Skip Bertman, a former LSU baseball coach who built the Tigers into a national power, died Aug. 14, 2026, at 88, WAFB reported.
As Miami Beach High School’s coach in 1970, he led the baseball team to a Florida state championship after two previous runner-up finishes. From 1976 through 1983, he served as the senior assistant coach and pitching coach at the University of Miami. During his time there, Miami reached the College World Series, the NCAA championship event for college baseball, five times and won its first national championship in 1982.
Bertman became LSU’s head baseball coach in 1984. In 1991, the Tigers went 55–18, completed the NCAA postseason tournament without losing a game and defeated Wichita State 6–3 in the College World Series final to win LSU’s first national championship.
In 1996, while still at LSU, he led the United States baseball team to a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics. By the end of his 18-year LSU coaching tenure in 2001, the Tigers had won five national championships—in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000—along with seven Southeastern Conference titles and 11 College World Series appearances.
He became LSU’s athletics director in 2001. In that role, he introduced the Tradition Fund, a program that financed athletics through rights to specific stadium seats, and oversaw a major facilities overhaul. Bertman remained in the post through 2008. During his administration, LSU teams won eight Southeastern Conference titles and seven national championships.
