A new era of South Carolina baseball is here. 

The Gamecocks hired Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall to be the program’s 33rd head coach. Schnall was formally introduced this past Friday at an event at Founders Park in front of fans and the media. 

“I’m so eagerly anticipating attacking this job,” Schnall said. “Together, we’re going to get this thing moving in the right direction. It’s going to take a complete team effort, and as I said out there, our former and current players are the most important people in this program, and I can’t wait to start developing and establishing relationships with them.”

Schnall will be tasked with reviving a South Carolina baseball program that, at one time, was one of the best in the nation. 

The Gamecocks won back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011 but have struggled to reach those heights again. 

South Carolina is coming off its worst season in program history. One in which the team fired head coach Paul Mainieri in the middle of his second season with the team. 

The program has missed out on the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons and ended its 2026 season with a loss in the first round of the conference tournament. 

To rebuild the Gamecocks, Schnall acknowledged it will take a group effort and a team composed of winning players and coaches. 

“No. 1 is to finalize assembling an elite staff, and we’re moving in the right direction,” Schnall said. “1A is to retain and acquire elite players, and we’re moving in the right direction there.”

Schnall’s hiring was also a large milestone for athletic director Jeremiah Donati. It was his first head coach hiring for a major program at the school. 

The process was fairly smooth. Schnall was reportedly the school’s top choice. During the hiring process, the team interviewed a handful of candidates, but only Schnall was offered the job.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kevin Schnall and his family to South Carolina as the leader of our baseball program,” Donati said. “Kevin has demonstrated excellence as a leader, coach, recruiter, and developer of student-athletes throughout his career, and we are incredibly happy to have him lead our baseball program into the future. The passion, vision and energy he brings will elevate our program and put us in position to be successful at the highest level. We are looking forward to this new era of Gamecock baseball and we know our fans will be excited by the brand of baseball his teams play.”

Schnall spent more than 20 years as a member of the Coastal Carolina program, including the past two as the head coach. 

He led the team to an appearance in the 2025 College World Series, finishing runner-up. Schnall became just the fourth head coach to take his team to the College World Series in his first season as a college head coach

In 2026, Coastal won 37 games and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament at the Tallahassee Regional.

Leaving Coastal was a difficult decision for Schnall, but the opportunity at South Carolina was too good to pass up.

“Coastal Carolina University. Thank you. Thank you for the experience, the memories. Most importantly, thank you for the relationships. I love Coastal Carolina. I’ll always love Coastal Carolina. I’ll always be a very proud alum,” Schnall said. “I had the opportunity to share a dugout with Gary Gilmore for 23 years. I had a front row seat to learn how to build a program, how to establish a program, how to sustain a championship program.”

Schnall is hoping to revive the rivalry between the Gamecocks and Chanticleers on the diamond. He’s already had conversations with their staff about renewing the series.

“We’re ready to play,” Schnall said.  “We have to play Coastal Carolina, and Jeremiah agreed, so we will start playing Coastal Carolina.”

Schnall is also excited to compete in and have the resources of the SEC. 

“As a coach, we’ve always wanted to measure ourselves against the best,” he said. “The SEC is the major league of college baseball.”