Skip Bertman, the longtime LSU baseball coach who built the Tigers into a national power, died Aug. 14, 2026, at 88, WAFB reported.
In 1970, Bertman coached Miami Beach High School to a Florida state championship after two previous runner-up finishes. From 1976 through 1983, he was Miami’s associate head coach and pitching coach. During his Miami tenure, the program reached five College World Series, college baseball’s championship event, and won its first national championship in 1982.
Bertman became LSU’s head baseball coach in 1984. LSU won its first national championship under him in 1991, when the Tigers went 55-18 and completed the national college baseball tournament without a loss. In 1996, while still leading LSU, Bertman coached the U.S. baseball team at the Atlanta Olympics, where it won a bronze medal. By the end of his LSU coaching tenure in 2001, the Tigers had won five national championships, seven titles in the Southeastern Conference, a major college sports league, and made 11 College World Series appearances.
In 2001, Bertman became LSU athletics director and took charge of the university’s broader sports program. In that role, he introduced the Tradition Fund, a seat-license financing system, and oversaw a major facilities overhaul. LSU athletics won eight Southeastern Conference titles and seven national championships during his administration. Bertman was inducted into the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and remained athletics director through 2008.
In 2013, LSU dedicated the playing field at its baseball facility as Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The dedication recognized Bertman’s role in building the program and expanding its audience.
