Report: South Carolina 'working toward' hiring TCU athletics director Jeremiah Donati

South Carolina appears to be close to tapping a new athletics director following the resignation of Ray Tanner back in September.

According to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN, South Carolina is “working toward” hiring TCU athletics director Jeremiah Donati for the same role with the Gamecocks. Donati has been in charge at TCU since late 2017 and has been with the program since 2011.

Most notably, Donati oversaw a TCU football program that went to the national championship game in 2022.

But he’s overseen plenty of athletics success in his stint with the Horned Frogs. In the 2023-24 athletics season, TCU was one of just five schools nationally to win multiple NCAA Championships with its titles in rifle and men’s tennis. Sixteen sports were represented in postseason play. Additionally, TCU sent a school record nine current or former student-athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

That Donati is comfortable working within the confines of a power conference also can’t hurt. He’ll have his work cut out for him in the ultra-competitive SEC.

He follows up on a South Carolina athletics director stint that will be fondly remembered. And Ray Tanner will still be around.

The program noted upon Tanner’s resignation that he will become “athletics director emeritus” in a deal that will run until June 2028. The deal can be extended at that time upon mutual consent.

“I’m humbled and honored that I have had the great fortune to be a part of this wonderful university and that will continue,” Tanner said in a release. “For a while now, I have thought there’s going to come a time for Carolina to get a new athletics director, and the president and I have had those conversations. There was interest for me to remain at the university. I agreed to stay in a new role because of my passion for this university, this city and this state.”