Sources: Southern California Coach Jason Gill Out After Three Seasons

Multiple sources told Baseball America on Saturday that USC coach Jason Gill is out after three seasons. The Trojans completed their season two weeks ago when they were swept at Stanford.

USC went 25-28 this spring and finished last in the Pac-12 standings. The Trojans went 60-59 in three seasons under Gill and had a winning record only in the abbreviated 2020 season, when they were 10-5 when the season was halted due to the pandemic.

Gill was hired in June 2019 after 11 seasons at Loyola Marymount. He went 322-285-1 with the Lions and was coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance when USC hired him away to succeed Dan Hubbs.

Gill inherited a program that hadn’t had a winning season since 2015. He was unable to get the Trojans back on track but had the misfortune of trying to do so during the pandemic. He did bring in back-to-back Top 25 recruiting classes, including the 17th ranked class last fall. In the end, it wasn’t enough.

USC now goes back into the job market in a much different position than it was in 2019. Athletic director Mike Bohn was hired just five months after Gill and has helped the department greatly strengthen its position. He last fall pulled off a coup when he hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma to take over the football program.

Is USC interested in making a similar splash in baseball? Time will tell, but the Trojans need to do something to break out of their funk. They have won more College World Series than any other school (12) but have not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2015 and have made it just twice in 20 years.

Three years ago, USC hoped Gill would be the one to lead them back to glory. Now, it is moving on.