USC President Michael Amiridis, BOT Chair Thad Westbrook & Ray Tanner
(Audio courtesy Jordan Kaye, The State)
Ray Tanner will step down as Gamecocks athletics director, a position he has held since 2012, and transition into a new role in the department at the end of the semester it was announced by USC president Michael Amiridis, Friday.
Tanner will assume his role as Senior Advisor to the President and athletics director emeritus once his successor is hired. Tanner, a two-time national championship coach at USC, will sign a deal that will keep him in his new position until 2028. According to GamecockCentral.com, the new deal will pay Tanner $987,500 until July 26, 2025, and $800,000/year for the remainder of the contract.
“I’m humbled and honored that I have had the great fortune to be a part of this wonderful university and that will continue,” Tanner said through a release. “For a while now, I have thought there’s going to come a time for Carolina to get a new athletics director, and the president and I have had those conversations. There was interest for me to remain at the university. I agreed to stay in a new role because of my passion for this university, this city and this state.”
“I loved my experience as a baseball coach and as an administrator. I’m grateful to have been able to work here for such a long time,” Tanner said. “I married a Gamecock and my three children grew up as Gamecocks. My time here is something I have never taken for granted.”
Tanner has been with the university since 1997, leading the baseball team to unprecedented success over 16 seasons.
During his time as AD, the women’s basketball team has won three national titles (2017, 2022 and 2024) and the Gamecocks have won 21 SEC regular-season and tournament titles across all sports under Tanner.
According to the release, athletics department revenues have risen by nearly 80 percent since Tanner’s first year as director. The Gamecocks surpassed $20 million in annual fundraising for the first time last year and all 21 sports at South Carolina have undergone a major facility upgrade during Tanner’s tenure – including the opening of the Spurrier Indoor Football Practice Facility, Long Family Football Operations Center, Carolina Softball Stadium, Sheila and Morris Cregger Track and Field Complex, and Carolina Tennis Center.