U.Va.‘s O’Connor, LSU’s Manieri to renew acquaintances
By Jeff White
Published: June 9, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE For the Virginia baseball team, the road to the College World Series title goes through Louisiana State University. U.Va. coach Brian O'Connor wishes that wasn't the case, and not because he fears the mighty Tigers.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri, you see, is O'Connor's mentor and best friend in the coaching profession.

"We've talked about it plenty of times before," O'Connor said yesterday, "that we would never play each other until the NCAA said that we need to play each other.

"And now it's happening, and it just so happens to be in Omaha."

That Nebraska city is home to the College World Series, at which the NCAA crowns its baseball champion each year. If Virginia and LSU have to meet, Mainieri told reporters in Louisiana, Omaha is "the best place for it to happen. It means we've both had great years."

Virginia (48-13-1) will face LSU (51-16) at storied Rosenblatt Stadium in the CWS opener for both teams, probably Saturday. This is O'Connor's sixth season at U.Va. and Mainieri's third at LSU. If their clubs look similar, there's a reason.

"What I learned as a coach, I have learned from Paul Mainieri, and I think he's the best in the business," O'Connor said. "That's the professional side of it. The personal side of it is, he's one of my best friends. . . . Paul and I talk three, four times a week during the season and a couple times a week in the offseason."

O'Connor was 23 years old, barely out of Creighton University and with only one season of coaching experience, when Mainieri, then the head man at Notre Dame, interviewed him for a position on the Fighting Irish staff.

"I knew shortly after my time meeting with him that I wouldn't want to work for anybody else," O'Connor said. "That's why I stayed at Notre Dame for nine years, just because I enjoyed my relationship with Paul and working with him every day. . . . The way that I think as a coach and the way that I treat the players and the way that we develop players and what we do here at Virginia is what I learned from Paul Mainieri."

O'Connor might not have been looking to leave Notre Dame, but his interest was piqued when Dennis Womack retired as U.Va.'s coach after the 2003 season. O'Connor's boss called the athletic director at Virginia and didn't mince words in his sales pitch.

"I told Craig Littlepage he could search the world and never find a better young coach than Brian," Mainieri told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2007, "and I think he's proven I was correct."

As Mainieri's top assistant, O'Connor helped the Irish reach the College World Series in 2002. In all, Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA tournament six times in O'Connor's nine seasons in South Bend.

"When he left," Mainieri told The Times-Dispatch, "it was like I lost my right arm."

Their reunion this weekend in Omaha -- O'Connor's birthplace -- figures to be bittersweet for both. It won't, however, damage their relationship.

"We'll be friends up to the game, through the game and after the game," O'Connor said. "The players will decide the game on the field."

. . .

NOTE: Fans are invited to attend the Cavaliers' practice today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Davenport Field. The team leaves for Omaha tomorrow.

Free parking will be available in the University Hall and John Paul Jones Arena lots after 5 p.m. Fans should enter the stadium via the Klockner/Davenport entrance on Copeley Road. Concessions and U.Va. merchandise will be sold at the stadium.



 

Homecoming for Virginia's O'Connor
The Cavaliers baseball coach grew up near Rosenblatt Stadium.
Doug Doughty

Time was running out on Brian O'Connor if he wanted to take his Virginia baseball team to Rosenblatt Stadium, at least the Rosenblatt Stadium of his youth.

Rosenblatt Stadium, home to the College World Series since 1950, will be torn down in the next year or two and be replaced by a new downtown stadium.

"I've had multiple conversations with a good friend of mine that I lived with back in Omaha," O'Connor said. "He kept saying, 'This is the year, Brian. This is the year. You've got to coach a team in that stadium before they demolish it.' "

O'Connor was born in Omaha, Neb., and has been to Rosenblatt Stadium as a fan, as a player for Creighton and as an assistant coach for Notre Dame.

Now, at 38, he will be taking a team to Omaha for the first time as a head coach. The Cavaliers (48-13-1) earned a spot in the field of eight by winning two of three games this past weekend in the Oxford (Miss.) Super Regional.

O'Connor grew up across the Missouri River from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

"My home, growing up, was about a 10-minute drive from Rosenblatt Stadium," O'Connor said. "My dad used to take my brother and I to the College World Series every year. I started going to College World Series games when I was 4 years old."

O'Connor's parents and his wife's parents still live in Council Bluffs.

"The entire city of Omaha [and the surrounding area] wraps its arms around this two-week event," O'Connor said. "I believe it's the greatest sporting event in college athletics."

O'Connor's only regret -- and it's not a big one -- is that the Cavaliers will meet LSU (50-16) in the first round. The Tigers are coached by O'Connor's former boss, Paul Mainieri.

"I've got mixed emotions," O'Connor said. "Paul Mainieri has been my mentor as a coach. He hired me when I was 23 years old to be his head assistant at Notre Dame. He gave me a ton of autonomy in my job, working with him there for nine years.

"I feel he is the best in the business. That's the professional side of it. Personally, he is absolutely my best friend in the industry. Paul and I talk 3-4 times a week during the season and a couple of times of week in the offseason.

"We've talked plenty of times before that we would never play each other before the NCAA said we had to. "

In 1991, O'Connor pitched the 11th and 12th innings for Creighton in an epic College World Series game with Wichita State.

"I was the losing pitcher in what people called the greatest game in College World Series history at the time," said O'Connor, whose coach for the Blue Jays was current Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry.

"It was the biggest crowd in the history of the game. We had beaten Clemson in the first round and I gave up the third run to lose the ballgame. I wish I could have it back."

The winning run scored on a chopper that went over O'Connor's head and couldn't be handled by the Creighton second baseman and shortstop, who collided.

"Jim Hendry tells me that, if I'd caught that chopper, we'd still be playing today," O'Connor said. "I think, if I would have caught it, that we would have had a chance to win the national championship. Sure, you're disappointed about the loss, but that was a long time ago."

The next year, O'Connor was pitching professionally for the Martinsville Phillies, where he was 4-2 in his only season. After the season ended, he was offered an assistant's job at Creighton and took it.

College baseball was in his blood.

"It was an incredible experience and feeling," O'Connor said. "So much is going to be made about me going back to Omaha, but I really don't want it to be about that. I don't want anything to detract from the feeling that our players are going to have playing in that city and that stadium."
 

Cavaliers gear up for CWS
By Jay Jenkins
Published: June 9, 2009

OXFORD, Miss. — In 2006, Robert Poutier watched the Charlottesville Regional from an inauspicious place.

Injured and out of commission, a year after earning freshman All-American watched from the general admission seats behind the Virginia dugout.

The low point in a roller coaster career that included countless hours rehabbing major back woes, Poutier did not know if he would ever return to form.

In fitting fashion, the fifth-year senior was given the ball to start on the mound Sunday in the most important game in program history.

