‘Thirty-Nine Years Of Heaven:’ Paul Mainieri Reflects On End Of His Career, LSU’ Season

Image credit: LSU coach Paul Mainieri (Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos Via Getty)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—Sunday’s 15-6 loss for Louisiana State against Tennessee brought an end to the Tigers’ season, which is to say that it also brought an end to the coaching career of Paul Mainieri. 

In the rearview mirror now is a career that not only brought a national title to Baton Rouge, but also turned Notre Dame into a player on the national stage and gave Air Force one of the most consistent stretches of form in program history. 

The super regional format can make for abrupt endings and LSU’s exit certainly qualifies. Within a 24-hour span, it took a tough 4-2 loss that came in large part due to walks and defensive miscues and a blowout defeat where it was never really in the game after the early innings. 

Just like that, a run that had shades of Florida State’s push to the College World Series in 2019 in the final season of Mike Martin’s career was over. 

Like all coaches who have been successful at this level, Mainieri is always in the moment, just thinking about what’s right in front of him, but as the final outs came on Sunday, with no more next thing to focus on, his mind went to other places. 

“I was thinking about my dad, thinking about my father, talking to him,” Mainieri said with tears in his eyes. “Thinking about my son up in South Bend. Thinking about my wife and my children down here, they were with me through all this. And listen, I don’t want people to be sad for me. I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world. Thirty-nine years of heaven, really. Got to live out a childhood dream. Got to do what I wanted to do with my life. Who could ask for more? Nobody should. These are not tears of being upset. These are tears of happiness and gratefulness.”

What shouldn’t be lost in the big picture of bidding a fond farewell to a coach who has done so much in the sport is what he helped accomplish just this year. An argument can be made that this was one of his best coaching jobs. 

One of the assumed biggest strengths of this LSU team, a one-two punch in the rotation of Jaden Hill and Landon Marceaux, never materialized. Marceaux was good from beginning to end, but Hill was inconsistent to begin the season and was later lost to Tommy John surgery. 

The lineup was also painfully young, and in a year in college baseball when teams were as experienced as they have ever been, the Tigers took some lumps. At one point, LSU was 1-8 in SEC play after getting swept by Vanderbilt and as late as May 1, it sat 7-14 in the league, likely needing to win its last three SEC series to have a realistic shot of being a postseason team. The Tigers did so and got in by their whiskers. 

Their backs were against the wall in the Eugene Regional as well. After a shutout loss to Gonzaga, LSU found itself in extra innings against Central Connecticut State, but once it fought off the Blue Devils, it never looked back, eliminating Gonzaga before beating Oregon twice in the regional final. 

Though the effort came up short, Mainieri saw that same fight in his team on Sunday. After falling behind, 11-2, two-run homers by Tre’ Morgan and Jordan Drost made it 11-6 in the seventh and A.J. Labas was putting up zeroes. That effort temporarily, at least, made Tennessee take seriously the idea that the comeback might be on. 

It’s that fight that Mainieri will remember about his last team. 

“We got counted out a lot of times during the course of this year, and our guys never gave up,” he said. “They’re a resilient bunch, and I love them to death. I’ll always remember them as my last team.”

The interesting thing about this LSU team is that it feels like the end of an era and the beginning of another all in one. Mainieri, a national title-winning coach, is on his way out, but it feels like the window of opportunity for a young core that includes rising sophomores in outfielder Dylan Crews, first baseman Tre’ Morgan and shortstop Jordan Thompson, plus rising third-year sophomores in third baseman Cade Doughty and second baseman Zach Arnold, has flown wide open. 

The next LSU coach, whoever that ends up being, is going to have some rebuilding to do on the mound with the departures of Hill and Marceaux to the draft, but the lineup will be fierce and potentially among the best in college baseball. 

“I feel very proud of what we’re leaving to the next coach,” Mainieri said. “We’ve got some really good young players. Obviously, we were able to win a regional.”

Mainieri has seen a lot in his years in Baton Rouge. He’s seen the highest of highs, with a national championship in 2009, his third year at the helm, and on the other end of the spectrum, he’s experienced what it’s like when a passionate fan following begins to have doubts that you’re the right guy to lead the team. 

For a program that expects national title-level excellence more often than not, years like this one, where a potentially lost season gets saved at the 11th hour only to come up short of Omaha, might not be appreciated the same way they would be elsewhere. 

That type of cauldron, which simultaneously makes LSU one of the best and most pressure-packed coaching jobs in the country, is unique in college baseball. 

“People are passionate about LSU baseball,” Mainieri said. “Don’t confuse their passion, with … I don’t know what the word is … the criticism sometimes can hurt, but it’s just because people are passionate about the program, and you can’t take it personal. You know what I mean? I think I would give the new coach that advice. Just be confident and go do your thing.”

As for what’s next, there are some loose ends to tie up. For one, there’s making sure the summer camp, with LSU volunteer assistant and hitting coach Eddie Smith moving on to be the head coach at Utah Valley, is set up to run smoothly during a time of transition. 

And while he doesn’t want to overstep, Mainieri wants to be as helpful as he can be for the next coach, whatever that entails. 

But that’s all stuff for the future. The games might be over, and while Mainieri allowed himself time in the ninth inning Sunday to reflect on something other than what was playing out on the field, he’s still a coach. And he’s still focused on what’s right in front of him and what’s most important. 

“I’m not of clear thought right now about what the next step is,” Mainieri said. “I’ll have to think about it, and first I’ve got to say goodbye to these kids. Then we’ll see what the list is—what we’ve got to do to wrap things up for this year and get everything prepared for the transition to the new coach.”