Ray Tanner got a bit emotional on Friday as he was being introduced as South Carolina's new athletic director, but only when talking about the support he has received from his family and former AD Mike McGee, the man who hired him.
In terms of stepping away from the baseball program that he transformed from a solid team into an elite national powerhouse, his makeup was as solid as he was during so many days in the dugout - steady, clear-eyed, assured.
It was time to go.
"I was at a point, I think, in my coaching career that I loved it, I was having fun, probably more so in the past 10 years than in the previous 15," Tanner said. "But I've never been a coach who wanted to stay until it was too late. I wanted to get out while it was great.
"So many times I've seen coaches stay and it doesn't work out great in the end. The ones that are great at the end, it's a small percentage. I knew that I wanted an opportunity outside of baseball."
Tanner had his eye on an administrative role ever since 2005, when he put in for the AD position at USC but was bypassed in favor of Eric Hyman. At the time, Tanner didn't have all of the glowing resume that he currently does, and then-president Andrew Sorensen wanted to go outside the USC family.
Tanner understood, and watched Hyman transform USC's department from a struggling, in-debt operation to a money-making juggernaut. At the same time, Tanner's teams went from good to great.
Since 2006, Tanner's Gamecocks compiled a 325-141 record, made the NCAA tournament every year and advanced to the Super Regionals five times, with three of those turning into College World Series berths. Tanner became the longest-tenured coach in the SEC and won nearly 70 percent of his games, the second-highest percentage of any SEC coach in the league's history.
But the desire to step back into the administration never left. As president Harris Pastides said on Friday, Tanner approached him two years ago and told him that his coaching career was about to end. Pastides was surprised, but accepted it - he wanted to make sure that Tanner knew what he would be giving up.
Tanner did, even though the Gamecocks were on top of the college baseball world. Again citing the need to leave when things were great, Tanner knew that there was no better time to go. The program was doing great things, recruits were lining up to play at USC, and if he were to leave, there was a hand-picked successor already in place (associate head coach Chad Holbrook, who will be formally introduced at 11 a.m. on Monday).
That coincided with the rise of USC as a department, new athletic facilities sprouting on campus as quick as crabgrass and the teams beginning to pick up national attention. Steve Spurrier finally had the seasons that he thought he could have when he signed on, guiding the football Gamecocks to 20 wins over the past two years; Dawn Staley weathered a rough first three years to taste 25 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance in her fourth; the two soccer squads at USC each won their respective conferences this past year; and even the women's golf team got into the act, winning its NCAA regional and finishing fifth in the country.
It was all spotlighted by the baseball team, the only men's team in school history to win the national championship. Tanner accepted the kudos for the success that he has built, but as soon as the 2010 trophy was in his office to stay, he began to think about the future.
It will be hard to step out of the dugout and into a desk chair every day, pulling on a suit jacket every morning instead of the familiar workout shirt and warmup pullover. But it was the right time to go.
"I feel like that we have a program in baseball that other schools around the country are trying to emulate," Tanner said. "You go from our performance on the field to our venue to what happens inside and outside of the lines. It's been really, really special.
"We're not going to miss a beat. There will be a new coach, maybe, wearing No. 1, but our expectations are not going to change."
That's for the team, and the department. Tanner already led one to its greatest heights, and has a chance to take another.
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1385288
In terms of stepping away from the baseball program that he transformed from a solid team into an elite national powerhouse, his makeup was as solid as he was during so many days in the dugout - steady, clear-eyed, assured.
It was time to go.
"I was at a point, I think, in my coaching career that I loved it, I was having fun, probably more so in the past 10 years than in the previous 15," Tanner said. "But I've never been a coach who wanted to stay until it was too late. I wanted to get out while it was great.
"So many times I've seen coaches stay and it doesn't work out great in the end. The ones that are great at the end, it's a small percentage. I knew that I wanted an opportunity outside of baseball."
Tanner had his eye on an administrative role ever since 2005, when he put in for the AD position at USC but was bypassed in favor of Eric Hyman. At the time, Tanner didn't have all of the glowing resume that he currently does, and then-president Andrew Sorensen wanted to go outside the USC family.
Tanner understood, and watched Hyman transform USC's department from a struggling, in-debt operation to a money-making juggernaut. At the same time, Tanner's teams went from good to great.
Since 2006, Tanner's Gamecocks compiled a 325-141 record, made the NCAA tournament every year and advanced to the Super Regionals five times, with three of those turning into College World Series berths. Tanner became the longest-tenured coach in the SEC and won nearly 70 percent of his games, the second-highest percentage of any SEC coach in the league's history.
But the desire to step back into the administration never left. As president Harris Pastides said on Friday, Tanner approached him two years ago and told him that his coaching career was about to end. Pastides was surprised, but accepted it - he wanted to make sure that Tanner knew what he would be giving up.
Tanner did, even though the Gamecocks were on top of the college baseball world. Again citing the need to leave when things were great, Tanner knew that there was no better time to go. The program was doing great things, recruits were lining up to play at USC, and if he were to leave, there was a hand-picked successor already in place (associate head coach Chad Holbrook, who will be formally introduced at 11 a.m. on Monday).
That coincided with the rise of USC as a department, new athletic facilities sprouting on campus as quick as crabgrass and the teams beginning to pick up national attention. Steve Spurrier finally had the seasons that he thought he could have when he signed on, guiding the football Gamecocks to 20 wins over the past two years; Dawn Staley weathered a rough first three years to taste 25 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance in her fourth; the two soccer squads at USC each won their respective conferences this past year; and even the women's golf team got into the act, winning its NCAA regional and finishing fifth in the country.
It was all spotlighted by the baseball team, the only men's team in school history to win the national championship. Tanner accepted the kudos for the success that he has built, but as soon as the 2010 trophy was in his office to stay, he began to think about the future.
It will be hard to step out of the dugout and into a desk chair every day, pulling on a suit jacket every morning instead of the familiar workout shirt and warmup pullover. But it was the right time to go.
"I feel like that we have a program in baseball that other schools around the country are trying to emulate," Tanner said. "You go from our performance on the field to our venue to what happens inside and outside of the lines. It's been really, really special.
"We're not going to miss a beat. There will be a new coach, maybe, wearing No. 1, but our expectations are not going to change."
That's for the team, and the department. Tanner already led one to its greatest heights, and has a chance to take another.
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1385288