Poutier was never given time to become nervous as Cavaliers coach Brian O’Connor tossed and turned in bed Saturday night debating who to turn with as his Game 3 starter.

“I knew it was a possibility but coach called me at 9 a.m. and asked me if I was up. I told him, ‘I am now,’ Poutier recounted. “He told me I was starting and it

wasn’t something that I didn’t expect or want and it worked out.”

Poutier was not asked to pitch a complete game or even into the back-half of the elimination that Virginia ultimately won 5-1. He was merely asked to compete as deep as he could before turning it over to a suddenly stellar bullpen.

It did not start in storybook fashion.

Poutier allowed two hits in the first inning and the Cavaliers (48-13-1) trailed 1-0 before their first plate appearance.

“Nerves get you a little bit early on,” Poutier said. “This was my first time pitching in the postseason other than the ACC tournament, but after I gave up the first run I just pitched base by base.

“They called a slider, I threw a slider and gave up a base hit, but it takes one to win a game anyway so one run was nothing.”

Poutier kept the deficit in place at one run, working into the third inning before sophomore Tyler Wilson entered from the bullpen.

“Poutier’s start was the key for me,” O’Connor said after Virginia advanced to the College World Series for the first time in program history.

“I just felt it was important to get somebody out there that would give us two or three innings and keep the game in check.”

Poutier, hopeful to be picked on Wednesday in the second day of the Major League Baseball draft, was never a lock to return for his fifth season.

A medical redshirt, stemming from the 2006 season, had to be granted.

Once that was in place, O’Connor needed to welcome the graduate student back into the program.

Those hurdles were cleared, setting the stage for a memorable season that included an ACC tournament title, a regional victory at UC Irvine and Sunday’s Super Regional win over Ole Miss.

For now, the military brat that was born in Seoul, South Korea is living in the moment.

“It is amazing. I guess the fifth time is the charm,” Poutier said with a smile. “It was definitely worth coming back, every bit of it. “We knew it was going to be a pitching staff day and we just had to piece it together. Our defense stepped up when they needed to and our hitters continued to swing the bats even when we were behind early on in the game. It is just an unbelievable feeling.”

A feeling that will now include a trip to college baseball’s promise land.

Virginia will meet third-seeded LSU (51-16) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in its opening game, which will be televised by ESPN. The Cavaliers are also guaranteed a contest Monday in bracket one in the four-team, double-elimination format that also includes Arkansas (39-22) and Cal State Fullerton (47-14).
 

With LSU baseball's return to prominence, Mainieri beams with pride _ and sighs with relief
BRETT MARTEL | AP Sports Writer
3:33 AM EDT, June 9, 2009

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Paul Mainieri's eyes smiled as he envisioned a purple-and-gold armada bringing jambalaya, gumbo and Mardi Gras beads north to Nebraska.

Such staples of Louisiana life are in abundance around Rosenblatt Stadium whenever Tigers fans follow their team to the College World Series. And with LSU bound for Omaha later this week, the party is on again.

"We're going to have a lot of fun up there," LSU's head coach promised after the Tigers (51-16) dispatched Rice in the minimum two games during the NCAA tournament's super regional round last weekend.

With two trips to Omaha in his first three seasons at LSU, it's hard now to question the wisdom of Mainieri's decision to leave behind rock-solid job security at Notre Dame for the pressure of leading one of the most dominant college baseball programs of the last two-plus decades.

Leon Landry Photo Of course, if his past two seasons had been anything like his first, Mainieri might have felt more akin to someone being eaten alive by swarming mosquitoes in a south Louisiana swamp.

The Tigers went 29-26-1 in 2007 and didn't even qualify for the Southeastern Conference tournament. Such results simply won't do at LSU, which won five national titles in a recent 10-season span (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000) under former coach and now athletic director emeritus Skip Bertman.

Consider Raymond "Smoke" Laval's fate after he became the first LSU head coach of the post-Bertman era.

In five seasons, Laval twice led the Tigers to CWS appearances. The Tigers made the NCAA tournament in each of his first four seasons, and lost in the regional round only once during that span. But LSU fell short of the postseason in Laval's fifth year, finishing with a 35-24 record. It was the first time in 18 years LSU had been left out of an NCAA tournament. Laval resigned soon after.

Mainieri, familiar with the Louisiana college baseball scene from his playing days — one season at LSU and two at the University of New Orleans — was intrigued by the LSU opening and quickly became a top candidate. Whether it was really worth trying to live up to Bertman's legacy, particularly when he'd already established a winning tradition in 12 seasons at Notre Dame, was something Mainieri and his wife, Karen, needed to discuss.

Mainieri was in the midst of an exceptional 12-year run with the Irish, having led them to 11 40-win seasons, nine Big East titles, nine NCAA regional appearances and a berth in the 2002 College World Series. There was no certainty he'd do any better at LSU, where the program was showing early signs of decline.

"When Karen and I talked about this job, the reason we decided to take it was because we knew that if we didn't, we would regret it for the rest of our lives," Mainieri said. "We felt that we could make a difference. For me, the challenge was getting great kids and great coaches around us. I knew we would have great support."

By support, Mainieri meant resources, facilities and crowds. When Bertman retired from coaching, he turned his attention to building a new baseball stadium that would stand as a testament to the program's prowess.

The new $38 million Alex Box stadium, with about 9,200 seats and 18 luxury suites, spacious locker rooms and batting cages housed in a handsome building of stucco walls and a red tile roof, opened this season. Paid attendance was 403,056 for 42 games, an average of 9,596 per game, marking the 14th straight season LSU led the nation in college baseball attendance.

It's a dream situation for Mainieri — as long as he keeps winning.

"I hope I can be here for another decade," he said. "I'd like to see us go to Omaha several times. I'd like to see us win several championships. You're never going to see me be satisfied and content, but I do feel very proud right now."
 

LSU/Virginia: Mentor vs Pupil in Omaha
LSU News
Written by Ken Trahan
Monday, 08 June 2009 08:16AM

When LSU takes the field against Virginia this weekend in Omaha, it will be a classic battle between teacher and pupil.

While serving as head coach at Notre Dame, Paul Mainieri's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator was Brian O' Connor. Virginia's head coach is the same Brian O' Connor. In this case, familiarity will breed respect, not contempt.

O' Connor worked with Mainieri from 1995-2003 at Notre Dame. To say that they know each other well would be an understatement. While paired, Mainieri and O' Connor led the Fighting Irish to the College World Series in 2002. Additionally, LSU third base coach Javi Sanchez knows O' Connor well, having played for Mainieri and O' Connor at Notre Dame. O' Connor pitched in the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium with Creighton in 1991.

While Cal-State Fullerton cruised to Omaha and LSU has been spotless in the NCAA tournament, along with Southern Mississippi, no team has been as impressive in overcoming odds as Virginia.

