Smoke Laval

Last updated
Smoke Laval
Biographical details
Born (1955-12-20) December 20, 1955 (age 67)
McDonald, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Playing career
1974–1975 Gulf Coast CC
1976–1977 Jacksonville
Position(s) Catcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977 Jacksonville (Asst.)
1978 Wolfson High School (Asst.)
1979 LSU (Asst.)
1980–1981 Gulf Coast CC (Asst.)
1982–1983 Florida (Asst.)
1984–1993 LSU (Asst.)
1994–2000 Louisiana–Monroe
2001 LSU (Adm. Asst.)
2002–2006 LSU
2007–2010 Toronto Blue Jays (scout)
2011–2017 North Florida
Head coaching record
Overall688–428–1
Tournaments17–17
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1995 SLC Tournament Championship
1999 SLC Championship
2000 SLC Championship
2003 SEC Championship
2015 A-Sun Championship
Awards
1995 LSWA Coach of the Year
1999 SLC Coach of the Year
2002 LSWA Coach of the Year
2003 SEC Coach of the Year
2003 LSWA Coach of the Year
2004 LSWA Coach of the Year
2015 A-Sun Coach of the Year

Raymond Peter "Smoke" Laval (born December 20, 1955) is an American college baseball coach who was the head coach of the University of North Florida Ospreys. He is a former head coach of the Louisiana State University Tigers and the University of Louisiana at Monroe Indians baseball teams. He has led his teams to two College World Series, five conference championships, and seven NCAA Division I Baseball Championship appearances, and has received a number of coaching awards.

Contents

Early life and career

Laval was born in McDonald, Pennsylvania. He enrolled at Gulf Coast Community College in 1974, where he played catcher on the college baseball team. He transferred to Jacksonville University in 1976, playing for the Jacksonville Dolphins baseball team.

After college he served in a variety of assistant coaching positions at Jacksonville, Wolfson High School, Louisiana State University, Gulf Coast Community College, and the University of Florida from 1977 to 1983. In 1984 he took a longer term assistant position with the LSU Tigers baseball team under the legendary coach Skip Bertman. During that time the LSU program became one of the best in the nation winning two National Championships (1991 & 1993). As a result of the success at LSU, Laval was offered the head coaching position at nearby University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1993.

Head coaching career

Northeast Louisiana/Louisiana–Monroe

Laval became head coach of the Northeast Louisiana Indians (now the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks) for the 1994 season. Laval led the team to a 241–159 (.603) record, two NCAA Tournament appearances, two Southland Conference regular season championships (1999 and 2000) and one Southland Conference tournament championship (1995). As a result of this success he attracted the attention of LSU in the wake of Skip Bertman's impending retirement.

LSU

LSU hired Laval as an administrative assistant for the baseball team under Bertman in 2001, with the intention of promoting him to head coach succeeding Bertman. Bertman retired at the end of that season having won five national championships and Laval took over head coaching duties in 2002. Expectations were high for the new coach, as one would expect following a legend like Bertman.

In 2002 Laval led the Tigers to a 44–22 record and an appearance in a Super Regional in his first season. Things got even better in 2003, Laval's second season, as he led the team to a 45–22–1 record and their first Southeastern Conference regular season championship since 1997. He was named the 2003 SEC Coach of the Year. He also led the team to an appearance in the College World Series as the #2 national seed. However, the Tigers went home after two straight losses.

2004 saw the Tigers compile a 46–19 record and included a return trip to the College World Series. Like the prior year, LSU went 0–2 in the CWS and was eliminated. LSU fans were not used to going winless in Omaha, leading to questions about Laval's ability to maintain the program's elite status. The 2005 Tigers struggled during the regular season but still managed to compile a 40–22 record. The team lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament and did not make an appearance in a Super Regional for the first time ever (Super Regionals began in 1999).

Although Laval's first four years were fairly solid, they were below Tiger fans had come to expect. He began feeling pressure from LSU fans and the athletic administration, and it was generally felt that 2006 would be a make-or-break season for him. Unfortunately for Laval, the Tigers had their worst season since 1983, the year before Bertman arrived. The team finished the season with a record of 35–24 and its first losing SEC record in 24 years. They missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years. Under pressure, Laval officially resigned on June 4, 2006. He finished his career at LSU with a record of 210–109–1 (.658) in five seasons. Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri was hired to replace him.

Following his resignation, Laval worked as a scouting adviser for the Toronto Blue Jays.

North Florida

In 2009, the University of North Florida announced that Laval would succeed Hall of Fame coach Dusty Rhodes as head coach of the Ospreys upon Rhodes' retirement. [1] He took over prior to the 2011 season, becoming the second baseball coach in the school's history. He led the team to its first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship in 2015 and was named Atlantic Sun Conference coach of the year that season. Laval was removed as head coach after the 2017 season.

Yearly record

Below is a table of Laval's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Northeast Louisiana/Louisiana–Monroe (Southland Conference)(1994–2000)
1994 Northeast Louisiana 20–336–189th
1995 Northeast Louisiana 37–2016–73rd NCAA Regional
1996 Northeast Louisiana 41–1921–91st (Louisiana)
1997 Northeast Louisiana 33–2117–112nd (Louisiana)
1998 Northeast Louisiana 33–2213–92nd
1999 Northeast Louisiana 36–2219–71st NCAA Regional
2000 Louisiana–Monroe 41–2220–7T–1st NCAA Regional
NELA/ULM:241–159 (.603)112–68 (.622)
LSU (Southeastern Conference)(2002–2006)
2002 LSU 44–2219–102nd (West) NCAA Super Regional
2003 LSU 45–22–120–9–11st (West) College World Series
2004 LSU 46–1918–12T–2nd (West) College World Series
2005 LSU 40–2218–12T–1st (West) NCAA Regional
2006 LSU 35–2413–174th (West)
LSU:210–109–1 (.658)88–60–1 (.594)
North Florida (Atlantic Sun Conference)(2011–present)
2011 North Florida 27–2713–178th
2012 North Florida 31–2412–158th
2013 North Florida 40–1918–93rd
2014 North Florida 22–3111–168th
2015 North Florida 45–1616–51st
2016 North Florida 39–1915–62nd
2017 North Florida 33–2412–94th
North Florida:237–160 (.597)97–77 (.557)
Total:688–428–1 (.590)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Coaching honors

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "UNF Names Smoke Laval New Baseball Coach". unfospreys.com. University of North Florida. August 24, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  2. ↑ "2011 LSU Tigers Baseball Media Guide". LSU Sports Information. p. 170. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "2012 Louisiana–Monroe Baseball Fan Guide". Louisiana–Monroe Sports Information. pp. 70–71. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "The History and Traditions of the University of Louisiana at Monroe" (PDF). ULM.edu. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 14 June 2012. On August 27, 1999, the university officially changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Monroe
  5. ↑ "Annual Conference Standings". BoydsWorld.com. Boyd Nation. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ "2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Standings". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "2012 Atlantic Sun Conference Standings". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "2013 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
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