South Carolina ADs past and (soon-to-be) present.
Big news out of Columbia: current head baseball coach Ray Tanner will be named the new athletic director of the University of South Carolina.
The university released a statement saying a press conference will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday. Current assistant coach Chad Holbrook will be promoted to head coach on Monday.
Tanner replaces Eric Hyman, who left for our new conference rival, Texas A&M, two weeks ago. Tanner’s name was one of the first brought up when Hyman announced he was leaving, and he has long been believed to want an eventual role in administration. Before he came to USC, Tanner was an assistant AD at NC State.
As the head coach of the Yardcocks, Tanner compiled a record of 738-316 in 16 seasons. He took the team to six College World Series and brought home back to back titles in 2010 and 2011.
He will now be charged with helping all teams succeed and maintain their success. One of his biggest tasks may be helping new coach Frank Martin bring the basketball team back from the doldrums.
While I’ll miss seeing Tanner in the dugout, this is an exciting new chapter for Carolina athletics. He’s earned infinite respect for his performance has a coach, and now we get to see what he can do off the field. Congrats, Coach/AD Tanner!
