Was Mississippi State's Series Win Over LSU Enough To Save Chris Lemonis His Job?

Mississippi State baseball has had an up-and-down season in which many are anticipating coaching staff changes, but a series win over No. 2-ranked LSU shakes some things up.

Mississippi State baseball has been lacking many major positives over the past two years, but on the most recent weekend, MSU brought its fans some happiness with a series win over No. 2-ranked LSU.

So, there's one glaring question now. Was this huge series victory just what head coach Chris Lemonis needed to save his job?

While it is uncertain what will happen to Lemonis at the end of this season, there's no question this weekend helped his case. 

There are two simple sides on complete opposite ends of the spectrum in this issue. 

One side is the desire to have the head coach fired no matter what, and the other is that some want him back no matter what. But to meet in the middle with some rationality to gain the true answer, the question MSU fans must ask themselves is, do you consider this program one of the elites who can establish and maintain long-term overall success?

If the answer to this question is yes, then one cannot justify keeping the coach who has led this program to back-to-back awful years. 

It may seem harsh and like an act of jumping the gun to fire the only coach to win a national trophy in school history just two years after winning it all, but it simply is the coaching business and the two most important things to look at are "what have you do for me today?" and "what can you do for me tomorrow?"

It's a volatile industry, especially in the Southeastern Conference -- just ask Gene Chizik and Ed Orgeron, who both brought home national titles to their schools and were fired two years later. The common thread is that the product they delivered thereafter was not up to standard and therefore a change needed to be made because of what ultimately showed to be their own shortcomings.

MSU athletic director Zac Selmon will have a tough decision to make when considering all, but cannot react emotionally on impulse if he wants to make the right call. 

While this weekend for the Bulldogs was great, the whole season must be accounted for. Heading into the final stretch of this year's slate of games, MSU still holds a dismal overall record of 26-24, 8-19 in SEC play. Much of the issues seem to be related not so much to the talent -- which MSU has a good bit of especially in its freshman group -- but to decisions made within the coaching staff.

Lemonis will receive nothing but applause whenever it is time for the 10-year anniversary of the national title, but has he truly caused a proud program to plummet, and can or should he survive that? 

Time will tell.