What new South Carolina athletics director Jeremiah Donati said in his introductory press conference

The University of South Carolina has announced Jeremiah Donati as the 31st Director of Athletics, President Michael Amiridis announced following Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

After the meeting, Donati was officially introduced as the new AD and had the opportunity to speak in his introductory press conference. Here’s what he had to say.

— This is a special moment. It’s very surreal. Beyond thrilled to stand here as the next athletics director at the University of South Carolina. This truly is a dream come true.

— This is a time of historic change in college athletics. Much of what we know will never look the same. There has never been more pressure to win than right now. Believes the programs that will be successful will not only accept the changes in front of them but they will adapt to this new environment. Assures they will do both here.

— Understands the standard here is set very high. Welcomes those expectations. Wants to dream with everyone about what’s possible here.

— Has a ton of respect and admiration for Ray Tanner. Believes he’s coming onboard at the perfect time. The challenge is building on this great foundation and climbing higher. Looking forward to getting started. So eager to meet the staff and coaches. They’re going to build upon what’s going well and will address the opportunities for improvement.

— There’s four things he will prioritize at USC: Academic success and achievement. Deliver an unbelievable student athlete experience. Emphasis on driving renew and identifying areas for growth and development. Will compete at the highest levels for SEC and national championships.

— “I promise you I am going to give you everything I have in this role. … This is the flagship institution in the great state of South Carolina.”

— What will be new for everyone is when revenue sharing hits. He’ll be really excited to sit down with the coaches and understand the plan here. The real key is what will NIL look like? What does the traditional NIL look like when July 1 hits? Will spend time figuring how the collectives are working because that will be incredibly important.

— There will be an acclimation period because he’s new to the state. But that’s the fun part. The big thing for him is that the program is built for the future. Every athletic department needs to be preparing for the next 5-10 years. Looks forward to it.

— The leadership is what sold him on USC. You want to go to places that are on an upward trajectory. You can see this place is on the upward. You want to be at a place where there’s big expectations. He wanted to be in a great college town and place where he could raise his family. Knew very early on that this was a special place.

— Comes from a sports agency background. His experience at Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment was invaluable. Forever grateful for his time there. He wouldn’t have imagined getting a law degree and working at a sports agency would prepare him so well for this role.

— The stadium renovations and the multi-use and entertainment district were really intriguing to him. There’s not many places in the country that can pull that off.

— As he was flying in last night, it occurred to him how vast this area is. It’s neat to be in this college town. The city of Columbia really is the University of South Carolina, which is pretty neat. Looking forward to being in a true college town and jumping right in.

— It’s not a popularity contest being an AD. You learn quickly where you need to put your priorities and where you need to put your focus. Working in a sports agency probably prepared him for this job. He’s been fortunate to have a great mentors to get to this point. He said he’s stood on the shoulders of giants. When you’re around great leaders, you hope it brushes off on you.

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