The Monte Lee era has ended at Clemson University.

Director of Athletics Graham Neff announced Tuesday a change in leadership within the baseball program.

Lee will not return as head coach for the 2023 season after seven seasons at the helm of the program. A national search for the next head coach will commence immediately.

Two members of this year's Lexington County Blowfish summer collegiate wood bat team will be directly impacted by the change.  Infielder Billy Amick (from Batesburg) and Alex Urban (from Lexington) play for the Tigers.

“Monte and his staff have been nothing but professional in their approach to Clemson Baseball, and we appreciate the manner in which they’ve represented Clemson University,” said Neff. “The expectations for Clemson Baseball are very high, and the team’s recent on-field performance has not met those of our administration, our coaching staff, our student-athletes or our loyal fanbase.

"Clemson Baseball is a proud program, and we, as a department, are committed to doing all we can to return our program to national prominence. We will work with our student-athletes to ensure that the transition process is successful.”

Lee was 242-136 (.640) overall and 102-86 (.543) in league play in seven seasons as Clemson’s head coach, which included trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2016-19, as well as the ACC Championship in 2016.
Clemson finished the 2022 season with a 35-23 overall record, and finished tied for 11th in the ACC standings.

Over the past two seasons, Clemson was 60-50 (.545) overall and 29-36 (.446) in ACC play, missing the NCAA Tournament both times.

Academically, the baseball program has registered a perfect 1000 Academic Progress Rate and a 100% Graduation Success Rate in each of the past five cohorts.

A total of 32 Tigers have been drafted 35 times under Lee. The 35 draft picks are 10th most in the nation and third most in the ACC from 2016-21. Prior to his time at Clemson, Lee amassed a 276-145 (.656) record and four berths in the NCAA Tournament in seven seasons at College of Charleston.

The Tigers have six former Chronicle Country players (pitchers Ty Olenchuk of Dutch Fork and Ricky Williams of River Bluff, outfielders Will Taylor of Dutch Fork and Alex Urban of River Bluff and infielders Tyler Corbitt of Airport and Billy Amick of W.W. King Academy) on the roster. 

Assistant Coach Bradley LeCroy and Director of Operations Brad Owens will oversee the program while the search is conducted.