The Cavaliers had to travel cross-country to win the toughest regional in the nation, winning against host Cal-Irvine. In their first game, they handed the nation's top pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, his first loss of the season. Then, it was on to Oxford to face a very good Ole Miss team.

After falling in a heartbreaking 12-inning opener to the Rebels, Virginia came from behind to win on Saturday to win 4-3 and then won 5-1 Sunday to earn its first-ever trip to Omaha. Suffice it to say that O' Connor has built a superb program in a short period of time.

At 48-13-1, the Cavaliers have established a school record for victories in a season. Virginia has excelled in a power league, the ACC. Their pitching is superb, setting a school record with 567 strikeouts in a single season. Of course, LSU pitchers have fanned 628 opposing hitters this season. The Wahoos have done it with pitching, defense and speed much like LSU has. Chalk it up to the similar philosophies of teacher and pupil. The Cavaliers stole 12 bases in the three-game series at Ole Miss.

Junior left-hander Matt Packer pitched in all three games of the series in a gutsy effort. Freshman third baseman Steven Proscia had three hits, stole two bases and drove in a run in yesterday's clincher while freshman designated hitter/catcher John Hicks had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Junior catcher Franco Valdes carries a 12-game hitting streak into the College World Series. Virginia has wins over NCAA teams Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Clemson, UC-Irvine, San Diego State and Ole Miss as part of an impressive resume.

Sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt leads the Cavs in hitting at .365 with seven home runs and 50 RBI. Sophomore center fielder Jarrett Parker is hitting .364 with 16 home runs and 65 RBI. Proscia is hitting .332 with nine home runs and 57 RBI. Hicks is at .305 with seven home runs and 37 RBI. Valdes is a .288 hitter with five home runs and 41 RBI.

On the mound, freshman left-hander Danny Hultzen leads the way with a 9-1 record and a 2.09 earned run average with 95 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched. Sophomore Tyler Wilson is 9-3 with a 2.73 ERA and a save and won the clincher at Oxford. Senior Andrew Carraway is 8-1 with a 4.13 ERA. Sophomore Robert Morey is 3-0 with a 3.11 ERA and has 83 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. Sophomore closer Kevin Arico is 2-3 with a 2.06 ERA and 11 saves. Packer is 3-4 with a 3.95 ERA and three saves.

By comparison, Virginia is hitting .327 with 55 home runs, 492 runs scored and 116 stolen bases with an impressive 3.14 ERA. LSU is hitting .315 with 94 home runs, 524 runs scored and 111 stolen bases with a 3.99 ERA. Statistically, the speed, hitting and pitching are comparable with a very slight edge to Virginia. LSU's power is superior.

While Virginia is making its first trip to Omaha, LSU is making its 15th trip and its second in as many years under Mainieri. 18 players from last year's College World Series team are back for the Tigers. Give the experience edge to LSU.

The game is set for Saturday at either 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium. LSU and Virginia are paired with Cal-State Fullerton and Arkansas. LSU would have preferred to have an SEC opponent on the other side of the bracket. The Titans of Fullerton may be playing the best baseball of any team in the nation and will be tough.

On the other hand, LSU showed why it will be a very tough out in Omaha this past weekend. On Friday, the Tigers showed their hitting ability, overcoming a 4-1 deficit to bash Rice pitchers around in a 12-9 win. They showed they could hit left-handed pitching, with Ryan Schimpf and Blake Dean nailing Taylor Wall. They showed they could overcome shoddy defense (4 errors Friday). They showed they can play defense, with D. J. LeMahieu making two superb plays, Austin Nola overcoming a throwing error Friday to play flawless at shortstop, Micah Gibbs stopping the Rice running attack with his strong arm and Mikie Mahtook making a highlight-reel catch on Friday.

Of course, more than anything else, LSU displayed the biggest reason for high hopes of winning a sixth national championship--pitching. Anthony Ranaudo, Louis Coleman and Matty Ott are as good a combination of starters and a closer as there is in the country. If LSU can stay in the winner's bracket, that edge should manifest itself. Of course, that will require the teacher schooling the pupil. LSU fans are hoping Mainieri has withheld some secrets from his student.

 

LSU's Mainieri to meet former pupil
By Glenn Guilbeau
gguilbeau@gannett.com

BATON ROUGE — The word "dilemma" is often misused. People say it and write it to try to describe a difficult decision between two alternatives. Someone may say that choosing between chocolate mint and chocolate fudge ice cream is a dilemma.

The strict definition, though, is a decision between two alternatives that are equally undesirable — like contaminated ice cream or spoiled ice cream.

LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri had something close to a true dilemma on his hands as Virginia and Ole Miss faced off in an NCAA Super Regional in Oxford, Miss., this weekend.

If Ole Miss won, it would mean Mainieri would have to face a Southeastern Conference rival in his team's opening game of the College World Series on Saturday or Sunday in Omaha, Neb. Most coaches and players do not like playing a league rival in the postseason, particularly early on in Omaha. They've already played. A new opponent is generally regarded as more fun to prepare for and to play.

LSU also struggled with Ole Miss this season. It beat the Rebels two out of three, but those games were in Baton Rouge and both wins were by one run. The Rebels also have left-hander Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.40 ERA), who held the Tigers to six hits and three runs in seven innings on March 27 in a 7-4 win.

On the other hand, Virginia is coached by Brian O'Connor, who was an assistant coach on Mainieri's staff at Notre Dame for nine years from 1995-2003. Mainieri and O'Connor guided Notre Dame to its first College World Series appearance in 45 years in 2002. O'Connor, who was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, helped Mainieri sign a pitcher out of Cherry Creek High in Colorado named Brad Lidge in 1995.

Coaches usually do not like going against their friends on the field.

"Brian and I built that program together," Mainieri said Sunday night. "We sat side by side for nine years. He's really like a younger brother to me. I don't like coaching against friends. In fact when he got the job at Virginia (in 2004) we agreed never to play one another unless the NCAA made us."

Ole Miss, which is coached by former LSU player and assistant coach Mike Bianco, beat Virginia on Friday 4-3 in 12 innings. But Virginia came back to win 4-3 Saturday and 5-1 Sunday to advance to the CWS for the first time.

The unseeded Cavaliers (48-13-1) will play No. 3 seed LSU (51-16) on either Saturday or Sunday at Rosenblatt Stadium. LSU reached Omaha by beating Rice 12-9 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday in a super regional at Alex Box Stadium. World Series game days and times will be released tonight or Tuesday morning by the NCAA.

"It was hard to weigh the two, but I was privately pulling for Brian to make the World Series even if I do have to play him," Mainieri said. "I had to follow my heart. I'm glad he's there. So we'll just have to postpone our friendship for a few hours in Omaha."

O'Connor is from Omaha. He pitched at Creighton University for coach Jim Hendry, who is one of Mainieri's best friends. Hendry recommended O'Connor, who was 23 at the time and coaching under Hendry after serving as one of Creighton's top pitchers on its 1991 College World Series team.

