Breaking news South Carolina Gamecocks Land top prospect five star over Alabama and Georgia welcome…
The “perfect situation” is a job in the SEC. It’s a $1.9 million contract (and a $600,000 raise from what he was previously making at TCU). It’s a job where your predecessor, Ray Tanner, stepped down with admiration. Where there are no scandals looming. Where there are no vacant coaching openings to fill.
It’s a school where no head coach of the four major programs — football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball — is on the hot seat. Where all four of those programs are coming off postseason appearances.
Where a dynasty — coach Dawn Staley’s women’s basketball team — is still rolling. Where the athletic department’s moneymaker, the football program, is on an upward trajectory led by a youthful
It’s also a school led by a president, Michael Amiridis, that seems to place a high value on the importance of athletics. Amiridis asked Donati during the interview process, “Can we raise our profile, our brand and win football games?” Donati told The State. “Competing in the SEC at the highest level was important (to him).”
Granted, that sunny outlook can change in an instant. Donati knows that better than anyone. Things were looking splendid when he took over at TCU in 2017. But within months, a former football player sued the school in a medical negligence lawsuit and Donati had to fire the head swimming and diving coach after damning accusations.
“I’m hoping it’s a little smoother than that,” Donati said last week. “But I also understand in the world of college athletics, there’s no guarantees.”
Case in point: His perfect situation arrives at an imperfect time.
The NCAA is seemingly getting sued every 12 seconds. Revenue sharing, as a result of the House v. NCAA settlement, will come into effect in a few months. Fans are bankrolling rosters with NIL. The transfer portal brings chaos and tension every December. The rules on eligibility are shifting so rapidly that some, like South Carolina LB Bam Martin-Scott, aren’t sure if they’ve played their last college game or not.
For weeks, as he waited to officially take over at South Carolina, Donati worked to acclimate himself with all things South Carolina.
He said in his introductory news conference that the first few months would involve a lot of listening and learning and, so far, that’s held true.
“The team has done a tremendous job in the transition to kind of arm me with a lot of factual information about the departments and how the athletic department is set up, and so I know a lot going in,” Donati said.
Jeremiah Donati began his South Carolina athletic director tenure Thursday, stepping into a fortunate situation at a somewhat unfortunate time.
After 13 years at Texas Christian University, including the last seven as athletic director, Donati finally jumped at a job offer, deciding to pick up and move his wife and two daughters across the country to a state in which he had never worked.
“We would have been happy there for a long, long time,” Donati said. “It really was going to take what we felt like was the perfect situation to move our family.”
