Mainieri tries to teach life lessons
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GONZALES — LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri encourages his players to try to please two people each day.
“I tell them to please the guy that made you and the guy you look at in the mirror everyday,” Mainieri said during Tuesday’s 23rd annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast at the Gonzales Civic Center.
“Don’t worry about pleasing anyone else.”
Mainieri, who led his team to win the College World Series in June, said he also stresses hard work, commitment to team, humility and dignity. Mainieri’s recruits are told they should commit to graduating, help others while in college and “thank God for their talents by developing that talent to the fullest ability.”
The coach said he is proud of his team’s commitment to volunteerism and raising money for area charities.
Saying he’s been blessed to be surrounded by great talent and a supportive community, Mainieri said his three-year ride to the top of college baseball “meant more to me than just about anything.”
“I would rather be known as a good father and husband than just a good baseball coach,” he said.
He said he was pleased to be able to bring the national baseball championship home “for the people of Louisiana.”
“Louisiana fans are the most generous people on earth,” he said.
He talked about his three-year stint at LSU, including his first year at 29-26 and his team’s 2008 23-game winning streak.
“It was an amazing transformation …, but I wasn’t surprised,” he said.
“We had a group of kids that cared about the right things and put the team before themselves,” he said.
“I ask them to play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back of the jersey,” he added.
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