Twenty-four days after Holbrook resigned, Mark Kingston was hired. Paul Mainieri was hired by Tanner eight days after he fired Kingston, so there’s a negative on each side about an AD taking his time/rushing to fill the spot, considering each coach only contributed to the program’s steady decline from the nation’s elite.
As long as the Gamecocks get the right coach, the waiting will become a footnote. But of course the waiting opens another round of questions — exactly who are the Gamecocks waiting on?
Scott Forbes, the tremendously successful North Carolina coach, has been reported as a heavy candidate, although it’s difficult to see him leaving the Tar Heels even if an offer were to make him think. He’s been in Chapel Hill for 25 years, the last 21 in a row, and while he didn’t play at UNC, he did play at N.C. Wesleyan, an hour and a half west of UNC, and he is from Sanford, N.C., 45 minutes south.
Forbes and the Tar Heels rallied past Southern Cal in the winner-take-all third game of a super regional on Sunday afternoon, so his immediate future willingness to speak is just like Sabins’. Then there is another candidate who has moved onto the screen.
Skylar Meade made history on Saturday by leading the Troy Trojans to their first College World Series. He’s won more games than anyone in their first five years at Troy, and while this year was only his second NCAA Tournament appearance, the Trojans were in the “First Four Out” of the tournament in each of the past two years.
USC’s pitching coach from 2018-21, Meade left Columbia for his first head coaching job and will now be coaching in Omaha. His familiarity with the program and being able to take a mid-major school to the CWS loudly speaks.
But, of course, USC would have to wait to speak to him as well.
No matter who the new coach is, he will have a monstrous rebuilding task ahead of him in terms of stocking his roster. The transfer portal is open — players can leave at any time, but usually the most desired candidates will pick a new destination shortly after entering — but it’s the price of making a (very necessary) coaching change.