COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Ray Tanner insists he was simply driving the bus during his time in the dugout when South Carolina made six trips to Omaha, winning national championships in 2010 and 2011.

That first title came a year after Founders Park opened for business and 16 years later, the home of Gamecock baseball will take on a different look with the field being named in Tanner's honor.

It was an idea that initially was presented to Tanner while he was still the South Carolina athletics director and because he thought it was inappropriate, Tanner resisted any efforts to name the field after him while he was still in charge of the athletics department.

But with Tanner shifting to a new role as athletics director emeritus and special assistant to University president Michael Amiridis, there shouldn't be any reservations on the part of Tanner other than the fact that he credits his former players and assistant coaches for any honors and awards which have come his way.

First year head coach Paul Mainieri, who has faced off against Tanner during his LSU days, will be working his first weekend in Carolina colors. He says Tanner's extreme humility might be his biggest fault but it's a trait that Tanner has maintained long before he received his first SEC Coach of the Year award in 1998 or when he was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.