South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner officially announced on Friday morning that he will be transitioning into a new role within the university. Although Tanner will retain his title as AD until a new one is hired, he will then move on into the role of "Senior Advisor to the President" in a job which will consist of fundraising, advising the new AD and other matters pertaining to the athletic department.

"This is year 13 for me," Tanner said on a conference call with local media. "I believe I'm in the top seven or eight in the country in longest tenured ADs at one university, and there was going to be a time. Much like when I coached baseball, I didn't leave because I didn't think the program was going to be good anymore or I was going to become the Athletics Diirector. It was time."

The timing is a little bit odd with South Carolina football hosting College GameDay this weekend amidst a successful start to the athletics calendar, and school president Michael Amiridis clarified that the search for a new AD will not start until the end of November.

So why now? It was only a matter of time.

"The president and I and the chairman have had conversations for many months about the timing," Tanner explained. "It's never going to be a perfect time, and we talked about that. But we also realize that when there are conversations that are happening, they soon become public. If more than one person knows something, it's not a secret."

Amiridis clarified on the call that Tanner will not have a role in choosing his successor, but did offer some insight into what he is looking for. This is the first time he will have to fill the position since joining South Carolina, and it falls at a time where the landscape of college athletics is changing rapidly.

"I have always preferred record than promise," Amiridis said. ""Given the conditions that we have in athletics. I want somebody who has been in this position for years, and has a strong record. Also, I am looking for somebody that has the same type of respect in the college athletics community like Ray had, and I'm looking also for somebody that will be as committed to the Gamecocks as Ray has been for a number of years."

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