WHEN IS THE GAME? The times and dates of the eight-team, double-elimination CWS will be finalized today or Tuesday by the NCAA. Usually, teams that begin super regionals on a Friday, as LSU and Virginia did, play on the subsequent Saturday in Omaha. But that is not a definite, LSU baseball sports information director Bill Franques said.

Game times on Saturday and Sunday are at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.

 

LSU proving its doubters were wrong

LSU entered the 2009 baseball season ranked No. 1, and it's ranked No. 1 today.

Two days ago, the Tigers (51-16) won their 10th straight game to finish off a two-game, Super Regional sweep of No. 6 Rice, a traditional power, and is off to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the second straight year.

LSU, which will play Virginia on either Saturday or Sunday, is a No. 3 national seed and thus considered a solid bet to advance in the CWS and possibly win the national championship.

Yet, all season long, there have been doubters -- both in the fan base and in the media -- who repeatedly have said the Tigers were not good enough to even reach Omaha, much less win it all.

-A veteran sportswriter, who is one of the best in the state, said the Tigers "just don't have it" after they lost two of three at home to last place Tennessee in mid-April. Of course, he said LSU wouldn't make it to Omaha last year either ... didn't have enough pitching.

-A local radio talk show host said LSU would not make a Super Regional ... didn't have the character.

-A popular Web site writer said after LSU lost two of three to Illinois in March that LSU was going nowhere.

-Fans regularly complained of LSU's base running woes, its lack of a third starter and a middle reliever and about Jared Mitchell striking out too much.

-A TV sports anchor questioned LSU coach Paul Mainieri's mid-season move of shortstop DJ LeMahieu to second base by asking, "Isn't he too tall to play second?"

Uh, there are no size qualifications for any position in baseball. There used to be a 6-foot-2 second baseman with the Cubs named Ryne Sandberg, who is in the Hall of Fame. Second baseman have traditionally been shorter, scrappy guys like 5-11 Craig Biggio, but there has been movement toward taller second baseman.

Mainieri always thought the 6-4 LeMahieu's future in the big leagues was at second base, and today Major League personnel experts have LeMahieu ranked as one of the top second baseman for the draft on Tuesday.

Baseball is one of the few sports where size really doesn't matter. That's why there are short pitchers in the Hall of Fame like 5-11 Ron Guidry and tall pitchers headed there like 6-10 Randy Johnson. This isn't football.

But this is football country, and that's been the perception problem with this team among football-oriented fans and media members.

National championship football teams destroy in-state opponents and usually lose only once or none.

This LSU baseball team has averaged about a loss a week. It swept only one SEC series. But that's baseball, where two out of three is not only not bad ... it can get you to Omaha and get you a ring.

Baseball is played on a near-daily basis. There's a much larger margin of error. There will be lulls. Even the winningest team in LSU history -- the 57-13 national champs of 1997 -- lost three of four during a stretch, including a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, and lost three straight in the SEC.

In other words, if this LSU baseball team was an 8-5 team, it would be about 34-25 right now and done for the year. LSU has actually been extremely dominant this season. It's just that many here do not see it because of the football on the brain. LSU has lost 16 times, including three times to in-state opponents. But its longest losing streak was two, and that happened once. And all powerful college baseball teams lose to in-state opponents because those aren't games. They are pitching scrimmages -- to use a football term.

LSU's players do get thrown out on the bases a lot, but LSU also scores a lot when it needs to because Mainieri is aggressive. That's one reason why he wins so much.

After a rough first season and a half with a troubled, losing, inherited program in 2007, Mainieri has gone 77-19 since April 22, 2008, for 80 percent.

Mitchell does strike out a lot. His 61 leads the team. But he also walks a lot. His 52 leads the team. His .471 on-base percentage also leads the team. Non-football people know this. That's why Mitchell will go in the first round Tuesday.

LSU does not have a great third starter, but few in all of college baseball do. Few Major League teams have a good fourth starter. Few college teams have a good middle reliever. If they did, he'd be the third starter. LSU may have the best No. 1 and 2 starters and best closer in the game. They don't need a big offensive line.

It's baseball. It's different than football. And you have a great team. Try to realize this before LSU wins it all.
 

Familiar face awaits
Mainieri, ex-assistant to square off at CWS
By RANDY ROSETTA
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Jun 8, 2009

LSU coach Paul Mainieri has grown pretty used to matching wits with friends and protégés the last few seasons, and he’s quick to say he isn’t comfortable at all with those battles.

Now, thanks to the NCAA tournament pairings, Mainieri — on college baseball’s biggest stage — will square off with a man whom he is as close to as anyone with whom he’s ever coached.

After finishing off a 5-3 super regional victory against Rice on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium, Mainieri’s attention understandably turned to Sunday’s Virginia-Ole Miss super regional game in Oxford, Miss.

The Cavaliers and Rebels battled to a standoff in two games to force the decisive game Sunday, which Virginia won 5-1 to punch a ticket to the 2009 College World Series — the program’s first trip to Omaha, Neb.

That sets up a first-round game between the Cavaliers (48-13-1) and No. 1-ranked LSU (51-16) at either 1 or 6 p.m. Saturday or Sunday.

It also means a welcome but awkward reunion for Mainieri and Virginia coach Brian O’Connor.

From 1995-2003, O’Connor was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator under Mainieri at Notre Dame. Together they established the Fighting Irish as a national powerhouse — a rarity for any team from the North.

“Brian O’Connor is someone very special to me,” Mainieri said. “I hired him when I first got to Notre Dame when he was 23 to be my No. 1 assistant coach, and we developed not only an unbelievable working relationship but a friendship that will last forever.”

Mainieri and O’Connor guided ND to 399 wins in those nine seasons, a No. 1 national ranking in 2001 and the program’s first College World Series appearance in 45 years in 2002.

Two of O’Connor’s most notable pitching pupils are Brad Lidge and Aaron Heilman. Both were first-round picks in the Major League Baseball draft and are still in the big leagues as relief pitchers.

In the last two seasons at LSU, Mainieri has faced Michigan State head coach and former Notre Dame assistant David Grewe and Central Florida, coached by Terry Rooney and Cliff Godwin — the Tigers’ top two assistants last season, when they returned to the CWS.

Grewe left Michigan State to join Mainieri’s LSU staff last June after Rooney took the head-coaching job at UCF.

In those two showdowns against his former coaches, Mainieri is 5-0. As strong as the bond is with O’Connor, the Tigers coach would like to keep that record spotless.

“We agreed that we’d never schedule each other and leave it up to the NCAA to make us play,” Mainieri said. “Because of his success and our success, now we have to meet in Omaha, and that’s the best place for it to happen. It means we’ve both had great years.”

