Shatel: Mainieri helps Tigers regain bite

Move over, Augie. There's a new face looking to sit at the head table of the College World Series.

His name is Paul Mainieri. He's the baseball coach at LSU. He's friendly, likeable, the kind of guy who would blend in at any tailgate or restaurant. And he's got his team in the championship series of the 2009 CWS.

Don't look now, but here comes the next mayor of the CWS. At least he knows where the big boys like to eat.

Mainieri took his wife Karen to Lo Sole Mio the other night. Say, isn't that Augie Garrido's favorite hangout?

“Hey, Augie's Mexican,'' Mainieri said. “I'm Italian.''

Another difference is that Garrido has five national titles and Mainieri has none. LSU hasn't won it — or played for it — since 2000, when Mainieri was at Notre Dame. But who's counting?

“It's Omaha or bust down in Baton Rouge, I promise you,'' Mainieri said. “They expect to have one of the very best teams in the country. Now we're in the finals, but they're used to winning when they get to the finals, too. It never really lets up.''

Which is OK with the man who knew all about that when he took the job.

“If you think about the pressure, you'll get overwhelmed by it,'' Mainieri said. “I don't really think about the pressure, because I'm in it to work with the kids.''

That sounds well and good, as long as the kids win. LSU is a bottom-line place when it comes to college baseball. The Tiger folk pine over baseball the way some — including LSU — obsess over college football.

When he arrived at LSU two years ago, after a successful run at Notre Dame, his team didn't make the SEC tournament. Then, last year, after a sluggish start — that ended in the CWS thanks to a 23-game winning streak — LSU fans weren't so sure about the man from the north.

“I didn't feel the heat,'' Mainieri said. “If people were talking about me, I wouldn't pay attention to it. I have confidence in myself. We just had to recruit. It took some time for players in the program to understand what we expected out of them.''

That's the thing: Dynasties take breaks in college sports. But before they can come back, they have to learn to get that edge all over again.

LSU is showing this week that it may have the edge back.

“The kids needed to learn what it took to win, to win championships,'' Mainieri said. “That was my job, to teach them that. We had really good talent. But look at the teams in the SEC. They all have good talent, future major leaguers. It forces you to play at a higher level if you want to have success. The little things make a big difference. Fundamentals and confidence.

“I don't do anything magical with the kids. What I try to do is make them believe that they can do whatever they put their mind to.''

The LSU job is not for the squeamish. But Mainieri looked like the perfect coach to try to live up to the Skip Bertman legend and all five national championships.

For one thing, the kid from Miami actually played for LSU in 1976, before transferring back to Miami Dade Community College to play for his dad, Demie. He met his wife while he was at LSU. He had the ties to the school.

He also had the ties to Bertman, who was coaching Miami Beach High School in the early '70s and sending players to Demie Mainieri at Dade Community College. The two coaches became friends. Their families used to hang out.

“We used to have a batting cage in our backyard,'' Paul Mainieri said. “Skip used to come over and help me. I kid him, ‘Everybody thinks you're a great coach, Skip, but if they saw you work with me, that would dispel that notion.'''

Bertman, who was LSU athletic director until a year ago, hired Mainieri. So the man whose legend Mainieri had to live up to was also his boss. He had no problem because of their relationship, and a little talk they had.

“Skip's been unbelievable to me,'' Mainieri said. “He's never tried to suffocate me. A lot of people said, ‘Why would you take the job? Skip's going to try to suffocate you.' He knew he couldn't do that.

“We had a very honest conversation before I took the job about how we were going to work together. He abided by everything we discussed in that meeting. But only after I felt comfortable that he was going to do everything he said, and let me do things my way, did I accept the job. I didn't need to accept the job. I had a great job. I was totally happy where I was. I could have coached at Notre Dame for the rest of my career.

“But you also wonder if one day I could succeed Skip down there. It seemed like such a pipe dream.''

Not anymore. Don't look now, but Mainieri has a reservation for Monday night at the hottest spot in town.

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com