Rosetta: Up to LSU to keep Mainieri

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 7, 2009 - Page: 1C

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Almost two weeks to the day, it’s still sinking in for the hungry LSU baseball fans who had waited so long.

National champions again.

It’s hard to imagine things much rosier for a Tigers program that is back at the top of college baseball after a 56-17 season that culminated with winning the College World Series against Texas.

LSU fans proudly have what they’ve passionately wanted and demanded since this decade began with the promise of another run of domination that fizzled for several years in between.

Maybe almost as important as a new championship is the fact that Tigers fans have a coach they can embrace and identify with.

The flip side of that is that, sooner or later, LSU’s Paul Mainieri will be a targeted man when other big-time programs with big checkbooks go coach shopping.

Mainieri just finished the third year of his original five-year contract with a national championship and the second-best finish in the program’s storied history.

Could he be lured away with a more lucrative job offer that offered more long-term security?

That’s something LSU shouldn’t want to test out.

Mainieri has made it clear that this is the job for him — the place where he wants to establish a new dynasty.

And it’s hard to imagine a better fit in college baseball.

In three seasons, Mainieri has proven to be a perfect blend of the coaches who have set the bar so high at LSU this decade.

He has the polish of Nick Saban and the down-to-earth, family-oriented personality of Les Miles.