Paul Mainieri addresses fan pressure that will come at South Carolina

On June 11, South Carolina baseball officially named Paul Mainieri the program’s next head coach. During his introductory press conference, Mainieri addressed how he will face the pressure to succeed at the helm of the Gamecocks.

“In the sport of baseball, it’s impossible to win every game,” Mainieri said. “Nobody’s gonna go 56-0. We’re gonna have to get our nose bloodied here and there, but you got to just stay the course. And, I know that fans are going to be critical at times.

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“I’ve always said this—when I was at LSU and criticism got loud—there’s only one thing worse than criticism, and that’s apathy. There’s not going to be apathy among Carolina fans. There wasn’t apathy among LSU fans. The criticism is not to be taken personal. They want to win and I don’t blame them.”

South Carolina baseball fans have high standards. The program has consistently been one of the best in baseball, tallying 35 NCAA tournament appearances, 11 College World Series berths, six CWS Finals appearances and two national championships since 1970.

However, high standards are nothing new to Mainieri. He was the head coach of the LSU Tigers from 2007-21. During the 15-season stretch, Mainieri guided the program to four SEC regular season titles, six SEC Tournament trophies and one national championship.

He believes he can find similar success at South Carolina and if he fails to do so, he is willing to accept the criticism.

“The success is going to come,” Mainieri said. “I’m standing in front of you and telling you we’re going to win. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. It’s not even up for discussion. We’re going to do it. We’re gonna get it done. But that doesn’t mean every step is forward. There might be three steps forward, one step back; five steps forward, one step back, and that’s just the nature of it.

“When things aren’t going good, I’m not going to be hiding in the corner of the dugout. I’ll be standing out there on the top step. I’ll be the lightning rod for the criticism. I want the credit of the success to go to the players and to our staff. I’ll be the lightning rod for the criticism.”

Paul Mainieri will replace head coach Mark Kingston, who South Carolina fired on June 3. The Gamecocks finished the 2024 campaign with a 37-26 overall record and a 13-17 mark in conference play.