As Kevin Schnall's season at CCU ends, South Carolina's coaching search could begin to ramp up

South Carolina’s search for its fourth head coach since 2012 could begin to accelerate rather quickly.

The first domino involving an NCAA Tournament team whose coach has been linked to the Gamecocks’ vacancy has fallen. Coastal Carolina went 0-2 in the Tallahassee Regional and saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Florida State on Sunday.

Chanticleers head coach Kevin Schnall has been the name most frequently mentioned for the opening since South Carolina and Paul Mainieri parted ways on March 21. Now that Coastal’s season is over, Schnall will have plenty of time to think about what comes next and whether that includes making a move to Columbia.

Multiple national outlets have made it clear where Kevin Schnall stands among the field of candidates. Both On3’s Pete Nakos and D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reported Friday that Schnall is one of the leading candidates for the Gamecocks’ coaching vacancy.

For the last two months, Schnall has been asked multiple times in press conferences and other media settings about the job and any potential interest he may have. His answers have mostly remained the same, like on Tuesday, when SportsTalk Media Network’s Phil Kornblut asked Schnall directly if there’s been any contact between him and the Gamecocks.

“I know there’s a lot of rumors out there, but I have not spoken to the University of South Carolina regarding its baseball head coaching position,” Schnall said. “All of our focus right now is 100 percent on Coastal. South Carolina is an elite program that’s a job that’s going to obviously be a job that a lot of coaches will be very interested in, because of the commitment and the rich tradition of that program. But, like I said, at this point I have not spoken to the University of South Carolina regarding that position.”

Schnall later mentioned that his agent has spoken to a search firm about the job at South Carolina but “has got very little information.”

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Then on Sunday, shortly after Coastal’s season ended, Schnall was asked about the situation again and whether or not he planned to remain in Conway.

“I’ve got a five-year contract at Coastal. I’m the head baseball coach at Coastal Carolina. Can’t stress it enough,” he told reporters in Tallahassee. “In the last 25 years, we’ve got the fifth-best winning percentage in the entire country, the sixth-most wins in the entire country. The past decade, we’ve got the most wins in the state of South Carolina. We’ve been to Omaha twice. We won a national championship. We were in the national championship finals last year. Only four teams in the last 12 years have advanced to the College World Series finals multiple times: Vanderbilt, Florida, LSU, Coastal Carolina.

“As long as we continue to be successful, people are going to continue to call Coastal Carolina to gauge interest in us in their jobs. I don’t blame them. I would too.”

It was much of the same as what he had said previously. But Schnall has never publicly indicated that he has no interest in South Carolina and the vacancy.

Only time will tell what Schnall ultimately chooses to do. He signed an agreement to extend his contract through the 2030 season last October after interviewing for the Tennessee job. He’s making an annual base salary of $500,000, which would certainly increase substantially if he left for Columbia.

If Schnall leaves to coach another team, he would have to pay Coastal. The payout would vary depending on what year in his contract he left for another team. But if it ends up being this year, more specificially before June 30, 2026, the payout would be $600,000.

In two seasons with the Chanticleers, Schnall has compiled a 93-36 record. In his first season as head coach in 2025, he guided Coastal Carolina to 56 wins and came within two wins of a College World Series title before falling to eventual champion LSU in the CWS finals.

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