Another former South Carolina baseball coach finds new job

Former South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston, who was fired two weeks ago in favor of the legendary Paul Mainieri, was hired on Sunday to be the next head coach of the Creighton Blue Jays.

However, Kingston is not the only former Gamecock coach to get a new job this weekend after not being retained on the 2024 Carolina staff.

According to a report from D1Baseball's Kendall Rogers, Joey Holcomb will be an assistant coach with the South Florida Bulls next season. Holcomb spent the 2024 campaign with USC after coaching for two years with the Campbell Fighting Camels. He was the assistant hitting coach, assistant recruiting coordinator, and outfield coach at Carolina and was the recruiting coordinator for Campbell. His role with South Florida has not been reported as of yet.

Holcomb's short time with the Gamecocks was an interesting one season. Helping with the offense, USC had solid overall numbers, but inconsistencies in process and results were rampant. At time, South Carolina baseball looked like the best offense in the SEC; at other times, they looked completely incompetent.

Next year's Gamecock coaching staff will have Monte Lee (who was the hitting coach this past year) in charge of the offense. However, unlike last year, there will be no assistant hitting coach (Holcomb) or a head coach who often meddles with the hitters, as well (Kingston). Lee will have full reign to lead his players' philosophies at the plate.

New Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri has thoughts and opinions on offense (as every head coach should), but he is known as a a leader who is willing to delegate and let his coaches do their jobs. Hopefully, having one singular voice coaching up the Gamecock offense will pay dividends for a team that has plenty of potential in the box.