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NO ONE is saying he didn't build a tremendous program from the ground up. The point is that it did not explode in terms of significant fan interest until the early/mid 90's. In 1989 LSU averaged about 1,800 fans per game. And they had already been to the CWS twice by that time. It wasn't until the early 90's that they really began to lead the nation in attendance and never looked back. In the 80's it was still very much a minor sport at LSU in terms of fan interest even though the program was having great success.

The point is not that he didn't build a great program from the ground up. It's that he had the great fortune of peaking at a time when LSU fans were STARVING for national success. That catapulted fans from people looking for a fun spring outing to die hard status. That tremendous success coupled with tremendous fan interest led to more resources being pumped into the program than almost every other school in the nation. Which, in turn, allowed LSU to maintain itself as one of the preeminent baseball programs in the country. That may not have quite been the case if they starting winning championships in say 2003 when Football was back to being a national contender once more.

So again, Skip was the right guy, who reached the pinnacle of his program at the right time

Attendance at the old Box steadily grew under Skip. Year one it was 918 per game. In 1990 it had jumped to 2,621. It kept rising. It had nothing to do with the success of football and basketball and everything to do with the product on the field and Skip’s marketing efforts.

Now maybe you measure the success of a coach by attendance at the games, but I measure it by wins, and championships. I could care less if Mainieri’s replacement packed the Box but failed to improve on Mainieri’s record.

In my opinion Skip is defined by his record, his titles and his rings. The marketing was all icing on the cake. It is what paid the freight, but it’s not what made LSU baseball elite. Skip and his players and coaches did that.