COLUMBIA — The main question was why. Why is this being announced now, with a big football game Saturday, ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town and South Carolina in the spotlight?

The answer was the same reason he left coaching in 2012 after building his baseball team into the best program in the country, capped by three consecutive College World Series appearances and two national championships: It was time.

“The president, myself and the chairman have been talking about this for many months. What really stands out to me is that I’ve come to a point,” Ray Tanner said after announcing Friday that his tenure as South Carolina’s athletic director will soon end. “For me, the timing is right. There will never be a perfect time.”

True, but there could be less bizarre times. The announcement is sure to dominate the weekend, even as GameDay extols the virtues of USC’s football game against No. 16 LSU on Saturday. On the other hand, it was bizarre that Tanner wanted the job and got it in July 2012, shortly after returning from Omaha.

Tanner, 66, just started his 13th year as AD, one of the longest tenures in the country, and simple logic said it would end sooner rather than later. Tanner justified his abrupt departure from coaching by saying he had already been a head coach for 25 years by that point because he was so young when he was hired at NC State. The AD job at USC was within reach, he always wanted to return to administration one day, he got the offer and took it.

On Friday, he said he had been thinking about resigning for some time. “I’ve always said if somebody knows something, it’s not a secret. There were talks that there would be a transition at some point,” he said. “We thought today would be a good day to share it with you.”

Tanner will remain AD through at least the fall semester, after which a “national search” for his successor will begin, according to President Michael Amiridis. Once a new AD is found, Tanner will become senior advisor to the president through June 30, 2028.