Tag: Paul Mainieri

LSU baseball strength coach reportedly leaving for Texas A&M

Jeremy McMillan is returning to Texas A&M, where he spent 12 years before joining LSU’s staff in August.

The baseball coaching drama in the state of Texas has had some residual effects on the LSU program.

On Saturday, The Advocate’s Koki Riley reported that Tigers strength and conditioning coach [autotag]Jeremy McMillan[/autotag] will be returning to Texas A&M to join the staff of new head coach Michael Earley, the former hitting coach who initially followed Jeff Schlossnagle to Texas before returning to become the head coach in College Station.

McMillan joined coach Jay Johnson’s staff in August after spending 12 years as the strength coach at TAMU. Now, the San Antonio native and Texas Tech grad is returning to his home state.

Riley reported that assistant manager of applied sports science will handle strength and conditioning duties during summer ball while a replacement is found. That hire is expected to be made by the end of the month.

McMillan becomes the third LSU assistant to depart this offseason, joining associate director of program development and recruiting [autotag]Terry Rooney[/autotag], who joined [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag] at South Carolina, and director of operations [autotag]Brent Haring[/autotag], who became the head coach at Nicholls.

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LSU baseball pushing for several Texas A&M transfers among others

LSU could be a major beneficiary from the fallout of Jim Schlossnagle’s departure from College Station.

We’re still dealing with the fallout from Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle’s decision to leave for rival Texas following the Aggies’ loss in the College World Series final, and with his entire staff joining him in Austin, we saw a wide cast of TAMU players opt to transfer.

While some of those players will inevitably join the Longhorns, LSU is making its case. According to LSU Country’s Zack Nagy, the Tigers are pushing for Gavin Grahovac, a freshman phenom for Texas A&M, as well as Jace LaViolette, a one-time LSU commit under [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag].

Kaeden Kent, another Aggies transfer who plays the infield, is another name to watch, according to Nagy.

It’s not just Texas A&M players [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] is courting. The Tigers are also in the mix for East Carolina LHP Zach Root, the top arm currently in the portal. Auburn has reportedly made a push here, but LSU and Arkansas are also in the mix here, according to Nagy.

The Tigers have already landed an impressive transfer haul, but the chaos surrounding their rival at the moment could result in that group becoming even more loaded than it already is.

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Nicholls names LSU baseball assistant Brent Haring head coach

Jay Johnson lost another member of his staff on Tuesday.

LSU is losing another assistant to the coaching carousel with Nicholls hiring [autotag]Brent Haring[/autotag] as its next head coach.

D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reported the new. Haring will replace former Nicholls head coach Mike Silva, who Arkansas State hired after leading Nicholls to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024.

Haring joined LSU in August of 2023 as the director as baseball operations after serving as the associate head coach with BYU. This is Haring’s first head coach opportunity in the college ranks, but he previously worked as the head man for the American Samoa National Team.

A Utah native, Haring has spent most of his baseball career out west, but he handled BYU’s recruiting operation and should be familiar with the state of Louisiana after working with LSU.

Haring is the second LSU assistant to leave in recent weeks after [autotag]Terry Rooney[/autotag] joined former Tigers head coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag] at South Carolina.

Haring’s hire marks the second straight year a [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] assistant took a head coaching job after former LSU pitching coach [autotag]Wes Johnson[/autotag] took over Georgia baseball in 2023.

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Former LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri explains how he handled pressure with Tigers

Paul Mainieri took the Tigers to Omaha five times, winning a national title in 2009.

Longtime former LSU baseball coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag], who retired in 2021, has ended his sabbatical from the sport.

Mainieri recently accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina, making his return to the SEC. Baseball in this conference is a high-stress affair, but Mainieri is used to pressure having spent so much time at an LSU program that is quite accustomed to success.

During a recent appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Mainieri said he didn’t worry about the pressure during his tenure with the Tigers — in which he reached Omaha five times, winning a national championship in 2009 and reaching the College World Series final in 2017.

“I told you, Paul, way back then, and I told this to everybody,” Mainieri said, per On3. “When I went to LSU, I didn’t worry about pressure because the pressure was a fear of failure, and I just felt that we were going to succeed I was going to surround myself with great staff, and we were going to go out and recruit really good players — If we coached those players the right way, motivated, and inspired them, the winning would take care of itself. And for the most part it did during my tenure at LSU.

“I’m pretty proud of the things that we accomplished. Certainly, I would have liked to have won another national championship or two, but those things are kind of hard to win… they’re not that easy at the very end. I thought that we had really good teams that competed for it every year. We went to Omaha five times while I was at LSU… I just never really thought about the pressure.”

Mainieri now joins another program where he’ll be living up to the standards set by a legend as Ray Tanner, who coached the Gamecocks from 1997-12 and won back-to-back national titles in 2010 and 2011.

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LSU baseball’s Jay Johnson on how the transfer portal changes team building

Jay Johnson discussed how the transfer portal affects building a program in the new era

College sports are in an era of change. One of the biggest changes in recent years was the addition of the transfer portal, which has drastically shifted how some coaches and programs approach roster contruction.

LSU baseball head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] works the portal as well as anyone. In 2022, Johnson hit the portal for superstar pitcher [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] along with slugger [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag]. Both adds proved to be critical during LSU’s 2023 national title run.

