Paul Mainieri

Paul Mainieri
Sport(s) Baseball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team LSU
Conference SEC
Record 551–229–3
Biographical details
Born (1957-08-29) August 29, 1957
Morgantown, West Virginia
Playing career
1976 LSU
1977 Miami-Dade North CC
1978–1979 New Orleans
1979 Niagara Falls Pirates
Position(s) Second base
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1983–1988 St. Thomas (FL)
1989–1994 Air Force
1995–2006 Notre Dame
2007–present LSU
Head coaching record
Overall 1415–721–8
Tournaments 67–41
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA (2009)
4 SEC (2009, 2012, 2015, 2017)
6 SEC Tournament (2008–2010, 2013, 2014, 2017)
4 Big East (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006)
5 Big East Tournament (2002–2006)
Awards
NCBWA National Coach of the Year (2015)
Skip Bertman Award (2015)
Baseball America Coach of the Year (2009)
Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year (2009)
2× SEC Coach of the Year (2009, 2015)
Big East Coach of the Year (2001)

Paul Mainieri (born August 29, 1957) is the head coach of the LSU Tigers baseball team. Prior to that position he was the head coach of the University of Notre Dame baseball team from 1995 to 2006, the United States Air Force Academy baseball team from 1989 to 1994 and the St. Thomas University baseball team from 1983 to 1988. Mainieri coached LSU to the 2009 College World Series championship.

Playing career

Mainieri graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. He started his college baseball playing career in 1976 at LSU. He played for one season, earning a letter, before transferring to Miami-Dade North Community College to play for his father, Demie Mainieri. After one year he transferred to the University of New Orleans where he played for two years and helped the team win two Sun Belt Conference titles and earn an appearance in the 1979 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Mainieri completed his undergraduate degree requirement at Florida International University in 1980, earning a B.S. in physical education. He played two years of minor league baseball and earned a M.S. in sports administration from St. Thomas University in 1982.

Coaching career

St. Thomas

Mainieri began his coaching career in Florida as the head coach of St. Thomas University in 1983. In six seasons, his team went 179–121–2, and Mainieri became the winningest coach in St. Thomas History. His No. 1 jersey was retired by the university in February 2012. In 2013, the new field at St. Thomas University was named in his honor. The Bobcats' new field is called Paul Demie Mainieri Field at Frank R. Esposito Stadium. Paul Mainieri asked the university to include his middle name, Demie, in the naming of the field because it is the same name as his father's first name. Both Mainieris have deep roots with St. Thomas, and recently became the first father-son duo to be elected to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Mainieri was inducted into the St. Thomas Hall of Fame on November 1, 2009. Mainieri became the sixth person to be inducted into the St. Thomas Hall of Fame, joining Ken Stibler, Marinka Bisceglia, Manny Mantrana, Laura Courtley-Todd and John Batule.[1]

Air Force

He moved on to the United States Air Force Academy in 1989, where he would also remain for six seasons. He became the second-winningest coach in Air Force history posting a mark of 152–158.

Notre Dame

Moving to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 1995, Mainieri turned the Fighting Irish into a perennial postseason contender winning the Big East tournament a record 5 straight seasons, making the NCAA Tournament 9 out of 12 seasons, and leading the Irish to one College World Series appearance in 2002. He won the 2001 Big East Coach of the Year award. In total, Mainieri posted a .714 winning percentage going 533–213–3 in twelve seasons.

LSU

Mainieri replaced Smoke Laval at the end of the LSU Tigers' 2006 season. In the 2007 season, LSU finished 29–26–1 and did not reach the NCAA Tournament.

40 games into the 2008 season, the Tigers were again struggling with a 23–16–1 record. However, the team then went on a Southeastern Conference record 23-game win streak and moved on to claim the 2008 SEC Tournament Championship. Under Mainieri's leadership, the team swept the Baton Rouge Regional bracket of the NCAA baseball post-season and won their first Super-Regional since 2004. UC Irvine ended the streak in the first game of the Super Regional, defeating LSU 11–5, but LSU won the next two games and reached the 2008 College World Series. It was LSU's first College World Series appearance since 2004 and they recorded their first win since their CWS championship in 2000.

Mainieri's Tigers entered the 2009 season as the favorites to win the SEC, and were the preseason No. 1 team in some national polls.[2] During the season, the Tigers won the SEC regular season title, the 2009 SEC Tournament Championship, and reached the 2009 College World Series as the No. 3 national seed. Mainieri then led LSU to the CWS Finals against Texas. The Tigers won the first game 7–6 in 11 innings, lost the second 5–1, but won the national championship defeating the Longhorns 11–4 in the final game. The Tigers finished the season with a 56–17 record. Mainieri received the 2009 Coach of the Year award from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the 2009 Coach of the Year award by Baseball America. Rivals.com also named Mainieri the 2009 National Coach of the Year.[3][4][5]

The 2009 title was the sixth in LSU baseball history, tying Texas for the second most national championships in college baseball history, and Mainieri joined Skip Bertman as the only LSU baseball coaches to win a national championship.

In 2015, Mainieri received the National Coach of the Year award from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the Skip Bertman Award presented by the College Baseball Foundation.[6]

Coaching tree

Paul Mainieri's influence extends throughout the game of baseball, as seven of his former assistant coaches and six of his former players presently work as coaches or administrators.

