Paul Mainieri, Head LSU Baseball coach, sat down with two of his former players and talked the game, the National Championship they won together, and a lot more.
Paul is a four-time National Coach of the Year, a College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, and as mentioned earlier, a National Champion.
Mainieri's LSU players have earned First-Team All-America recognition on 13 occasions, and 17 of his former Tigers have played Major League Baseball. Four of his former players have won MLB World Series championships – St. Thomas University pitcher Joe Klink (1997 Twins and 1989 Athletics); Notre Dame pitcher Brad Lidge (2008 Phillies); LSU pitcher Louis Coleman (2015 Royals); and LSU infielder Alex Bregman (2017 Astros).LSU players have been chosen in the MLB Draft on 86 occasions during Mainieri's tenure, including a first-round selection in seven of the past 11 seasons – outfielder Jared Mitchell in 2009, pitcher Anthony Ranaudo in 2010, outfielder Mikie Mahtook in 2011, pitcher Kevin Gausman in 2012, pitcher Aaron Nola in 2014, shortstop Alex Bregman in 2015 and pitcher Alex Lange in 2017. The first six players developed into first-round selections under Mainieri after being drafted out of high school (Mitchell, 10th round; Ranaudo, 11th round; Mahtook, 39th round; Gausman, sixth round; Nola, 22nd round; and Bregman, 29th round). Lange was undrafted out of high school and developed into a first-round pick at LSU.Seventeen of Mainieri's LSU players have reached the Major Leagues, including infielder Alex Bregman, pitcher Aaron Nola, infielder DJ LeMahieu, pitcher Louis Coleman, pitcher Charlie Furbush, pitcher Ryan Verdugo, pitcher Kevin Gausman, pitcher Anthony Ranaudo, infielder Matt Clark, outfielder Mikie Mahtook, pitcher Nick Rumbelow, pitcher Nick Goody, infielder Ryan Schimpf, outfielder JaCoby Jones, outfielder Andrew Stevenson, pitcher Ryan Eades and infielder Austin Nola.Mainieri's commitment to academic achievement has been illustrated by the Tigers' performance in the classroom, as 84 LSU baseball players have earned their degrees during his tenure. Twenty-four of the graduates were players who signed professional contracts before completing their college eligibility and returned to LSU to finish their degree requirements. In addition, LSU players have received SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition on 130 occasions over the past 13 seasons.He has established an active community service function within the baseball program, as the Tigers regularly visit hospitals and schools in the Baton Rouge area. The team also participates in the ALS Walk -- promoting awareness of the treatment of Lou Gehrig's Disease -- and in the Buddy Walk, which is designed to encourage acceptance and inclusion of people with Down Syndrome.Mainieri is personally involved in several philanthropic causes, including Cancer Services of Baton Rouge, the ALS Association, the Baton Rouge Children's Advocacy Center, the Knock Knock Children's Museum, Prostate Cancer Awareness and the Kelli Leigh Richmond Ovarian Cancer Foundation.When Mainieri was hired as LSU's coach in June 2006, he expressed a clear vision for the future of the Fighting Tiger program.“Make no mistake about it,” he said. “The goal is to return LSU to the pinnacle position in college baseball. I have all the confidence in the world that we can do that here.”Support the show
