Skip Bertman’s name will always be tied to LSU baseball’s five national championships, but that only tells part of the story.
Bertman died early Friday morning at the age of 88, and the loss hits hard for LSU supporters who watched him turn a sleepy program into one of the sport’s giants. He was more than a coach, more than an athletic director, and more than the face of a dynasty. He became the standard.
During 18 seasons as LSU’s head baseball coach, Bertman piled up a 870-330-3 record, good for a .724 winning percentage. The Tigers also won 75 percent of their NCAA tournament games under him, going 89-29. The trophies followed: five national championships, seven Southeastern Conference titles and 16 NCAA tournament appearances.
But the wins only explain so much. Bertman, along with longtime friend and former Mississippi State head coach Ron Polk, helped push SEC baseball forward and showed the conference what the sport could become.
In the 25 years since he stepped down at LSU, the league has built a baseball powerhouse reputation that no other conference has matched this century. The facilities have grown, the crowds have grown, and the sport itself has grown with it.
That transformation started with a coach who understood the whole package. Bertman was a teacher, a promoter, a psychologist and a motivator. Years ago, he delivered a speech to a group of teachers, and the people in the room were mesmerized by him.
When Bob Brodhead hired him in 1983 to replace Jack Lamabe, LSU baseball was in rough shape. The program had almost no success before Bertman arrived.
At the time, only about 200 fans were showing up at an aging Alex Box Stadium. The fan base didn’t even use baseball language correctly; runs were called points, the way they were in football.
Bertman knew the place had to feel right before it could become special. He wanted the field improved, the grass better, the concession coffee worth drinking and the stadium clean enough for people to enjoy spending time there. Someone in the athletic department even told him to just paint the grass green.
He also knew fans would come for winning. That happened fast.
In his second season, LSU reached the NCAA tournament. One year later, the Tigers hosted their first NCAA regional and advanced to the College World Series.
The breakthrough in Omaha took longer. LSU won its first national title in 1991, Bertman’s fifth trip to the College World Series.
That opened the door to a run that defined an era. From 1991 through 2000, LSU won five national championships in a 10-year span.
His final title came in 2000. Bertman’s coaching run ended in 2001, when LSU lost to Tulane in a super-regional at Zephyr Field in Metairie.
The timing of that dynasty mattered. During the 1990s, LSU football was struggling and men’s basketball had started to slip after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure in the early part of the decade.
Baseball became the show. LSU fans packed the ballpark and made Omaha feel like Baton Rouge.
That connection is still part of the Bertman legacy. No school brings more supporters to the College World Series than LSU.
Bertman’s influence didn’t stop when he left the dugout. He served as LSU’s Director of Athletics from 2001-08 and remained a figure every coach respected. During his time in that role, LSU won national championships in football in 2003 under Nick Saban and in 2007 under Les Miles, whom Bertman hired.
The success stretched across the department. The women’s basketball program reached five Final Fours.
The men’s basketball program made one Final Four. Softball reached the Women’s College World Series once.
Track won six national titles.
Bertman also left his mark on facilities and coaching hires. A new Alex Box Stadium opened in 2009 under his direction.
He hired Smoke Laval and Paul Mainieri in baseball. Laval took LSU to the College World Series twice in five years but never won a title, and he was fired after not meeting the Bertman standard.
Mainieri eventually delivered another championship in 2009 in his third season, though LSU did not win another title under him before he left after the 2021 season.
Current LSU coach Jay Johnson built a strong relationship with Bertman, and the results have kept coming. Johnson has won two national titles in five years, leading some college baseball observers to believe he could eventually match Bertman’s five.
Bertman’s résumé also includes a place in the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and a bronze medal as head coach of the United States Olympic baseball team in 1996.
Ask the players who went through his program, and the stories pour out. Bertman coached with tough love, and plenty of former Tigers still carry what he taught them.
Friday is a day of sorrow in Baton Rouge, but it is also a day to recognize how much Stanley “Skip’ Bertman changed LSU and college athletics.
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