LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri has a lot of plans in retirement, but he'd be thrilled to delay a start on his retirement bucket list if the wait is for another College World Series trip.
After 15 years as LSU coach, more than 1,500 wins and at least one national championship, Mainieri will retire at the end of the 2021 season. The Tigers coach called in for an exclusive interview on Sports Talk with Kristian Garic and Bobby Hebert Thursday even, just over 24 hours before a 9 p.m. first pitch against Gonzaga in Eugene, Oregon.
"I just want to give it everything we’ve got this weekend and try to win this tournament for LSU and the people in Louisiana that love LSU like I do," Mainieri said. With a win over Gonzaga (which will be carried on ESPNU) the Tigers will get an early start over the weekend. A loss would mean a potential Mainieri sendoff would kick off late into the evening against either Oregon or Central Connecticut State University.
"Coaching LSU for the last 15 years has really just been the greatest honor I could possibly have. I’ve loved it. I know LSU fans are very demanding and I’ve tried to give them a lot of happiness and give them what they want," Manieri told WWL Radio's Kristian Garic. "But, you know, it’s impossible to win every game in this sport. We’ve done the best we can, we’ve had a lot of special moments. We’ve won a lot of championships, we’ve won one national championship, hopefully we can get to a second one this year. But, to think that we could win five like Skip [Bertman] did is probably wishful thinking because it’s just so hard now, there’s so many good teams out there."
One thing working in LSU's favor: Rest. An early exit from the SEC Tournament means a handful of nicked-up players had time to rest before shipping out to Oregon.
"The rest did those guys a lot of good," Mainieri said. "So I think we’re about as healthy as we can be at this point."
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HOW DID TEAM RESPOND TO RETIREMENT DECISION?
“I told them last Friday. It was hard, you know. It was hard for me to tell them. It was a very emotional time. You know, the kids have been great. They’ve obviously had a lot of time to think about it. A lot of them have come to talk to me personally about the decision, but I’ve assured them that LSU is going to go out and hire the very best coach in the country that they can get to come here.
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"The program is going to continue to prosper and go on. I’ve given everything I Can give to the program for 15 years and done the very best that I could. They’re going to bring in a very good coach. They shouldn’t worry that I’m moving on. Somebody’s going to come here and take the program to great heights. They’re going to be coached well. They shouldn’t worry about that. They just want to finish this season strong, and that’s where their focus is right now.”
ANY TIME TO REFLECT YET ON A 15-YEAR LSU CAREER?
"Criticism is part of the job, I understand that. It’s never bothered me because people are so passionate about their LSU tigers. That’s what makes the job so special. So, to the fans of LSU, I’ve loved being the coach of LSU and I’ve given it everything that I have every day of my job for the last 15 years and I think most of the people appreciate that my love of LSU runs very deep, as much as the fans love LSU, and I hope that they appreciate the fact that I’ve given it everything I’ve had for 15 years."
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HOW IS THE HEALTH HOLDING UP?
“It’s about the same as it’s been for a while now. You know, it’s definitely a concern for me. I’m not all that terribly comfortable right now, but everybody has to deal with issues in their life. It’s just something I’m dealing with and hopefully it’ll get better once I step away from the pressures of the job. I’m kind of counting on that, and hoping that’s what’s keeping it kind of uncomfortable for me."
SPOT ANY LSU FANS OUT IN OREGON?
"I haven’t seen them yet. We haven’t been out and about much. We just got out here yesterday afternoon, and all we’ve seen is the inside of a hotel and a couple of practice fields. So I’m sure that some people will make their way out here, I’ve got some family that’s here and I’m excited about that."
HOW'D IT FEEL TO SWEAT OUT A TOURNEY BID?
“I’ll tell you this. I did not know that we were firmly in. And so, you know, I’ve been through this before unfortunately a few times. The selection committees are not very transparent. You don’t know what they’re saying behind closed doors. I’ve had my heart broken a few times. Not just at LSU once, but at Notre Dame a couple of times, even at St. Thomas. You don’t know what’s going on, it’s just a terrible feeling to have go through that. But when our name was called and to see the way that our players reacted to the good news was really heartwarming to me. Because it showed how much they cared and how passionate they were about it and how much they wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament. When I saw the way they reacted it gave me a great deal of confidence that they were going to be ready to play this weekend and they were ready to go out there and give it everything they had.”
FUTURE ROLE WITH LSU?
“I’m going to do whatever Scott wants me to do. I think he wants me to help them try to raise some money, maybe play some golf with some donors, give some speeches, you know, those kind of things. I’ll be at his beck and call, whatever he wants me to do, and kind of be an ambassador for LSU. I’m going to take some time and go do some things that my job has never permitted me to do, especially in the spring months, like going to see the Kentucky Derby and going to see The Masters. I’ve got to improve my golf game, that’s for sure. I haven’t given it enough time. So I really want to work on it and spend a lot of time with my grandchildren. I want to go visit my former players and see what the result of my labor have been. My job has always been to produce good citizens, and see successful parents, see my players become successful parents, successful fathers, successful husbands. And I want to go see how they’ve done and go visit them. I don’t want them to come to my funeral. I want to enjoy them while I’m alive and go visit them and see how they’re doing. So, I’ve got a lot of things on my bucket list to do. I’m going to keep busy, I’m not worried about that.”