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One more baseball post then I move on...Smoke Laval
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:34 am
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:34 am
I didn't pay any attention to baseball during the Laval days, but was he that bad? He was never mentioned as a coach on "Hold The Rope" documentary, but was the coach between Bertman and Mainieri. Not popular or just not good? Looks like he had a good record.
26
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:35 am to EauxZark Tiger
Made omaha twice but was 2 and q both times. Then missed the ncaa tournament the year after that. The expectation was sky high after skip, just liked the next bama football coach will have massive expectations, missing the ncaa tournament was a fireable offense after how high the program was just right before
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:40 am to EauxZark Tiger
He definitely wasn't as terrible as some make him out to be. I went to a pitcher/catcher camp my senior year (Fall 2002) and got to talk to him and liked him a lot.
But as the poster above said.. expectations were just so high after Skip. 99% of programs would love to have the success Smoke had in his short run at LSU
But as the poster above said.. expectations were just so high after Skip. 99% of programs would love to have the success Smoke had in his short run at LSU
This post was edited on 6/29/23 at 9:41 am
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:41 am to EauxZark Tiger
He got to Omaha twice and that’s an accomplishment in itself. It’s so hard to even get there.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:44 am to EauxZark Tiger
quote:Yes. He was a terrible judge of character for his recruits. And he pissed off every big baseball donor, even referring to them as "the enemy." (I heard him say it.)
but was he that bad?
Skip cultivated fan support for the baseball program. Laval went out of his way to destroy it.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:45 am to LSURussian
quote:
He was a terrible judge of character for his recruits.
Wasn’t Turtle the one recruiting the players?
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:46 am to EauxZark Tiger
He was in an impossible situation. You can't replace a legend and expect the same results.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:49 am to Sailor Sam
It was bigger than that. He didn’t recruit. He and Turtle didn’t see eye to eye on recruiting. Chemistry sucked, morale was low, there was no excitement around the program, there was no accountability within it, and the overall trajectory of the program was terrible because of those things.
Smoke knows baseball but he’s simply not cut out to be a head coach at the level of an LSU.
Smoke knows baseball but he’s simply not cut out to be a head coach at the level of an LSU.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:52 am to Wichita Co Tiger
His players were legendary beer drinkers.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:53 am to Jb1994
quote:
Made omaha twice but was 2 and q both times. Then missed the ncaa tournament the year after that.
He made the NCAAT the year after the second 0-2 CWS appearance. LSU was eliminated by Rice in the Regional.
LSU hosted regionals in his first 4 years as HC. They reached the Super Regionals in year 1, CWS in years 2 and 3, and Regionals in year 4.
By most objective metrics Smoke was a successful HC, Unfortunately for him, those metrics also included the fact he was replacing a guy who won 5 national championships in 10 years. At that time, anything short of playing for a National Championship was seen as disappointing. He had a bad year in 2006 and Skip pulled the plug because, I guess, he could see the program was trending downwards.
With Johnson winning the NC, the Smoke era will be viewed even more as the "forgotten era". But the reality is he wasn't that bad...just not good enough.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:55 am to EauxZark Tiger
He was pretty much in an impossible situation. It was either win it all or it wasn’t going to work out.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:57 am to EauxZark Tiger
He ate chili dogs in the dugout. That's what I remember about him. 
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:57 am to Jb1994
He regressed every year. When CPM got there in 08, I went to games and would call my dad saying how terrible they were… and they were. Then against South Carolina they tied the Sunday game and a lightbulb went off. I called him and said they might catch fire… they did and CPM had a lot of success maybe not National Titles like skip.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:58 am to EauxZark Tiger
quote:
He was never mentioned as a coach on "Hold The Rope"
He’s still quite bitter, I thought enough time had passed he way want let it go but nah he still refused to take part. Fat a-hole
He never deserved the job in the first place, failed, and then tried to burn the house down on his way out by being a rat. Dude sucks
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:59 am to GeauxtigersMs36
Yea the talent when Mainieri got here was low minus a few guys. He had a nice core group of Dean, Mitchell, Schimpf and Louis Coleman but not nearly enough around them.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 10:02 am to Alt26
quote:
By most objective metrics Smoke was a successful HC, Unfortunately for him, those metrics also included the fact he was replacing a guy who won 5 national championships in 10 years. At that time, anything short of playing for a National Championship was seen as disappointing.
Yea he wasn’t a terrible coach at all and like everyone is saying, he replaced the greatest baseball coach of all time so it did t take much for fans to turn on him. I felt kinda bad for the guy to be honest. He was never going to live up to expectations at that time.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 10:04 am to EauxZark Tiger
not to give it its own thread,but can someone refresh my memory on the "Camp Money" deal and Jim Wells from Alabama? I want to say following the 2000 season LSU/Skip talked to Wells about the job but in addition to not wanting to be the top Asst in 2001 there was something about Skip wanting to continue to keep some money from baseball camps.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 10:04 am to EauxZark Tiger
SMOKE will be best known for
1) drinking beers at sammy's
2) 0-4 in OMAHA
3) his " THAT'S BASEBALL" quote
1) drinking beers at sammy's
2) 0-4 in OMAHA
3) his " THAT'S BASEBALL" quote
Posted on 6/29/23 at 10:04 am to HappyTigerDay
quote:he might have been a nice guy but no he was terrible. The program was in horrible shape when CPM took over
He definitely wasn't as terrible as some make him out to be. I went to a pitcher/catcher camp my senior year (Fall 2002) and got to talk to him and liked him a lot.
But as the poster above said.. expectations were just so high after Skip. 99% of programs would love to have the success Smoke had in his short run at LSU
Posted on 6/29/23 at 10:04 am to Wichita Co Tiger
quote:
Yea the talent when Mainieri got here was low minus a few guys. He had a nice core group of Dean, Mitchell, Schimpf and Louis Coleman but not nearly enough around them.
Smoke let the roster decline and PM’s first team was an indication of how far things sank.
This post was edited on 6/29/23 at 10:05 am
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