Au revoir, Mr. Hyman.

As we all know, Eric Hyman officially resigned as the Athletic Director at South Carolina today and will take the same position at our new conference rival, Texas A&M. Hyman was just shy of his seventh anniversary as a member of Gamecock Nation.

While I have to admit the move is a little surprising to me, Hyman has family in Texas, so it makes sense in that regard. He also has previous experience in the area and is one of the top AD’s in the country.

He did so much at USC, and I’m sure the Aggies are hoping he can do as well there as he did here. Thanks for everything, sir, and like university president Dr. Pastides said today, we look forward to beating your new school at every possible opportunity.

So with Hyman out, who could the next AD be? Pastides has put together a five-person advisory committee that includes Dawn Staley and Tommy Suggs, and an interim athletic director appointment should happen in about a week.

One name that’s been thrown into the mix is current baseball coach Ray Tanner. He’s supposedly really, really interested in the position, and  he’s obviously very familiar with USC athletics. He also served as the associate AD at NC State before coming to Carolina, so it’s not like he’d be totally lost.

That being said, he’s done an excellent job with the baseball team, so a) would he actually want to be done coaching and b) would that be good for the baseball team? Assistant coach Chad Holbrook has long been seen as the coach-in-waiting, and I have no doubt that he could take over the program and run it very, very well. If Ray is truly ready to swap his coaching hat for an administrative one, then he should be strongly considered.

» Continue reading “Now That Hyman’s Out, Who Could Be In?”