re: Mainieri on Off the Bench

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If I remember correctly the OTB staff was very critical of something (don't even remember if it had to do with baseball) so LSU wouldn't allow any guests on their show.

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It was Gibbs. He had a weekly spot in the mornings, but when the hitting struggled early, they were very critical of the hire since he was unproven and technically not even a full-time, paid coach. PM pulled Gibbs and OTB replaced the spot with Canni coming on the show (which was kind of a slap in the face to LSU).

It's not a new position.

"Paul M. Best coach on campus despite what the haters say"

Everyone says that until he loses a couple midweek games (scrimmages). Happens every year. Last year was particularly bad, guess all the O & Joe Haters just couldn't help themselves.
Paul may not be the best coach on campus, but he is very close to the top. He is very consistent & his teams always get better as the season progresses.

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Paul M. Best coach on campus

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He's the second best HC, Will Wade surpasses him as the best on campus and here's why:

Similar to CLM, Paul inherited a juggernaut and has shown the ability to keep the gravy train on track. This shows that he is a very competent coach.

WW on the other hand, inherited a sinking ship and has the team that won 2 SEC games a year ago abd were blown out in almost every conference game competing with the top teams in the league. Despite their lack of talent (especially in the post), WW has these guys fighting hard. He also has a top 10 class coming to school next year and he didn't have to hire anyone's god father to do it.

In my opinion, a program builder is greater than a program sustainer.

On another note, both of these guys fall short of the Wizard himself, Dave Aranda.

Laval turned Bertman's program into a dumpster fire.
The morale of the team was awful. They were losing instate kids to Tulane. Laval was lazy and players were going out all night and skipping weight workouts. PM had to bring in football players to rectify the poor recruiting. PM also had to run off some players who didn't want to put in the work.

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Similar to CLM, Paul inherited a juggernaut

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Wait a second...

The 2007 team he inherited was the least talented LSU has had since the late 80's. He put the program back on the tracks of what was steaming out of control in 2005 and 2006.

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The truth is that Skip assembled a merry band of mercenaries for one more chance at a swansong. That 2001 bunch had an element on it that was unlikable as shite. That shortcut made it tough on Laval, and then he clearly wasn't up to the task thereafter in any event.

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It was, and Laval battled through some of that in 2002 and 2003 to have a very solid first few seasons (even to LSU's standards), however he and Turtle swung and missed way too much in recruiting.

His 2004 class had some key guys sign pro ball but LSU still had a lot of returning starters in 2005 so a rug was covered.

His 2005 class might have been the biggest disappointment I remember, he needed to sign not only a deep class but have some star talent. I think his top 5 guys all ended up signing pro contracts relatively early in the summer and they had no backup plan.

Yes, he'll be back for 2019 with plenty of time to heal his arm.

It'll be fun to watch this team develop from February - mid April. I'm not going to say this team is Omaha-or-bust but they are more than capable of getting that far with the talent on the roster.

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Eric Walker is expected to miss the entire season, correct? Bummer if so as he was outstanding last year

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Yes, no real reason to rush especially considering the timing of his injury (in the CWS). Give him all the time in the world and let him come in fresh in 2019