On Tuesday, June 9, the South Carolina Gamecocks announced that Kevin Schnall will become the next head coach. Schnall just wrapped up his second season as head coach of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
Schnall and his time at Coastal Carolina
After nine years as the associate head coach of the Chanticleers from 2016 to 2024, Schnall took over as Coastal Carolina’s head coach after Gary Gilmore announced his retirement.
In 2025, he coached the Chanticleers through a historic first season as Coastal Carolina’s head coach. The Chanticleers finished the season with a 56-13 overall record. Schnall was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year, and Coastal Carolina won the Sun Belt regular season and tournament titles.
Schnall then led the Chanticleers to the 2025 College World Series. It was the program’s second appearance in the College World Series. Coastal Carolina was close to winning a national championship. However, they were defeated by the LSU Tigers in the national title series.
In 2026, Schnall and Coastal Carolina finished with a 37-23 overall record. They made the NCAA Tournament again. However, the Chanticleers were eliminated in this season’s Tallahassee regional.
In two seasons as the head coach in Conway, S.C., Schnall led Coastal Carolina to 93 wins. The Chanticleers finished with a 47-13 Sun Belt record under Schnall as well.
What Schnall is taking over at South Carolina
Schnall is now heading to South Carolina to prepare the Gamecocks for the 2027 college baseball season. He is taking over a program that fired Paul Mainieri in the middle of the season. Interim coach Monte Lee guided South Carolina through the remainder of 2026 once they let Mainieri go.
South Carolina has been a less-than-impressive team in 2025 and 2026. During that span, the Gamecocks finished with a 50-64 overall record. They have not been competitive within the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with a 13-47 conference record.
Schnall knows what it takes to have a winning program. He has won conference titles and was a part of the coaching staff at Coastal Carolina during the 2016 national championship.
Chad Oxedine is a likely candidate to take over for Schnall
The head coaching vacancy at Coastal Carolina is an attractive job in college baseball. With the quick success Schnall brought to the program, a likely candidate for the head coaching spot may come from within the program itself.
Pitching coach Matt Williams is following Schnall and will take over the pitching coach duties at South Carolina. This means that associate head coach Chad Oxedine is a great person to take over the job in Conway.
Oxedine handled recruiting for the Chanticleers on Schnall’s staff for the past two seasons. Before two seasons at Coastal Carolina, Oxedine spent three seasons as the head coach of the Longwood Lancers. He has previous head coaching duties, and with a good recruiting background, the Chanticleers can get their program back on track quickly.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall walks to the dugout during an NCAA baseball game against Ohio State in Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