Johnson spoke to the media this week and offered his thoughts on what the transfer portal has meant for the sport.

“The reality is we’re in a different landscape right now. I don’t think it’s about building a program anymore and that’s my wheelhouse. My specialty is developing a program,” Johnson said. “But I think it’s probably now about building your team one year at a time and I don’t say that in any other way than I want the guy that [autotag]Skip Bertman[/autotag] was able to redshirt.”

That’s harder to do these days, Johnson said, forcing an adjustment.

Johnson is already off to a strong start in the transfer portal this cycle with the addition of Indiana State slugger [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag].

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LSU’s Jay Johnson gives take on Paul Mainieri going to South Carolina

Jay Johnson said Paul Mainieri called him Monday to tell him he was accepting the South Carolina job.

Former LSU coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag], who left the game in 2021, is coming out of retirement to join an SEC rival.

Mainieri is expected to be the next head coach at South Carolina, according to multiple reports. While that hire hasn’t been officially announced, LSU baseball coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] essentially confirmed it during a press conference on Tuesday, saying that Mainieri called him to let him know he was accepting the job.

“He called me yesterday and I just congratulated him,” Johnson said. “He’s earned the right at this time in his life to choose what he wants to do. He’s a great coach, Hall of Fame coach, and has been very good to me in my time here. Happy for him. He’s a competitive guy, he’s got that fire, he’ll put good people around him, he’s smart. And he’ll probably be really good. I’m happy for coach if that’s what he wants to do.”

Johnson was also asked about the prospects of competing against Mainieri for the first time, but that doesn’t seem to be on his radar at this point.

“I’ve never even really thought about that because I’ve never coached against him period,” Johnson said. “Those kinds of things, I guess they matter. They don’t matter as much as everybody thinks they do, because if [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] is on the mound, I’ll win.”

Mainieri won a national title in 2009 at LSU and finished as the College World Series runner-up in 2017. Now, after spending 15 years in Baton Rouge, Mainieri will be coaching from the other dugout when the Tigers face the Gamecocks next season.

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LSU baseball staffer expected to join Paul Mainieri at South Carolina

LSU’s Terry Rooney will reportedly join Paul Mainieri’s Gamecocks staff as the pitching coach.

Monday saw some news that sent shockwaves around the college baseball world as longtime former LSU coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag] is expected to come out of retirement to become the head coach at South Carolina.

While that hire hasn’t been officially announced by the school, it seems Mainieri is already working to put together a staff that will include a current LSU baseball staffer.

Director of program development and recruiting coordinator [autotag]Terry Rooney[/autotag] is expected to join Mainieri’s Gamecocks staff as the pitching coach, according to a report from RotoBaller’s Chris Clegg.

Rooney previously worked under Mainieri at Notre Dame and later at LSU from 2007-08.

Rooney left LSU to become the head coach at UCF, where he worked from 2009-16. He was later an assistant at Alabama, Houston and Purdue before returning to Baton Rouge in his current role ahead of this past season.

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South Carolina expected to hire former LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri

It seems former LSU coach Paul Mainieri is coming out of retirement to join an SEC rival.

We were treated to a Monday bombshell in SEC baseball coaching news.

According to D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers, South Carolina is expected to hire former LSU coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag] for its vacant head coaching position. He will replace Mark Kingston, who was fired on June 3 after seven seasons in Columbia.

It’s a return to college baseball for Mainieri, who coached the Tigers from 2007 until his retirement in 2021. While in Baton Rouge, Mainieri’s teams reached the College World Series five times, winning a national title in 2009 and finishing as the runner-up in 2017.

News of the Gamecocks targeting Mainieri was first reported by Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill.

 

South Carolina is looking to get back to the level of dominance that saw the team win back-to-back national titles under former coach and current athletic director Ray Tanner. His successors haven’t lived up to that success as the program hasn’t reached Omaha since Tanner’s final season in 2012.

If the Gamecocks can land Mainieri, one of the most successful coaches in the modern era of college baseball, they could be able to do just that.

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5 LSU Tigers inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Five members of the 12-person induction class on Saturday night had connections to LSU.

It was a special night for LSU in Natchitoches, Louisiana, on Saturday.

In total, five LSU Tigers were inducted as part of the 2023 class into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. There was also a lot of non-LSU star power present as Eli Manning, Alana Beard, Ron Washington and Matt Forte were all also inducted.

The Tigers occupied nearly half of the 12-person induction class as the Louisana Sports Hall of Fame now sits at a membership of 480 men and women.

Here’s a rundown of each of the five people with LSU connections who were inducted into the HOF on Saturday night.

Former LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri to be inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Paul Mainieri won a national championship and made five College World Series appearances in 15 years at LSU.

Longtime LSU baseball coach [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag] will be officially inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame this weekend.

The head coach of the Tigers from 2007-21, he won a national title in 2009 and reached the College World Series five times. His team also finished as the runner-up in 2017.

Mainieri retired following the 2021 season with an overall record of 641-281-3. In his 15-year career, he recorded four 50-win seasons including a 57-win campaign in 2013, which still stands as the program record.

He’s one of three LSU baseball coaches to win a national championship, joining legendary five-time champion [autotag]Skip Bertman[/autotag] and [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag], who won his first title this past season.

Mainieri will join former LSU pitcher [autotag]Paul Byrd[/autotag], who is also being inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

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