Five-time LSU baseball national champion coach Skip Bertman died Friday at the age of 88, according to the school.
The school did not state a cause of death.
“Few people have had a greater impact on LSU than Skip Bertman,” the school’s Vice President/Director of Athletics Verge Ausberry said in the school’s release. “As the greatest college baseball coach of all-time, and later as our Athletics Director, Skip developed a championship standard and culture that still guide us today. Personally, he was a dear friend, mentor and advisor, and I’m forever grateful for the trust and faith he placed in me to serve this institution. I will continue to honor Skip by leaning into the lessons he taught me every day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this time.”
Bertman is one of the most successful college baseball coaches of all time, leading the program to 16 NCAA Tournaments and 11 College World Series during his tenure from 1984-2001.
The Tigers claimed national titles in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000 under Bertman.
Within the SEC, Bertman’s squads won six tournament crowns and nine SEC Western Division titles while posting the highest winning percentage (.724) of any coach with his 870-330-3 record.
Bertman earned six National Coach of the Year honors, plus seven SEC Coach of the Year accolades while accumulating nine fifty-win campaigns.
He produced 41 MLB players.
Bertman also enjoyed Olympic success, earning a gold medal as an assistant for the 1988 U.S. team and a bronze as the head coach for the 1996 edition.
That success landed him in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2002), American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (2003), College Baseball Hall of Fame (2006) and the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame (2011).
“Coach Bertman was so far ahead of his time while leading the LSU Tigers, and as a young coach just starting my journey, I watched, studied, and admired his incredible skills of leading, motivating, teaching, coaching, and ultimately cultivating what became ‘The Powerhouse’ of College Baseball,’” current LSU coach Jay Johnson said in the release. “Being able to share the 2023 and 2025 National Championships with Coach Bertman watching is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. The impact he made and legacy he has left on the state of Louisiana and college baseball is beyond remarkable and will never be duplicated.
“I love you Coach, I will miss you, and will continue to work every day in a manner that I know would make you proud.”
Bertman transitioned from coach to LSU’s athletic director for seven years from 2001-08 and is credited with hiring four coaches who won national championships.
He is survived by his three daughters and four grandchildren.
“The word legend is often used to signify the greatness of a person, but in sports being a legend isn’t measured by the trophies you collect. Those are just symbols of accomplishments,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry tweeted Friday morning. “A legend is a person who changes a standard forever, and that is what Skip Bertman did. He took something ordinary and made it extraordinary.
“Most importantly, he left his players and those he touched better than he found them. His goal was to impact the scoreboard of life. Louisiana will dearly miss him!”
