.
SEC baseball coaching salaries 2024
Vanderbilt — Tim Corbin: $1,942,165*
Florida — Kevin O’Sullivan: $1.755 million
LSU — Jay Johnson: $1.65 million
Ole Miss — Mike Bianco: $1.625 million
Tennessee — Tony Vitello: $1.5 million
Texas A&M — Jim Schlossnagle: $1.46 million
Arkansas — Dave Van Horn: $1.4 million
Mississippi State — Chris Lemonis: $1.3 million
South Carolina — Paul Mainieri: $1.3 million
Auburn — Butch Thompson: $1.275 million
Texas — David Pierce: $1.2 million
Alabama — Rob Vaughn: $900,000
Oklahoma — Skip Johnson: $775,000
Kentucky — Nick Mingione: $705,000
Georgia — Wes Johnson: $702,000
Missouri — Kerrick Jackson: $675,000
*According to most recently available tax records (2022)
