With Paul Mainieiri's head coaching career officially at an end, the search for LSU baseball's next leader is officially underway -- and some names have risen to the top of the board.
A pair of those names, according to a report from The Advocate, are Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco and East Carolina's Cliff Godwin. The report, citing sources, indicated both have been top targets for LSU since the outset.
Both coaches have been LSU staffers in their careers. Bianco, who has coached Ole Miss since 2001, served as the Tigers' pitching coach from 1993-'97 under head coach Skip Bertman. That came after a two-year career as LSU's starting catcher, which culminated in a College World Series trip in 1989. Bianco is also the father of LSU junior Mike Bianco who played 2nd base and outfield for the Tigers this season.
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Godwin, who has coached East Carolina since 2015, served as an LSU assistant from 2006-08. He also served as an assistant on Paul Mainieiri's staff at Notre Dame and Bianco's staff at Ole Miss after a playing career with East Carolina.
Potential names for the job have swirled throughout LSU's NCAA tournament run that ended at the hands of Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional. Mainieri had announced in May that he'd retire at season's end, the culmination of a 38-year head coaching career that accounted for more than 1,500 wins, multiple SEC regular season and tournament titles, and a College World Series title (2009).
Former Oregon State -- and currently retired -- coach Pat Casey was one of those names, but he has since been reported to be out of consideration. Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan was reported to be in the mix, but pulled his name out of consideration and reaffirmed his commitment to stay with the Gators.
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A potential reason for the timing: Both Bianco and Godwin were busy coaching their teams in the Super Regionals themselves, but have since seen their seasons end. Ole Miss hosted and advanced out of the Oxford Regional before falling in three games to No. 5-ranked Arizona in Tuscon. East Carolina, meanwhile, advanced out of the Greenville regional before falling to powerhouse Vanderbilt in two games in Nashville.
Bianco's clear edge is in the resume department, with a record of 922-533-1 over his 30-year career with seven appearances in Super Regionals, an SEC regular season title and four SEC Tournament titles to his credit. But of those seven visits, his teams have advanced to Omaha just once (2014).
Godwin has a career record of 258-130-1, with two American Athletic Conference regular season titles and two AAC Tournament titles. He's been named the American Athletic Conference coach of the year three times. His teams have advanced to the Super Regionals in three of the past six seasons, but have not advanced to Omaha.
For the full report from The Advocate, click here.
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