I feel like I just did this for another coach (because I did with LSU basketball’s Trent Johnson), but it’s time to do it again because the murmuring is getting louder.
My friends are asking me about it, my fellow sports writers are debating it, and online message boards have been going back and forth on it.
Should LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri be in the hot seat, especially if the baseball team struggles down the stretch?
Simply put: no.
In fact, put the man on the coldest seat in the house because, in the words of Outkast, “What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold.” And that’s what Mainieri is.
For every reason LSU fans give for why he should be in trouble, I can give you one why he shouldn’t: the 2009 College World Series Championship.
“Oh, but he won it with Smoke Laval’s players,” they exclaim.
“Laval sure as hell didn’t win with those players,” I say back.
Plus, much of that team, especially some of the major role players, were Mainieri’s recruits. So don’t even go there.
The Tigers have a young team this year that most knew heading into the season would struggle. Most (including myself) thought it wouldn’t be this bad and pitching, not timely hitting, would be the issue.
In fact, the Tigers are 5-7 in one-run games this season. That’s a lack of clutch hitting, which is mental.
One also has to remember this is a young team. They were bound to have a few hiccups along the way.
Losing players from the 2010 squad like Blake Dean, Leon Landry, Micah Gibbs and Austin Ross (the latter three were all juniors who left early) to the majors and Jordan Rittiner and Joey Bourgeois to injury has hurt this 2011 team tremendously.
Mainieri will replace those guys, and the team will rebuild. Every coach deserves an off season every once in a while, and if this is Mainieri’s (as it appears to be), then so be it.
But there’s still time to turn this season around. LSU’s schedule was brutal to open the Southeastern Conference. They opened against SEC-leading Florida and faced all the top teams first.
With series against Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi State coming up (all four of whom are in the bottom five of the SEC), the Tigers should be feeling pretty good about making the eight-team field in the SEC Tournament.
Then again, I’m sure those four teams say the same thing when playing LSU.
But the Tigers showed some grit in Sunday’s 10-7 loss against Vanderbilt and in Tuesday night’s game against Nicholls State. LSU scored more than 10 runs Tuesday for the first time since March 16 against Nicholls.
The team hasn’t given up on themselves, and Mainieri hasn’t given up on this team yet, I can guarantee that.
There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played. If they can take the next four series, which there is a solid chance for them to do, then they will likely make the tournament with a chance to make a splash.
Mainieri is a hell of a coach who knows his players extremely well. He will know how to make them tick to get the ball rolling.
That’s the sign of a great coach — a coach that’s cooler than cool.
Andy Schwehm is a 21-year-old English and psychology senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_ASchwehm.
 
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected].