Surprising SEC baseball news dropped on Monday when reports surfaced that former LSU head coach Paul Mainieri is expected to become the next head coach of South Carolina.
Mainieri retired from coaching in 2021 following six seasons at St. Thomas, six seasons at Air Force, 12 seasons at Notre Dame, and 15 seasons at LSU. As the four-time National Coach of the Year will return to the SEC with the Gamecocks after leading the Tigers to a national title in 2009.
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Current LSU head coach Jay Johnson led the program to their next national championship win last season in 2023, and on Tuesday, he reacted to the news of Mainieri’s come back.
“He called me yesterday and I just congratulated him, and he’s earned the right at this time in his life to choose what he wants to do,” Johnson said. “He’s a great coach, Hall of Fame coach, and been very good to me my time here. Happy for him and he’s a competitive guy. He’s got that fire, he’ll put good people around him, smart, and they’ll probably be really good. That’s probably what will happen, and so I’m happy for Coach if that’s what he wants to do.”
Mainieri returns to college baseball as the active wins leader amongst all coaches with 1,505 victories under his belt, also taking home four SEC regular season and six SEC Tournament titles during his time with the Tigers. As he now replaces Mark Kingston who was fired following seven seasons with the Gamecocks and just one win in South Carolina’s recent Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
But in regards to facing off against the legendary coach as conference foes, Johnson hasn’t given his future matchups with Mainieri much thought.
“Yeah I’ve never really thought about that because I’ve never coached against him period. And I think those kinds of things, I guess they matter, they don’t matter as much as everybody thinks they do. “Because if Paul Skenes is on the mound, I will win,” Johnson said getting a laugh out of the media.
Johnson elaborated on other star players who’ve made a big impact during his tenure and younger contributors who will now enter next season with more experience. As it will be fascinating to see the two national champion coaches square off next baseball season in the SEC.
Jay Johnson discusses alleged Texas interest: ‘I’m very, very thankful to be here’
Johnson has also been tied to recent rumors regarding the Texas baseball head coaching job, with some speculating that the Longhorns would potentially target him despite David Pierce still occupying the job in Austin. Which Johnson also addressed on Monday.
“I have not been contacted and contractually if I was to be contacted Scott Woodward would be the first person that knows, because that’s what it says in my contract,” Johnson said “I’m very, very thankful to be here and excited about where we’re headed.”
After leading the Tigers to a national title last season in his second year with the program, Johnson helped man a massive turnaround this past season after starting off conference play 3-12. With the Tigers winning 14 of their last 20 games on the year and falling just short of both an SEC Tournament title and a Chapel Hill Regional Championship.
“It’s gonna look a little different than maybe I had thought like 18 months ago, but that’s okay. I think I’m built for this job incredibly well, because you’re just going to face a lot of bullets coming at you. And as I told you guys yeah, we’re not in Omaha, but there was nobody better positioned to help us get through what we did and than me and that’s exactly what happened,” Johnson added.
“And I’m not saying that’s because of me, but I feel like I’m very well positioned to help LSU, and the players that commit and stay at LSU, to be really successful and that’s where my focus is at.”
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