As Mainieri closed his postgame gathering with the media Saturday, he compared O’Connor to a little brother and admitted he was going to “root for Brian O’Connor and the Virginia Cavaliers,” and then chuckled.

“And then try to whip him,” Mainieri said.

Not that the third-year Tigers coach expects that to be an easy task.

The Cavaliers have ridden a similar hot streak to LSU, winning the ACC tournament and three regional games to reach the super regional against Ole Miss. The Rebels claimed a 4-3, 12-inning triumph Friday before Virginia surged back with wins Saturday and Sunday.

“As much as I was rooting for Brian, from a competitive standpoint I also know that Virginia has an outstanding ball club and will be a formidable opponent,” Mainieri said.

“The way they have pitched the last three weekends has been extraordinary.

“When you get to this point, there aren’t any easy ones left. If we want to win a national championship, we have to beat the best teams in the country, and that starts with Virginia.”

For that to happen, LSU will lean on the huge advantage of making a second consecutive trip to Omaha.

Eighteen players from the Tigers’ NCAA tournament roster were around for the CWS run a year ago, including five full-time position starters (Micah Gibbs, DJ LeMahieu, Ryan Schimpf, Jared Mitchell, Blake Dean) and two others (Derek Helenihi, Leon Landry) who were in the regular lineup last season.

Every current LSU pitcher except Matty Ott and Chad Jones and was also in Omaha.

Mainieri pointed out that when the Tigers walked into Rosenblatt Stadium a year ago, he and assistant coach Javi Sanchez — who played for Mainieri and O’Connor at Notre Dame — were the only people in purple-and-gold with College World Series experience.

“Make no mistake: Last year, when we went to Omaha, we went to win,” Mainieri said. “Reality is, the first time you’re there, it’s an awe-inspiring place. …. Nothing feels normal. It’s hard to prepare for something like that.

“Now we have a lot of guys who have been there already, and I expect us to go there with a lot more comfort and confidence.”

And Mainieri doesn’t expect his players to encounter anything they haven’t seen during a memorable ride that sends them to Omaha with the program’s most wins since 2000 and the most in the country this season.

The Tigers claimed a co-SEC championship during the regular season, stormed back from a first-round loss at the league tournament to win that event with five wins in a row and reeled off five more victories to get through regional and super regional play.

“When you grow up in the SEC like our kids do and you’re facing a tough team every single game every weekend, it prepares you for these kinds of challenges, and I think we’re ready for it,” Mainieri said.

ON DECK

LSU (51-16) vs. Virginia (48-13-1)

WHEN: 1 or 6 p.m. Saturday or Sunday

WHERE: Rosenblatt Stadium (cap. 23,170) in Omaha, Neb.

UP NEXT: Winner faces the Arkansas-Cal State Fullerton winner at 6 p.m. on June 15 or 16. Loser faces the Cal State Fullerton-Arkansas loser at 1 p.m. on June 15.

RANKINGS: LSU — No. 1 Baseball America, No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 1 NCBWA, No. 2 USA Today/ESPN; Virginia — No. 5 Baseball America, No. 10 Collegiate Baseball, No. 9 USA Today/ESPN, No. 8 NCBWA

RADIO: 98.1, WDGL-FM

TV: ESPN (Cox Cable channel 35) or ESPN2 (Cox Cable ch. 36)

INTERNET: LSUsports.net; virginiasports.com

BLOG: 2theadvocate.com/blogs/linedrives

LAST MEETING/SERIES: LSU swept Virginia in three games to open the 2000 season with 8-0, 13-2, 13-4 victories. Those are the only games between the two programs.
 

LSU and Virginia baseball coaches know each other well
Posted by Jim Kleinpeter, The Times-Picayune June 08, 2009 9:58PM

BATON ROUGE -- LSU Coach Paul Mainieri makes it a point not to schedule teams coached by his former assistants.

He can't seem to avoid playing old friends this season, though.
Mainieri's not complaining. He has got his team in the College World Series for the second consecutive season, but waiting for him at Rosenblatt Stadium this weekend will be one of his best friends, Virginia Coach Brian O'Connor.

In the second weekend of the season, Mainieri had to face former assistant Terry Rooney, in his first year at Central Florida, in a three-game series that was scheduled before Rooney got the job.

This friendship goes even deeper. O'Connor, who Mainieri said is "like my little brother," spent nine years with Mainieri at Notre Dame.

"We talked about it plenty of times," said O'Connor, in his sixth year at Virginia. "We would never play each other until the NCAA told us we had to play each other. Now it happened, and it just so happens to be in Omaha."

After Virginia (48-13-1) beat Ole Miss 5-1 in the deciding game of the super regional in Oxford on Sunday, Mainieri said he texted O'Connor asking who he was pitching. A second text was a gentle reminder.

"I said (in text) 'Remember, I taught you everything you know but not everything I know,' " Mainieri said with a laugh. "I had to keep a few secrets back for this inevitable day. I was so ecstatic for him to get in because it validates his career. I've been telling everyone for six years he's one of the best coaches in the country."

Mainieri isn't the only one with a friend in the opposing dugout.

LSU assistant David Grewe also is good friends with O'Connor, who stood in Grewe's wedding and pushed him toward Mainieri at Notre Dame. And LSU's other assistant coach, Javi Sanchez, was recruited to Notre Dame and coached as a player by O'Connor.
"You hate playing a close friend," Grewe said. "After the game, you feel like. ... crap. He deserves to go to Omaha for all that he's done and how he's turned that program around. He walked into a good situation and made it better. He is getting rewarded. It's going to be fun to see him."

Mainieri said he and O'Connor clicked five minutes after they met when Mainieri was looking for an assistant. They talk three or four times a week during the season and a couple of times a week in the offseason.

"He thought about things just before I did or I thought about them just before he did," Mainieri. "We had a great relationship professionally, and it evolved into a great personal relationship. I count him as one of my closest friends in the world. I don't think we had a disagreement in nine years.

Said O'Connor: "I've got mixed emotions. Paul Mainieri has been my mentor as a coach. He hired me when I was 23 to be the head assistant at Notre Dame. He gave me a ton of autonomy in nine years and allowed me to be in the position I'm in. I'm forever grateful to him for that. What I learned as a coach, I learned from P.M. He's the best in the business.

It's not just a reunion for O'Connor, but a homecoming. He was born in Omaha and grew up just across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa, 10-minutes from Rosenblatt Stadium. His parents and in-laws still live in Council Bluffs, along with numerous other family.

O'Connor grew up attending College World Series games from the age of four and pitched for Creighton, located in Omaha, when the Blue Jays made the 1991 College World Series.
 

