The architect of the best USC baseball season in a decade and the best three-year stretch in two decades, Trojans’ head coach Andy Stankiewicz has been rewarded with a three-year contract extension, sources have told USCFootball.com

The new deal Stankiewicz signed Friday has him now under contract through 2030 and will give him a notable boost in pay particularly in the later years of the deal. The contract also includes an increase in the assistant coach pool that will begin after next season. The deal should move the program into the top half of the Big Ten in terms of coaching compensation and likely puts Stankiewicz in the top third in terms of maximum value achievable.

USC’s move to extend Stankiewicz came after a third consecutive strong season for the Trojans. They finished 37-23 overall, going 18-12 in conference play to finish fourth in the Big Ten. USC received an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, earning its first regional appearance since 2015 and just its second since 2005. The Trojans advanced to the Corvallis Regional final against national seed Oregon State before falling one win short of advancing to the super regional round for the first time in 20 years.

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“Today’s players that you’re recruiting, they want to go to the postseason,” Stankiewicz told USCFootball.com on the Dedeaux Download Podcast in June. “You see Omaha, and it’s all over ESPN. It’s celebrated, and it should be. I think it’s important that we can show young people that ‘Hey man, this program is on the move, it’s moving well, it’s moving upward,’ and if they come here, we’ve been in a regional, they’re going to be in a super and they’re going to get an opportunity to get to Omaha. That’s all part of it.

“And then for our players too, I want them to taste this. I want them to experience this because if we’re going to get better, we’ve got to get better in that moment. Hopefully, next year we’re [back] in a championship game of a regional, now how are we going to respond? ‘Hey I’ve been here before. I’ve experienced this. I’m just a little bit older. I can handle this better than I did last year because I really didn’t know how to handle that environment. [Making the NCAA tournament], it’s a huge plus, man.”

USC head coach Andy Stankiewicz. (Photo: Shotgun Spratling | USCfootball.com)

When he arrived, Stankiewicz envisioned Year 3 being when USC should be knocking on the door of a regional and possibly a super regional. The Trojans nearly expedited that timeline falling a win shy of the NCAA tournament in the two previous years, but the first three years under Stankiewicz have all been steps in the right direction for the most storied program in college baseball history.

His first three seasons have been the most successful three-year run in more than two decades. The Trojans have won 30+ games in all three seasons under the former big leaguer and Southern California native, the first time USC has compiled three straight 30+ win seasons since 2000-2002. USC has finished fourth in its conference in all three seasons — something that also hadn’t been done by the Trojans since 2000-2002.

If he coaches the full length of the contract, Stankiewicz will become the longest-tenured head coach since USC’s unbelievable 64-year run with Rod Dedeaux and then Mike Gillespie in charge from 1942 to 2006. Eleven-time national champion Dedeaux, the greatest college baseball coach ever, coached USC from 1942 to 1986. Gillespie coached the next 20 years winning the 1998 national championship. But the following 16 years saw USC cycle through four coaches. 

Prior to Stankiewicz being hired in July 2022, Trojan alum Dan Hubbs had the most success post-Gillespie with the two lone full seasons with a winning record and the only NCAA tournament appearance in 2015.

Stankiewicz has recorded a winning record in all three seasons and now has a record of 102-74 with the Trojans.

USC will try to build on this season’s success in 2026 when it opens the new Dedeaux Field after spending the last two seasons as traveling nomad road warriors. The Trojans will have to replace some significant pieces after the left side of their infield was drafted and signed. Third baseman Ethan Hedges was selected in the third round by the Rockies while shortstop Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek signed with the Yankees after being picked in the 20th round. Friday starter Caden Hunter also was drafted and signed while staff ace Caden Aoki and top reliever Brodie Purcell each entered the transfer portal and headed to ACC/SEC schools, as did center fielder and leadoff hitter Brayden Dowd.

The Trojans do have a core part of their lineup returning with Adrian Lopez (.329, 8 HR, 52 RBI), Abbrie Covarrubias (.302, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 15 SB), Andrew Lamb (.300, 5 HR, 17 RBI) and Jack Basseer (.287, 7 HR, 27 RBI) all back. They have a group of freshmen that got significant reps this past year that should be sophomore breakout candidates, and Stankiewicz and his coaching staff have another talented freshman class slated to join the roster in the fall led by Foothill (Calif.) right-handed pitcher Gavin Lauridsen, who was drafted in the 13th round by the Milwaukee Brewers but chose not to sign in order to attend USC.