The South Carolina Gamecock baseball program is officially entering its Kevin Schnall era, as the hire was made official on Wednesday. But former interim Gamecock head coach Monte Lee and longtime South Carolina assistant has also found a new job elsewhere.Â
Late last month, South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati officially moved on from Lee, who served as the interim head coach for the Gamecocks after Paul Mainieri resigned early into the season. Although Lee had spent two separate stints with the Gamecocks as an assistant, the 2026 season ended with a historic-low 35 losses.Â
Now, Lee has found a new gig, and it's not too far from Columbia. On Thursday, Jamie Bradford of Inside The Gamecocks reported that Lee would be joining The College of Charleston as an assistant head coach. The program has been led by head coach Chad Holbrook for the last nine seasons.Â
With the new hire, Lee is actually returning to his roots, where his college baseball career began as a player. Lee played for the Cougars as an outfielder from 1996-99. He finished his career there with a .333 batting average, and he left the program as the leader in RBI, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, and Games Played, which still stands today. He was also the head coach for the Cougars from 2009-2015, where he compiled a 96-53 record, including two NCAA Regional appearances. Â
He played two seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers in the minor leagues before starting his college baseball coaching career at Spartanburg Methodist as an assistant in 2001.Â
Lee has spent the entirety of his college coaching career in the Palmetto State, so it's no surprise that's where it will continue. He was an assistant for the Gamecocks from 2003-08 before going to Charleston. He was the head coach at Clemson from 2016-2022 before returning to the Gamecocks as an assistant in 2023. His overall record as a head coach, including his most recent stint in Columbia as the interim is 528-305.Â
Coach Holbrook, who has a 490-278 overall record at Charleston, joined South Carolina's staff after Lee's departure from the program in 2008. He was the Gamecocks' head coach from 2013-17, finishing with a 200-106 record and two Super Regional berths. Now, the two get to coach together for the first time.
Although there was speculation that Lee could be a candidate for the Gamecocks' full time baseball job, it's clear after the season South Carolina had that the program needed a fresh face for a new era. In total, Lee spent 11 seasons with the Gamecocks.
Hopefully a fresh start at a place quite familiar to Lee is just what he needs to get his coaching career back on track. Â
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