Without a doubt, Friday is a sad day for thousands of LSU supporters.
Early in the morning, former LSU head baseball coach and Director of Athletics Skip Bertman passed away at the age of 88.
Let’s not mince words.
Bertman was a LSU legend.
No LSU athletics department employee had a more profound impact than Stanley “Skip Bertman.” If there would be a Mount Rushmore for LSU athletics, Bertman is the first choice.
Everyone knows the incredible numbers Bertman put together during his 18 years as Tigers baseball coach. Under Bertman, LSU won 72.4 percent of its baseball games (870-330-3). The Tigers won 75 percent of their NCAA tournament games (89-29).
However, Bertman did far more than just win games. He also won championships. With Bertman leading the program, LSU won five national championships and seven Southeastern Conference titles. During his 18-year span as head coach, the Tigers appeared in 16 NCAA tournaments.
The Bertman body of work includes far more than those successes on the baseball field. Bertman, along with his long-time friend former Mississippi State head coach Ron Polk, grew baseball in the SEC. Bertman showed how baseball can be a winning proposition.
Simply look how much the sport of baseball has changed at SEC schools in the 25 years since Bertman stepped down as LSU coach. No conference has come close to the SEC’s baseball track record this century. Moreover, no conference has built as many outstanding facilities as the SEC. No conference draws as many fans to the stadiums.
Bertman was far more than a coach. He was a teacher, a promoter, a psychologist and a motivator. Years ago, Bertman exhibited those four qualities during a speech given — not to a group of baseball coaches, but to a group of teachers. The teachers, who were present for that talk, were mesmerized by Bertman.
Bertman faced a challenge when Bob Brodhead hired him as head coach Jack Lamabe’s replacement in 1983. LSU baseball had almost zero success prior to Bertman’s arrival.
Miami head baseball coach Ron Fraser was Bertman’s mentor. Following 11 seasons as the coach at Miami Beach High School where he won a state championship, Bertman was named Fraser’s pitching coach. Under Fraser, Bertman learned how to promote the sport and build a winning program.
That experience made Bertman the proper choice for Brodhead. Bertman inherited a difficult situation off the field. In the 1980s, the LSU fan base knew nothing about baseball. About 200 fans would show up for games at an aging Alex Box Stadium.
The fans didn’t know about runs. They called them points, as was the case in football. Bertman needed the Alex Box field to be improved. The quality of the grass needed to be better. People in the athletic department told Bertman simply paint the grass green.
Bertman knew the conditions at the stadium had to be pleasant for people to spend time there. He worried about the coffee in the concession stands. He worried about the cleanliness of the facility. Bertman wanted people to be entertained when they went to a LSU baseball game.
Obviously, fans want to see a good product also. It did not take Bertman very long to accomplish that task. In his second year, the Tigers appeared in the NCAA tournament. One year later, the Tigers played host to their first NCAA regional tournament and advanced to the College World Series.
Now, it did take Bertman a few trips to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha to win his first national championship. LSU’s first CWS crown occurred in 1991 — its fifth appearance in Omaha. The Tigers baseball dynasty started that year. Beginning in 1991, LSU won five national titles in a ten-year span.
LSU’s last national championship under Bertman happened in 2000. His coaching career did not end at the College World Series. In 2001, his final season, the Tigers lost to Tulane in a super-regional series held at Zephyr Field in Metairie.
LSU needed Bertman’s winning during the 1990s. The football program was a mess. The men’s basketball program began to slide after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure in the early 1990s. But, there was Bertman delivering championship after championship. People followed Tigers baseball in droves. Omaha was filled with LSU fans.
Still today, no school brings as many supporters to the College World Series than LSU. The passion for Tigers baseball is a huge part of the Skip Bertman legacy.
Bertman was also an administrator as he served as the school’s Director of Athletics from 2001-08. During that time, there was not a Tigers coach who did not respect Bertman. LSU won two national championships in football while he was the AD — 2003 under Nick Saban and 2007 under Les Miles, whom he hired.
During his stretch as Director of Athletics, the women’s basketball program reached five Final Fours. The men’s basketball program advanced to the Final Four once. The softball program advanced to the Women’s College World Series once. The track program’s won six national titles.
Under Bertman’s direction, a new Alex Box Stadium opened in 2009. Bertman hired two baseball coaches — Smoke Laval and Paul Mainieri. Laval took two LSU teams in the CWS in five years, but he won no titles. Laval did not reach the Bertman standard, so he was fired.
In Mainieri’s third season in 2009, the Tigers won a national title. LSU never won another championship under Mainieri, but it did make multiple appearances to Omaha before he left after the 2021 season.
Current LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson developed a great relationship with Bertman. Under Johnson, the Tigers have won two national titles in his five years. Many college baseball observers believe that Johnson could match Bertman’s five national championships.
Bertman, who was inducted in the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, was also an Olympic baseball head coach. Bertman guided the United States Olympic team a bronze medal in 1996.
Of course, many of Bertman’s former players were greatly impacted by him. The stories are rampant. Bertman illustrated tough love with them. To this day, these appreciate what he did. One simply needs to hear them talk about Bertman.
So, while this may be a day of sorrow for LSU, it needs to be a day of celebration. People in college athletics, not just LSU, need to be joyful about what Stanley “Skip’ Bertman brought to the world.
