South Carolina and Paul Mainieri reach buyout agreement
South Carolina and Paul Mainieri reach buyout agreement
South Carolina has officially reached an agreement on Paul Mainieri’s buyout less than a week after parting ways with the former head baseball coach.
The Gamecocks will pay Mainieri $2.5 million, per a report from The Post and Courier’s David Cloninger late Thursday night.
Per the terms of his contract, Mainieri would have been owed $3.9 million over the final three years of his deal, plus the remainder of what he would’ve made coaching out the rest of this season. It would’ve pushed the total north of $4 million.
If Mainieri was fired without cause, he would have been owed the entirety of what’s remaining on his contract, which runs through May 31, 2029. Had he left on his own terms, he wouldn’t have been owed anything.
Mainieri and athletics director Jeremiah Donati met last Saturday morning after the Gamecocks were blown out in a 22-6 loss to Arkansas at Founders Park the night before. Monte Lee has taken over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
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Mainieri’s time with the Gamecocks ends with a 40-40 record and just six wins in SEC play. He’ll finish his Hall of Fame career with a 1,545-817-8 record between stops at St. Thomas, Air Force, Notre Dame, LSU and South Carolina.
South Carolina will open a three-game series with No. 7 Georgia in Athens on Friday. First pitch from Foley Field will be at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. Josh Gunther (2-1, 6.33 ERA) will get the start on the mound.
