Contract details emerge for new South Carolina baseball pitching coach Matt Williams
Salary and contract details have been set for new South Carolina baseball pitching coach Matt Williams.
The Gamecocks will pay Williams — hired last month — a base salary of $250,000 per year, The State learned through an open records request. The contract runs through May 31, 2025.
A four-year pitching coach for Scott Jackson at Liberty, Williams steps into his first Power Five coaching position with the Gamecocks. He replaced two-year pitching coach Justin Parker, who left for the same role on Chris Lemonis’ staff at Mississippi State. Parker made $206,000 as a USC assistant, per state salary records.
Williams comes to the Gamecocks with 18 years of coaching experience, including a one-year stint in professional baseball with the San Diego Padres organization. A native South Carolinian, Williams played baseball for his father at Lancaster High and made the Junior College World Series both as a player and as an eight-year coach at Spartanburg Methodist. Williams’ wife, Denton, is a USC graduate.
“The place is dear to me because I grew up in the state,” Williams said when he was introduced. “My wife went to school here, and I just really appreciate the opportunity that coach Kingston has given me to come back here and coach the pitchers. So really looking forward to that.
“It’s very humbling to come back and work in your home state and get that opportunity as a pitching coach and do what you love doing.”
Performance-based incentives are built into Williams’ contract.
If the Gamecocks make the NCAA Tournament, Williams will receive one month of his base salary as a bonus. If the Gamecocks make the College World Series, he’ll receive a $5,000 bonus. And if USC goes on to win a College World Series title, Williams would receive another payment equal to one month of his base salary.
As is standard with most assistant coaches at USC, the university would owe Williams the remainder of his contract should the team terminate his employment without cause. That amount would be offset by any contract Williams signs with a new school.
If Williams were to leave of his own choosing before May 31, 2024, he’d owe USC $100,000. That total drops to $50,000 after that date. Williams’ payment to the university would be waived if he leaves USC for immediate employment as a Division I head coach or for a coaching job in Major League Baseball — not including the minor leagues.