Carraway Blog: “Bruce Springsteen Knows What He’s Talking About”
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/08/2009
Entry #1: Monday, June 8
“Bruce Springsteen Knows What He’s Talking About”

I can understand the Boss a little better now. For the last 10 months, this team has truly been "Working on a Dream." Omaha—the College World Series—is the dream for every Division I player and team in the nation. For inspiration in the fall, our coaches gave us camouflage shirts and hats carrying the word "Omaha." We have run 300 yard sprints at 6:30 a.m., performed army crawls and spent countless hours on the field all for one hope: to make it to OMAHA. Well.... we’re going!!

As expected, every person on our team is ridiculously excited and overcome with anticipation right now. For us older guys on the team though, it means so much more. We’ve been around Davenport long enough to host two regionals and hear all the talk of getting over that darn "regional hump." We’ve finally made it over the hump, and it feels great. Still, we can’t take all the credit.

In the past few weeks I have either seen or heard from Jeff Kamrath, Sean Doolittle, Mike Campagna, Tim Henry, Mark Reynolds, Pat McAnaney, Brandon Marsh, Josh Myers, Josh Darby, Michael Schwimer and Ryan Hudson. Each of these guys played on great Virginia baseball teams. Each put in enough work to merit their own trip to Omaha. It’s obvious, at least to us older guys, that our team has accomplished so much this year not only because of what we have done, but also because of the work and the dedication put in by the players of past who really built this program. Guys like Robert Poutier and myself know that we’re just the lucky ones who get to experience the inevitable results firsthand.

Being the lucky ones, we get to travel to OMAHA this week and compete for a national championship. On the trip home Dan Grovatt kept repeating the phrase, "we’re going to Omaha," because he couldn’t really grasp the concept. This place, this far off dream called Omaha is going to become a reality for us. Our flight leaves on Wednesday, so this must really be happening.

As my uncle Ben pointed out, Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium really is the Field of Dreams for us, and we’ve achieved enough to get ourselves a spot on the diamond. However, nobody plays a season or competes their butts off to finish in eighth place. We’re going to Nebraska to win a national championship. Each of us realizes that there is still more work to be done. We’ve been playing great baseball, and every Cavalier on that field has the utmost confidence in the guy next to him. That confidence and our hard work this week will have to be what carries us through the rest of our season.

We’ve already had a chance to hoist high one championship trophy this year. ‘Hoo knows, maybe on June 22 we’ll all wake up from this dream holding on to one more.

 

Coleman returns for senior season, carries Tigers back to College World Series
Andy Schwehm
Contributing Writer
Updated: Tuesday, June 9, 2009

LSU pitcher Louis Coleman sat down Saturday night with a big grin on his face after getting a 5-3 decision against Rice.

The right-hander had scattered nine hits, including two home runs, in eight innings but gave up only three runs while striking out five. While the performance was not his best this year, only one decision in the game mattered – the senior’s choice to come back to school for his final year of eligibility.

“It’s the greatest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” he said, with his eyes noticeably beginning to water up. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

The Washington Nationals drafted Coleman in the 14th round of last year’s MLB draft, giving him an easy exit to a big check and a pro career. But Coleman felt the chance to get back to Omaha with a veteran ball club would mean more than any sum the Nationals could pay him.

After Coleman told LSU coach Paul Mainieri of his decision to remain with the team, Mainieri was blunt with the senior.

“I’ll remember these conversations I had with him last summer until the day I die,” Mainieri said. “When he decided he was going to come back, I said, ‘Louis, you will make all the difference in the world with our team. You are the final piece of our puzzle for next year’s team. We are going back to Omaha because of you.’”

Coleman’s decision to make a return to LSU was important for more reasons than just him being the catalyst of the team. If there was any question about LSU’s baseball squad heading into this season, it was pitching.

The Tigers lost all three weekend starters — Blake Martin, Ryan Verdugo and Jared Bradford — to the majors after last season. The team also lost Jordan Brown to a career-ending injury and two major pitching recruits to the draft.

But Coleman decided to stick with the team.

The Schlater, Miss., native said there were two major factors in his decision to return — the friendships with his teammates and the bitter taste from last season’s trip to College World Series.

Coleman gave up a grand slam on a hanging slider to North Carolina catcher Tim Federowicz in the top of the ninth inning with the elimination game tied, 3-3. It was only the second home run he gave up all season, and it was his first loss on the season.

Coleman, who was named Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year this season, has bounced back since that grand slam with a 2.76 ERA in 114 innings pitched. He has compiled a 13-2 record in 21 appearances with 124 strikeouts.

He has also been the go-to man this season for the Tigers, a role Coleman said he enjoys.
“It gives me a lot of confidence because I know they have that much faith in me,” Coleman said. “When the game is on the line, I know they are looking to me.”

Mainieri added while he doesn’t like to play favorites with his players, it is hard for him to not do so with Coleman.

“Every time he’s given the ball, he gives the greatest effort that any human being could possibly give for his school,” Mainieri said. “He’s certainly going to go down in history with me and my coaching career as one of my all-time favorite kids.”

 

LSU and Virginia will play at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
By Glenn Guilbeau • Gannett News Service • June 9, 2009

BATON ROUGE - The Tigers will be in prime time on ESPN Saturday night when they play Virginia in the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

No. 3 seeded LSU (51-16) will play Virginia (48-13-1) at 6 p.m. in the second game of the day. No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton (45-14) plays Arkansas (38-22) in the first game at 1 p.m. The winners advance to a 6 p.m. Monday game on ESPN2, while the two losers play at 1 p.m. Monday on ESPN2.

Should LSU win its first two games, it would be off Tuesday through Thursday and next play Friday at 1 p.m. LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Monday he was leaning toward staying with his same pitching rotation as he used last weekend and throughout most of the Southeastern Conference season. That would have sophomore right-hander Antony Ranaudo (10-3, 2.95 ERA) starting the first game with senior right-hander Louis Coleman (13-2, 2.76 ERA) in game two.

The Cavaliers have a daunting pitching staff of their own as it has allowed just 10 runs through six NCAA postseason games - all on the road - and apparently has more quality depth than LSU.

Senior right-hander Andrew Carraway (8-1, 4.13 ERA) is the 6-foot-2 ace. There is a left-hander to combat LSU's perceived weakness, and that is 6-2 freshman Danny Hultzen (9-1, 2.09 ERA). Hultzen has been among the nation's leaders in ERA this season. Sophomore right-hander Kevin Arico (2-2, 2.06 ERA, 11 saves) is an intimidatiing closer at 6-4 and 210 pounds. There is also 6-1 sophomore right-hander Tyler Wilson (9-3, 2.73 ERA) and 6-1 right-hander Robert Morey (3-0, 3.11 ERA).

Morey, who is not even a front-line pitcher, defeated San Diego State phenom Stephen Strasburg in the NCAA Irvine Regional opener, 5-1. Morey allowed five hits in six innings with nine strikeouts. Strasburg, who is expected to be the first player picked in the Major League Baseball Draft today by the Washington Nationals, lost for the first time this season. He allowed two runs on eight hits with no walks and struck out 15 in falling to 13-1.

