Ray Tanner stepping down as South Carolina AD, will remain in role until school tabs replacement

South Carolina is on the hunt for a new athletic director after it was announced during a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday that the veteran administrator Ray Tanner plans to step down. Tanner, 66, will transition to an advisory role with the university president once his successor is hired.

"During the last two weeks, we have had general discussions and conversations with Coach Tanner, the athletics director, and it was his decision to change the position that he has and capacity," university president Michael Amiridis said, according to the Big Spur. "I was reluctant to accept Ray's decision because of what he has accomplished and what he means to the Gamecock community. Ray serves the university with such dignity and devotion and sets very high standards in developing student-athletes."

The former national title-winning baseball coach has been South Carolina's athletic director since 2012, overseeing the department through a series of monumental changes in college sports. The Gamecocks have risen to power in women's basketball during his tenure by winning three national titles under coach Dawn Staley, who was hired in 2008.

Results in other major sports have been mixed under Tanner's direction. He hired Will Muschamp to replace Steve Spurrier in 2015 as South Carolina's football coach, only to fire Muschamp and replace him with Shane Beamer in 2020. In men's basketball, the Gamecocks made a surprise Final Four run in 2017 under Frank Martin. But that was the program's only NCAA Tournament appearance during Tanner's tenure until second-year coach Lamont Paris reached the Big Dance in 2024.

Tanner served as South Carolina's baseball coach from 1997 to 2012, leading the Gamecocks to back-to-back College World Series titles in 2010 and 2011 and a runner-up finish in 2012 before transitioning to the athletic director role. The program struggled to maintain that standard following his departure from the dugout and has not returned to the College World Series since.