Former assistant coaches

Former players

  • Eddie Smith, Assistant Coach, University of Virginia
  • Marty Smith, Head Coach, Central Florida CC
  • Rick Hitt, Head Coach, South Florida CC
  • Elvis Dominguez, Head Coach, Bradley
  • John Corbin, Assistant Coach, Bradley
  • Mike Kazlausky, Head Coach, Air Force
  • J.J. Brock, Assistant Coach, Georgetown
  • Blake Dean, Head Coach, University of New Orleans

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
St. Thomas Bobcats (Sunshine State Conference) (1983–1988)
1983 St. Thomas 19–25–1
1984 St. Thomas 37–14
1985 St. Thomas 32–21
1986 St. Thomas 23–24
1987 St. Thomas 35–21
1988 St. Thomas 33–16–1
St. Thomas: 179–121–2
Air Force Falcons (Western Athletic Conference) (1989–1994)
1989 Air Force 27–2713–135th
1990 Air Force 26–347–217th
1991 Air Force 22–271–208th
1992 Air Force 23–245–207th
1993 Air Force 28–225–1610th
1994 Air Force 26–247–1510th
Air Force: 152–15838–105
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Big East Conference) (1995–2006)
1995 Notre Dame 40–2111–42nd
1996 Notre Dame 44–1813–76thNCAA Regional
1997 Notre Dame 41–1915–63rd
1998 Notre Dame 41–1715–42nd
1999 Notre Dame 43–1820–51stNCAA Regional
2000 Notre Dame 46–1818–72ndNCAA Regional
2001 Notre Dame 49–13–122–41stNCAA Regional
2002 Notre Dame 50–1818–81stCollege World Series
2003 Notre Dame 45–1816–73rdNCAA Regional
2004 Notre Dame 51–1220–61stNCAA Regional
2005 Notre Dame 38–24–114–9–13rdNCAA Regional
2006 Notre Dame 45–17–114–9–13rdNCAA Regional
Notre Dame: 533–213–3196–76–2
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2007–present)
2007 LSU 29–26–112–17–15th (West)
2008 LSU 49–19–118–11–11st (West)College World Series
2009 LSU 56–1720–101st (West)College World Series Champions
2010 LSU 41–2214–165th (West)NCAA Regional
2011 LSU 36–2013–17T–5th (West)
2012 LSU 47–1819–111st (West)NCAA Super Regional
2013 LSU 57–1123–71st (West)College World Series
2014 LSU 46–16–117–11–12nd (West)NCAA Regional
2015 LSU 54–1221–81st (West)College World Series
2016 LSU 45–2119–113rd (West)NCAA Super Regional
2017 LSU 52–2021–91st (West)College World Series Runner-Up
2018 LSU 39–2715–154th (West)NCAA Regional
LSU: 551–229–3 (.706)212–143–3 (.596)
Total:1415–721–8 (.662)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament

Year School Record Winning % Notes
1996Notre Dame1–2.333Eliminated by Virginia in South I Regional
1999Notre Dame1–2.333Eliminated by Michigan in South Bend Regional
2000Notre Dame3–2.600Eliminated by Mississippi St. in Starkville Regional Finals
2001Notre Dame3–2.600Eliminated by Florida International in South Bend Regional Finals
2002Notre Dame5–3.625Won South Bend Regional & Tallahassee Super Regional
College World Series (5th Place)
2003Notre Dame2–2.500Eliminated by Cal St. Fullerton in Fullerton Regional Finals
2004Notre Dame2–2.500Eliminated by Arizona in South Bend Regional Finals
2005Notre Dame2–2.500Eliminated by Florida in Gainesville Regional Finals
2006Notre Dame0–2.000Eliminated by Kentucky in Lexington Regional
2008LSU6–3.667Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional
College World Series (5th Place)
2009LSU10–1.909Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional
College World Series Champions
2010LSU1–2.333Eliminated by UC Irvine in Los Angeles Regional
2012LSU4–2.667Won Baton Rouge Regional. Eliminated by Stony Brook in Baton Rouge Super Regional
2013LSU5–2.714Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional
College World Series (7th Place)
2014LSU2–2.500Eliminated by University of Houston in Baton Rouge Regional
2015LSU6–2.750Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional
College World Series (5th Place)
2016LSU3–3.500Won Baton Rouge Regional. Eliminated by Coastal Carolina in Baton Rouge Super Regional
2017LSU9–3.750Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional
College World Series Runner-Up
2018LSU2–2.500Eliminated by Oregon State in Corvallis Regional
Totals67–41.62019 Regionals (Won 7)
8 Super Regionals (Won 6)
6 College World Series (1 Championship)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mainieri Elected to St. Thomas Hall of Fame
  2. ↑ "SEC Coaches Pick Baseball to Win League". June 26, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  3. ↑ "Collegiate Baseball names Mainieri 2009 Coach of the Year". June 26, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  4. ↑ "Mainieri named 'Baseball America' Coach of the Year". June 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  5. ↑ "Mainieri Named National Coach of the Year by Rivals". July 6, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  6. ↑ "LSU's Paul Mainieri honored as the NCBWA National Coach of the Year". June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ MSU baseball coach leaving for LSU job
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