Quit making excuses: For LSU baseball to be that "down" is unacceptable

I never like to be “fire the coach” guy in sports.

As a guy who does some coaching myself, I know how hard that profession is and I respect all of the individuals who do the job at all levels.

So for that reason, I want to say up front that I am not advocating against Paul Mainieri as the LSU head baseball coach – not at all.

But I am saying with 100 percent conviction that it’s time the Tigers start getting consistent results in the games that matter most.

My friends and I go back and forth about the topic of Mainieri’s tenure in Baton Rouge and often, I’m in the minority in saying that I don’t think he’s done nearly the job he’s been given credit for at LSU.

He’s won and had success, sure.

But LSU is an A+ job with more revenue coming in and more resources than anyone else in the country. They’re the Alabama football or the Kentucky basketball of their sport. It’s hard to fail in the gig.

So if I have A+ backing, but are only getting B+ results? Well, to me, that’s not a great job done.

So this week, I made it my mission to provide answers disputes all of the excuses LSU baseball fans make about the shortcomings the team has had in the past 12 seasons.

I’ll be labeled a hater for writing this, but I’d like to consider it realism.

Sometimes it’s OK to spit out the Kool Aid and look at the actual picture.

Mainieri Guy says ‘How can you say bad things about a coach who has won so much at LSU?’

OK, so what exactly has LSU won besides Mainieri’s lone national title? In 12 years as LSU coach, the Tigers have missed the NCAA Tournament altogether twice, have been unable to get out of a Regional five times and have been unable to get to Omaha seven times. When they’ve gone to Omaha, they’ve had limited success, making the Final Four just twice. So by my math, LSU is not in the Top 16 in the country nearly half of the time and more than half of the time, they’re not in the Top 8 and 10 years out of 12, they’ve not made the Final Four. Let Duke basketball make the Final 4 just twice in 12 years and see what fans would think. Let Alabama make the College Football Playoff just twice in 12 years and then let’s do a popularity poll on the coach. It’s unacceptable.

Mainieri Guy says, ‘The lack of postseason success is bad luck.’

That’s a one-sided argument. Yes, LSU has had some tough luck in the postseason. Drawing Stony Brook was a nightmare. Those guys were one of the best teams in the country. Heck, even this year, LSU got a little bad luck in getting Oregon State. But in saying that LSU has lost because of bad luck, we’re negating that the Tigers have won because of a few nice hops, as well. Luck balances out. To say that it’s only one-sided is poor judgment. You are what your final result is – luck be damned.

Mainieri Guy says, ‘LSU always has a Top 5 recruiting class.’

That is exactly my point. If you always have a Top 5 recruiting class, then it means you have the best players. So why are you finishing in the Final Four just two times in 12 years? If you have top talent, top coaching budgets, top facilities and the best fans in attendance numbers, then you should have top results.

Mainieri Guy says, ‘There’s parity in college baseball now.’

That’s the most overstated phrase in the sport. Sure, more teams have invested in their college baseball programs now than before, but to call it true “parity” is a bit of a stretch. Half of the country can’t play home games for the first two months of the season and even some of the top programs in the country, lag far behind the SEC in facilities. Oregon State had a sell out against LSU. Their stadium holds 4,000 people. Give me a break! Since 2000, four teams have won multiple College World Series Titles (LSU, Texas, Oregon State and South Carolina) and several others (Stanford, Florida, North Carolina, UCLA, Virginia and Vanderbilt) have played in the Championship Series multiple times. There are occasional outliers, sure. Coastal Carolina comes to mind in 2016. But by and large, the same core group of 12-15 teams occupy Omaha each year. Let’s not lie to ourselves.

Mainieri Guy says, ‘All the top signees go to the MLB.’

Then sign guys who aren’t going to go to the MLB. Do your research. Scouts, coaches and people around these players talk. We all know who is or who isn’t going to sign if they’re drafted in certain positions. If all of the five-star players will sign in the MLB Draft, then take four-star players, because guess what? If all of the five-stars are off the board, then the four-star players ARE the new five-star players, right?

Mainieri Guy says, ‘But LSU has owned the SEC Tournament.’

They have. I can’t dispute that. But it’s a detriment. Skip Bertman used to always say the SEC Tournament was an NCAA Tournament warmup. LSU takes it too seriously. They stretch their arms too thin, then peak early.

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Look, I don’t overly dislike the guy. I want the Tigers to do well and win the College World Series next year. I’d love that.

I’m also not calling for his job or anything crazy like that. That’s not my job, nor my place.

But if we are going to say that LSU baseball is the top program in the country, then it’s time to start getting dominating results.

I don’t care about national seeds and conference tournament titles. What are you doing when the games matter most?

To only be in the Top 8 five times in 12 years does little for me because I was alive when this team won 5 rings in 10 years and it wasn’t all that long ago.

After 12 years, the fluky excuses become cold, hard facts.

The Tigers have to consistently get it done in the postseason.

It’s unpopular, but it is what it is.

Paul MainieriLSU SPORTS INFORMATION

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