Virginia is No. 3 in the nation in ERA at 3.19. The Cavaliers eliminated host and No. 1 UC Irvine 5-0 and 4-1 in the Irvine Regional. Then it went to Ole Miss for the Super Regional, and after losing the opener 4-3 in 12 innings, it swept 4-3 and 5-1.

"From a pitching standpoint, we are on an unbelievable run right now," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said on a teleconference Monday. "Is it going to continue? I believe it's going to. I've never been a part of anything like it, where the pitching has been so dominant."

Cal State Fullerton, meanwhile, has the No. 4 ERA at 3.44. LSU is ninth at 4.01. Cal State breezed through its regional games, winning five games by a combined score of 64-11.

LSU WINS ATTENDANCE TITLE AGAIN: LSU has won its 14th consecutive attendance national championship in the new and larger Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers drew 403,056 for 42 games this season for an average of 9,596 per game that is the school record. The previous school record was 318,798 for 42 games last season at 7,590 a game in the old Alex Box.

LSU has led the nation in attendance from 1996-2009.

"LSU fans are the greatest in college baseball, and they proved it with the support they gave our team all season," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Monday. "Our fans help make Alex Box Stadium the premier place to watch and play college baseball.

I'm thrilled that we were able to win a regional and super regional in our new stadium and advance to the College World Series."

An Alex Box record crowd of 9,651 saw LSU defeat Rice 5-3 on Saturday to win the Super Regional and advance to Omaha.

AND IT 'WAS LOUD': Rice second baseman Brock Holt had the misfortune of making the last out in front of the largest Alex Box crowd in history Saturday.
"That last at-bat was tough," he said. "That crowd was loud. That was tough. Everybody in the stadium wanted me to strike out, and I gave them their wish."
 

LSU and UVA to play in prime time on Saturday night at CWS
Jeff Palermo Reporting

The LSU Tigers and Virginia Cavaliers will get their first taste of the 2009 College World Series when the two teams meet at 6 PM on Saturday night. The Bayou Bengals have the experience and the expectation that they should reach the championship series. While the Cavaliers from the ACC are making their first appearance in the CWS.

Virginia's run to Omaha is quite impressive. They won the ACC Tournament as a six-seed and then were shipped out west to play in the UC Irvine regional. In the Cavs first NCAA Tournament game, they beat the best pitcher in college baseball, San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg. And then went on to beat the nation's number one ranked team twice, UC Irvine. The Cavaliers completed their trek to Omaha by beating Ole Miss two games to one in the Super Regionals.

Virginia has reached the College World Series because of their pitching. In their six NCAA Tournament games, they've given up nine earned runs. Virginia's top pitcher is freshman left-hander Danny Hultzen. The freshman All-American is 9-1 with 2.09 ERA. As a team, Virginia has a 3.14 ERA.

Offensively, the Cavaliers are not going to hit many home runs, but they hit for good average .327 and have stolen 115 bases. Sophomore outfielder Jarrett Parker is their top hitter at .354 with 15 HRs and 55 RBIs.

Virginia is a very young team. They start four freshmen and three sophomores. And when you look at their top four pitchers, three of them are either freshmen or sophomores. LSU is hoping to catch a Virginia team that might be in awe of their surroundings.

Win or lose, LSU will play either Arkansas or Cal State Fullerton in its next game. Here's a scouting report on the Razorbacks and Titans.

ARKANSAS

The Razorbacks are the jeckyll-and-hyde team of the tournament. At one time, Arkansas was ranked number one in the country, and the leaders in the SEC West. But the Hogs lost their final eight SEC games, including two to LSU. Arkansas was able to rebound and went 3-0 in the Oklahoma Regional. They beat the Sooners twice by a combined score of 28-6. The Razorbacks then went out to sweep Florida State in the Super Regionals.

Arkansas' team stats are not very impressive. They have a team ERA of 4.50 and a team batting average of .272. The Hogs have managed to pound out 73 home runs. Sophomore first baseman Andy Wilkins is their top hitter at .329 with 17 HRS and 51 RBIs.

CAL STATE FULLERTON

The Fighting Tigers have won ten in a row, but the Titans are playing just as good. Cal State has won 9 straight and have outscored their opponents in the NCAA Tournament 64-11. They can beat you in a variety of ways. As a team they hit .330 with 59 HRS and have stolen 121 bases. While they like to play small ball, they do have three hitters who have reached double figures in home runs. They have a solid pitching staff with a team ERA of 3.36. Two of their pitchers have each won 11 games.

Cal State also spent some time ranked number one this season. They have a veteran club in the field, starting four seniors and three juniors. The Titans are inexperienced on the mound as three of their top four pitchers are freshmen.

Its likely LSU will have to beat Cal State twice to reach the championship series.

Virginia picks up new QB
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: June 9, 2009

When Virginia coach Al Groh analyzed film of quarterback prospect Tyler Brosius, the first thing that came to mind was Ben Roethlisberger.

Big (6-foot-3 1/2 inches, 239 pounds), strong, and could make every throw in the book, could move well in the pocket.

Don’t get me wrong. Groh wasn’t saying that Brosius, a rising senior at Tuscola High School in Waynesville, N.C., is another Roethlisberger, but the intangibles are there, some of the same qualities.

UVa assistant coach Wayne Lineburg had been to see Brosius throw before and so Groh sent new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon to verify in person what Groh had viewed on tape. According to Tuscola High coach Donnie Keefer, Brandon told him that Groh’s assumptions were spot on.

Once the courtship between the North Carolina prospect and UVa started, there was no slowing down. Brosius came up to investigate what the Cavaliers were all about, fell head over heels for the program and the area and committed to Virginia over the weekend. He liked it so much that he’s coming back to spend the day Friday to see everything he missed the first trip.

A solid work ethic
Brosius is a country boy, the strong, silent type, kind of like former Wahoo (and Roethlisberger’s teammate) Heath Miller and just-graduated John Phillips. He’s more at home hunting, fishing, baling hay and riding four-wheelers than sipping tea and wondering what’s up with Jon and Kate.

Talk about a team leader and a guy with work ethic, when Brosius finishes football practice, and extra throwing drills, he hops in his truck, drives over to his buddy’s farm and helps bale hay.

“I’m full bore all the time ... I don’t like sittin’ at home on my rear watching TV,” he said during a break from his workout Monday afternoon. “Carrying two or three bales of hay and throwing them into a truck is a pain in the neck. But it’s nice to have some extra money.”

That extracurricular farm activity didn’t exactly hurt former Wahoo Cedric Peerman’s strength.

“Tyler is a blue collar guy,” Keefer said. “I like a quarterback that’s going to get down and dirty, who likes to do all the gritty things that lots of quarterbacks don’t like to do. That’s the kind of quarterback you win with.”

