Board of Trustees Officially Approves Five New Coaching Contracts
In one of the busiest Board of Trustees meetings in recent memory, the University of South Carolina officially ratified five new athletics contracts on Tuesday afternoon.
The headliner was Paul Mainieri, the legendary former LSU head coach who is now officially the head man in Columbia. He came out of retirement after three years for a five-year contract with a salary of $1,300,000 annually, making him the highest paid head coach in South Carolina baseball history and nearly doubling Mark Kingston's salary of $725,000 and taking South Carolina into the middle of the SEC pack in terms of baseball coach salaries.
“Paul Mainieri is an outstanding coach, teacher, competitor and someone that I have known for many years,” Athletics Director Ray Tanner said in an official university statement. “One can judge his success through his many championships, SEC and NCAA, but I see the impact he has made on young men and know he can have that same success here as has achieved in his career.”
Mainieri has filled in two of his assistant spots as well, including one key retention. Monte Lee, who was up for the head coaching job himself, is staying on staff with a salary of $550,000 annually to make him the highest paid assistant coach in all of college baseball. He will keep his titles of associate head coach and hittin coach.
Terry Rooney, a former assistant on Mainieri's staff in Baton Rouge, is also coming to Columbia as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He will make $425,000 annually. Current Virginia director of player development and scouting John Hendry will also join Mainieri's staff according to a university release, but contract details have not been released yet with the Cavaliers still playing in Omaha.
Elsewhere, the board also approved contracts for new head softball coach Ashley Chastain and new men's golf head coach Rob Bradley. Both inked five-year contracts, with the former making $300,000 annually and the latter at $240,000 per year.
***************************************************************************
Want 2 months free on your Rivals subscription? Refer a friend and they'll get 50% off their first year while you get 2 months free, and the best part? You can do it as many times as you want. Just use your custom referral link on your subscriptions page (linked above).