Paul Mainieri
Sport(s) | Baseball |
---|---|
Current position | |
Title | Head coach |
Team | LSU |
Conference | SEC |
Record | 459–182–3(.715) |
Biographical details | |
Born |
Morgantown, West Virginia | August 29, 1957
Playing career | |
1976 | LSU |
1977 | Miami-Dade North CC |
1978–1979 | UNO |
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 | 1324–674–8 (.662) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
NCAA: 2009 SEC: 2009, 2012, 2015 SEC Tournament: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 Big East: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006 Big East Tournament: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 | |
Awards | |
Skip Bertman Award (CBF): 2015 National Coach of the Year (College Baseball Insider): 1999, 2008 National Coach of the Year (NCBWA): 2015 National Coach of the Year (Rivals): 2008, 2009 Coach of the Year (Baseball America): 2009 Coach of the Year (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper): 2009 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 Notre Dame baseball team from 1995–2006, the United States Air Force Academy baseball team from 1989–1994 and the St. Thomas University baseball team from 1983–1988. Mainieri coached LSU to the 2009 College World Series championship.
Playing career
Mainieri graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida. 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.
St. Thomas Hall of Fame
It was announced that Mainieri will be inducted into the St. Thomas Hall of Fame on November 1, 2009. Mainieri becomes just the sixth person to be inducted into the St. Thomas Hall of Fame joining the other 5 which include 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
- Terry Rooney, Head Coach, Central Florida
- Brian O'Connor, Head Coach, Virginia
- David Grewe, Former Head Coach,[7] Michigan State
- Cory Mee, Head Coach, Toledo
- Dave Schrage, Head Coach, South Dakota State
- Eric Campbell, General Manager, Team USA
- Al Avila, Assistant General Manager, Detroit Tigers
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
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Thomas (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 | 27–27 | 13–13 | 5th | |||||
1990 | Air Force | 26–34 | 7–21 | 7th | |||||
1991 | Air Force | 22–27 | 1–20 | 8th | |||||
1992 | Air Force | 23–24 | 5–20 | 7th | |||||
1993 | Air Force | 28–22 | 5–16 | 10th | |||||
1994 | Air Force | 26–24 | 7–15 | 10th | |||||
Air Force: | 152–158 | 38–105 | |||||||
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Big East Conference) (1995–2006) | |||||||||
1995 | Notre Dame | 40–21 | 11–4 | 2nd | |||||
1996 | Notre Dame | 44–18 | 13–7 | 6th | NCAA Regional | ||||
1997 | Notre Dame | 41–19 | 15–6 | 3rd | |||||
1998 | Notre Dame | 41–17 | 15–4 | 2nd | |||||
1999 | Notre Dame | 43–18 | 20–5 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
2000 | Notre Dame | 46–18 | 18–7 | 2nd | NCAA Regional | ||||
2001 | Notre Dame | 49–13–1 | 22–4 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
2002 | Notre Dame | 50–18 | 18–8 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
2003 | Notre Dame | 45–18 | 16–7 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
2004 | Notre Dame | 51–12 | 20–6 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
2005 | Notre Dame | 38–24–1 | 14–9–1 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
2006 | Notre Dame | 45–17–1 | 14–9–1 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
Notre Dame: | 533–213–3 | 196–76–2 | |||||||
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2007–present) | |||||||||
2007 | LSU | 29–26–1 | 12–17–1 | 5th (West) | |||||
2008 | LSU | 49–19–1 | 18–11–1 | 1st (West) | College World Series | ||||
2009 | LSU | 56–17 | 20–10 | 1st (West) | College World Series Champions | ||||
2010 | LSU | 41–22 | 14–16 | 5th (West) | NCAA Regional | ||||
2011 | LSU | 36–20 | 13–17 | T–5th (West) | |||||
2012 | LSU | 47–18 | 19–11 | 1st (West) | NCAA Super Regional | ||||
2013 | LSU | 57–11 | 23–7 | 1st (West) | College World Series | ||||
2014 | LSU | 46–16–1 | 17–11–1 | 2nd (West) | NCAA Regional | ||||
2015 | LSU | 54–12 | 21–8 | 1st (West) | College World Series | ||||
2016 | LSU | 45–21 | 19–11 | 3rd (West) | NCAA Super Regional | ||||
LSU: | 459–182–3 (.715) | 176–119–3 (.596) | |||||||
Total: | 1324–674–8 (.662) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
NCAA tournament
Year | School | Record | Winning % | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Notre Dame | 1–2 | .333 | Eliminated by Virginia in South I Regional |
1999 | Notre Dame | 1–2 | .333 | Eliminated by Michigan in South Bend Regional |
2000 | Notre Dame | 3–2 | .600 | Eliminated by Mississippi St. in Starkville Regional Finals |
2001 | Notre Dame | 3–2 | .600 | Eliminated by Florida International in South Bend Regional Finals |
2002 | Notre Dame | 5–3 | .625 | Won South Bend Regional & Tallahassee Super Regional College World Series (5th Place) |
2003 | Notre Dame | 2–2 | .500 | Eliminated by Cal St. Fullerton in Fullerton Regional Finals |
2004 | Notre Dame | 2–2 | .500 | Eliminated by Arizona in South Bend Regional Finals |
2005 | Notre Dame | 2–2 | .500 | Eliminated by Florida in Gainesville Regional Finals |
2006 | Notre Dame | 0–2 | .000 | Eliminated by Kentucky in Lexington Regional |
2008 | LSU | 6–3 | .667 | Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional College World Series (5th Place) |
2009 | LSU | 10–1 | .909 | Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional College World Series Champions |
2010 | LSU | 1–2 | .333 | Eliminated by UC Irvine in Los Angeles Regional |
2012 | LSU | 4–2 | .667 | Won Baton Rouge Regional. Eliminated by Stony Brook in Baton Rouge Super Regional |
2013 | LSU | 5–2 | .714 | Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional College World Series (7th Place) |
2014 | LSU | 2–2 | .500 | Eliminated by University of Houston in Baton Rouge Regional |
2015 | LSU | 6–2 | .750 | Won Baton Rouge Regional & Super Regional College World Series (5th Place) |
2016 | LSU | 3–3 | .500 | Won Baton Rouge Regional. Eliminated by Coastal Carolina in Baton Rouge Super Regional |
Totals | 56–36 | .609 | 17 Regionals (Won 6) 7 Super Regionals (Won 5) 5 College World Series (1 Championship) |
See also
References
- ↑ Mainieri Elected to St. Thomas Hall of Fame
- ↑ "SEC Coaches Pick Baseball to Win League". June 26, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- ↑ "Collegiate Baseball names Mainieri 2009 Coach of the Year". June 26, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- ↑ "Mainieri named 'Baseball America' Coach of the Year". June 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ↑ "Mainieri Named National Coach of the Year by Rivals". July 6, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ↑ "LSU's Paul Mainieri honored as the NCBWA National Coach of the Year". June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ↑ MSU baseball coach leaving for LSU job
External links
- LSU profile
- Notre Dame profile
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)