It’s not about the wins or losses for Monte Lee. It’s not about the money or anything of that nature. No, the reason he continues to coach after all these years is much deeper than that.
“When I got into coaching 24 years ago, I made a choice to live a life of servitude,” Lee said. “It’s about serving the players and it’s about serving the coaches that I work with and that I work for. That’s always what I’ve tried to do and what I’m going to continue to try to do here.”
In the hours after South Carolina fired Mark Kingston, players and incoming recruits made it clear who they wanted as their next head coach. It started with a few tweets (or X posts) then continued to grow. Lee was the clear and obvious choice in their minds.
“@CoachMonteLee has my vote for next Head Coach of Gamecock Baseball,” posted Dalton Reeves, who played one season at South Carolina in 2024. “Few people care more about this program and its success than him.”
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To Lee, the support was overwhelming. It was a rewarding feeling after spending nearly everyday trying to help each player he worked with to become better players and people.
“I’ve always tried to do one thing, I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do as a coach. I show up everyday and try to be a positive mentor to the guys, try to get close to the guys, have great relationships with all the players. And that’s all I’ve ever really tried to do. I feel like over time, I’ve done a really good job of just being there for them,” Lee said.
“I don’t know about if I’m the best coach, I don’t know any of that. But I just really make it a priority to get to know them and have great relationships with all the players and just try to help them navigate their way through a game of failure and through a very stressful environment to play in. To have that calming force behind them, someone that’s got their back, tries to build their confidence, is really my goal. And again, I really try to serve the players.”
Ultimately though, while the campaign for Lee was very strong, he didn’t get the job at South Carolina. Instead, it went to Paul Mainieri, a longtime veteran head coach with nearly 40 seasons worth of experience.
But this journey still managed to end on a happy ending for Lee. South Carolina offered him a chance to stay on staff and help Mainieri get off to a good start in his tenure in Columbia. So Lee received a brand-new contract that will make him the highest-paid assistant coach in college baseball. He’ll make $550,000 annually over the next three seasons as the associate head coach.
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Even though Lee didn’t get the job, the players still showed their support for Mainieri. It started with a simple “Let’s go Gamecocks #home” post from team leader Ethan Petry and others followed suit.
“I just think it shows the relationships, just how strong the relationships are here,” Lee said. The players are very close, I’m very close to them. And I appreciated them obviously being supportive of me. I’m blessed to be here and blessed to have the opportunity to coach such a great group of guys, and now to do it under Coach Mainieri. I’m really looking forward to working with all them, with Terry (Rooney). And again, just under his leadership and his vision and his guidance.”
But who knows. Maybe someday that wish and dream for Lee to become the head coach at South Carolina will eventually come true.
“He’s going to continue to be a tremendous part of Carolina baseball, and I’m really happy and proud that he’s stayed on with us,” Mainieri said. “Let it be told that I don’t know how much longer I’m going to coach, but I hope we’re going to do well enough that Monte will be ready to take over when I finish, and that’s how I feel about it.”
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