The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball program is entering a new era with the hire of head coach Kevin Schnall from South Carolina. The former Coastal Carolina head coach will not lead the Gamecocks program that saw a historic, program-low 35 losses in 2026.
Schnall was officially hired on Wednesday, but he has wasted no time in starting to build his new coaching staff. One big name added to that staff is longtime Wake Forest hitting coach Bill Cilento. Cilento has spent the last 17 seasons with the Demon Deacons, and he was promoted to the associate head coach with Wake Forest in 2019.
D1 baseball's Kendal Rogers first reported that Cilento is joining Schnall's staff in Columbia on Thursday evening. Rogers added that Cilento has had head coaching opportunities in the past, but has chosen to join Schnall's new Gamecock staff.
Per Cilento's Wake Forest bio, he has helped 64 players get drafted in Major League Baseball, including 14 getting selected inside the Top-50. Some of the guys he has coached include former San Francisco Giant Mac Williamson, who transitioned as an outfielder at Wake, and former first-round draft pick Will Craig of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cilento helped Wake Forest make it to the College World Series in 2023, as well as several Regional and Super Regional appearances during his tenure.
But Cilento isn't the only addition to Schnall's staff in recent days. Schnall also is bringing former longtime Coastal Carolina assistant Chad Oxedine with him to Columbia. He spent the last two seasons with the Chanticleers as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator with Coach Schnall. The Chanticleers made it to the CWS Final last season, and fell to Florida State in Regionals this past season.
Schnall is also expected to bring longtime Coastal Carolina pitching coach Matt Wilson to his new staff. The hires are one of his biggest priorities as he starts his new era with the Gamecocks.
“Number one is the staff,” Schnall said via South Carolina of his biggest priorities starting his new job. “We have to assemble an elite coaching staff; a staff that would rival any coaching staff in the entire country."
Of course, these coaching hires likely aren't going to be the last that Schnall makes in the coming days and weeks. But it's nice to see the new coach hitting the ground running when it comes to staff hires so early in the job.
South Carolina is expected to officially introduce Schnall to Gamecock fans on Friday evening, which will take place at Founder's Park. Some of Schnall's new staff members could already be in Columbia for the festivities.
The longtime Coastal assistant has a 93-36 overall record as head coach, and was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year last season for the Chanticleers. Although he was expected to be one of the top names considered for the South Carolina job when Paul Mainieri resigned early in the season, the Gamecocks were reportedly also considering West Virginia's Steve Sabins and UNC's Scott Forbes.
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