Keefer won with Brosius last season, going 11-2 before being knocked off in the second round of the playoffs.

It was a good year for the junior quarterback. He threw for 2,700 yards by Keefer’s statistics, along with 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He threw for about 1,900 yards as a sophomore, with 20 TDs.

That’s the first year Keefer had come onto the scene to rebuild an ailing program deep in the Carolina mountains (about 20 miles due west of Asheville). Brosius’ arm strength had preceded the actual meeting.

“I had heard about all that, but the knock on him was that he didn’t have good feet and wasn’t very quick, that he was only a passer,” Keefer said.

The new coach investigated and found that the previous staff had done nothing to develop the quarterback in terms of linear speed training, change of direction, agility, speed, quickness, or in reading coverages. That changed quickly and dramatically. Well, most of it did.

“I ain’t going to outrun anybody, I can tell you that,” Brosius deadpanned. “I’m not Michael Vick (Virginia fans can insert a big Hallelujah Chorus right here). I’m not fast (4.9), but I can move quick enough to get out of pressure or get the ball out or get a first down.”

Hey, last time we looked Brett Favre

didn’t win any sprinting medals either.

“First thing I told coaches who called in and asked about Tyler was, ‘He’s not Pat White (West Virginia’s super-fast former quarterback), but he’s got quick enough feet to move around in the pocket and to find an opening throwing lane,’” Keefer said. “He’s got a Tim Tebow personality where he likes to run the football and he’s big enough to do so.”

As UVa’s Brandon found out, according to Keefer, the young quarterback has good enough speed to get what’s there, to pick up the first down with his feet.

But it’s his arm that drew raves from coaches who visited.

“He can throw any kind of ball you want,” Keefer said. “He can throw the deep ball, he can throw a rope, he can put touch on the ball,” Keefer said. “I have not yet come up with a throw that he can’t make.”

Brosius drew seven offers: UVa, Central Florida, East Carolina, Pittsburgh, Maryland, and some smaller schools because he was completely wide open in his recruiting process. However, some other big boys were knocking: North Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Tennessee and others.

“A lot of schools don’t pull the trigger on a quarterback until they have seem them throw in their camps,” Keefer said. “The interest was growing on him.”

Groh, Brandon, and Lineburg beat ‘em to the punch.

“I had kind of narrowed things at this point to UCF and Virginia until I visited the two places,” Brosius said. “It was really hot at UCF and it was a 180-degree flip from where I am now.

“After coming to Charlottesville, it was an easy choice. I wanted a place where it was a lot like home, kind of a small town, but still loved football. Charlottesville feels like home, felt like I never left home and I figured I wouldn’t find anywhere better than Virginia.”

Keefer said all those footwork issues and the lot have been corrected and for what he lacks in speed, he makes up for in throwing ability and leadership.

“Sometimes it looks like he’s throwing off balance, that there’s nothing there, he’s going to his left and has to throw back to his right, those kinds of things, but he’s such a strong-armed kid that his feet do not have to be set for him to make the difficult throw,” Keefer said. “Some quarterbacks have to have their feet perfect for them to make that kind of throw, but he doesn’t. He can throw it from any position.”

Rivals ranks Brosius as the No. 24 pro-style quarterback in the country, but fits the mold that Groh and Brandon are looking for in Virginia’s new spread offense. The rest of that Roethlisberger stuff is up to him.




 

Coveted Tuscola QB picks Cavaliers
Andrew Pearson • June 9, 2009 12:15 AM

WAYNESVILLE — Before hopping on his motorcycle for an afternoon ride, Tuscola football coach Donnie Kiefer sent a text message to the Citizen-Times in all caps Sunday.
“GREAT VISIT,” it read.
Truer words may have never been typed by Kiefer's fingers.
Mountaineers junior quarterback Tyler Brosius committed to play for Virginia on Sunday, shortly after the 2008 Citizen-Times All-WNC Player of the Year returned from a weekend visit to Charlottesville, Va.
“It felt like home,” Brosius said.
“I'm locked down. This is where I want to go. It's where I feel like I should be.”
The Cavaliers were the seventh Division I program to offer a scholarship to Brosius, following Central Florida, East Carolina, Elon, Maryland, Pittsburgh and Western Carolina.
Brosius was also expected to pick up an offer from N.C. State later this month, and the 6-foot-3, 232-pound pro-style passer had received significant interest from every ACC program except Georgia Tech, which runs an option offense.
“(Virginia) is first class in every way, 100 percent,” Kiefer said.
“I know this has been a tough decision for Tyler. There are a lot of people after him and Virginia wanted him to hurry and make a decision. They really like him. They see him as a Ben Roethlisberger-type of player. He's not going to beat you with his legs, but he's going to make great throws.”
Brosius was named to the All-Mountain Athletic Conference team in 2008 after passing for 2,347 yards and 27 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
He already holds school records for most touchdown passes in a game (four), season (27) and career (49). Scout.com has Brosius at No. 64 in its national rankings for quarterbacks from the class of 2010.
“Virginia's offense is exactly the kind that I want to run,” Brosius said. “They like to put the quarterback in the shotgun, and a lot of their plays are similar to ours. I got to watch film with coach (Al) Groh and was really encouraged by what I saw.”
 

N.C. QB commits to Virginia
By Staff Reports
Published: June 9, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Nearly four months after picking up its first football commitment for 2010, the University of Virginia has its second.

The latest is from quarterback Tyler Brosius, a 6-3, 239-pound rising senior at Tuscola High in Waynesville, N.C., near Asheville. The first member of Virginia's 2010 recruiting class -- tailback Kevin Parks -- also is a North Carolinian. Parks attends West Rowan High in Mount Ulla.

Brosius, who visited U.Va. on Saturday, also had scholarship offers from Maryland, Pittsburgh, Central Florida, Western Carolina and Elon.

Virginia "reminded him of home," Tuscola coach Donnie Kiefer said yesterday. "Kind of a mountainous region. Somewhat rural.

"He's a country boy. He likes to hunt and fish and do all those things. He didn't really want to be in a city atmosphere."

In 2008, when Tuscola went 11-2, Brosius passed for 2,347 yards and 27 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions. He rushed for seven TDs.

Brosius should fit in well with U.Va.'s new spread offense, Kiefer said, though the coach noted that there's no "hard and fast label for what 'spread' means."

In West Virginia's version of the spread, quarterback Pat White's running was a focal point of the offense, Kiefer pointed out. In Texas Tech's version, the quarterback might throw 60 passes in a game.

"Tyler is not a Pat White, but he's definitely a powerful runner," Kiefer said. "More of a Tim Tebow-type runner."

Brosius' greatest strength, Kiefer said, is his "ability to throw any ball. He can throw any pass in the arsenal . . . He may not be the sheer athlete Tim Tebow is, but as a passer, I'd put him up against anybody." -- Jeff White